Chapter Seven
Summer
The morning went quickly as I found myself surprisingly absorbed in how Rue ran things.
“This is an easy group coming in a few days—a mom and her kids. When we get big church groups, it gets a little trickier, and depending on what time of year it is, sometimes I just have Brady barbecue a pig or we do burgers outside. Sometimes trying to work all of this out of the kitchen gets a little tight.”
I had a heavy feeling that I wasn’t going to be much help to her on any of this. “I’m not a very good cook, Rue.”
She didn’t look up from her card box of recipes. “Done a lot of it, have you?”
I shook my head. “No. That’s what I’m saying, I haven’t done any.”
She slowly lifted her head. “Then how do you know you can’t cook?”
“Well, doesn’t that automatically mean I can’t?”
She laughed. “Heavens, no.” I made a face and she patted my hand. “You’ll see.”
She made a grocery list as we checked the pantry to see what we already had on hand. “Tomorrow, we’ll head to the store and get everything we need. I’ll ask Brady if there’s anything special he might like this week. He has his favorites. And, for dessert, one of them happens to be ice cream. Ever make it?”
“I’ve scooped it into a dish.”
“Do you want to try?”
“Why not?” I shrugged.
“Did your mom do all the cooking?”
“Oh, that’s a good one,” I answered with a laugh I didn’t really feel. “No. We had a cook and I think he even had a couple of assistants to help him out. You would have thought we were a family of twelve instead of an only child and her absentee parents.” I blurted everything out before I realized I’d said too much, and opened the door for Rue to ask me more questions. I cleared my throat and pretended extreme interest in the pantry.
“Ah, well, let’s get to it.”
Either she sensed that I wasn’t thrilled with discussing my family situation, or she didn’t want to get caught up in what she probably considered a big case of drama. Truth be told, it was, and I was good without it.
We found an easy companionship as she taught me how simple ingredients created a chemical reaction that resulted in ice cream. I found myself enjoying the process.
“And now we wait.” She set the container in the freezer. “You can go get that horse of yours out and take her for a ride if you want.” She looked at her watch. “You need to be in town in two hours for your interview. That give you enough time?”
“It does. Thank you.” I rushed out the door, excited to get Aria moving. Even if I barely had enough time to get it all done—groom and tack, ride, rinse Aria, shower, and drive to the diner.
I quickly changed into a pair of breeches and my riding boots and headed to Aria’s stall.
“Hi, beautiful girl.” I rested my palm against her jaw and laid my head on her velvet nose. We connected for a few seconds, drawing on the comfort of the one thing in each of our lives that had been a constant. I was sure all this change hadn’t gone unnoticed by her, but she was doing a much better job of handling it.
I slipped her halter on and she lifted her head and quivered, excited about going anywhere other than this box. I quickly rigged up some crossties outside her stall and she calmed a bit as I hooked the second lead to her halter, but she was fidgety and could barely stand still while I tacked her. “Almost, girl. Just let me get you ready.”
I slipped her bridle on after tightening the girth, and looked for a step up so I could climb on her back. But I didn’t see anything. Aria was 16.3 hands to my 5’3” inches, so a step was ideal, but it looked like I’d have to wing it. I led her out into the open and planned to climb on when I heard, “Need a leg up?”
I turned around to see Jake riding up on Jenny. Brady was directing a half-dozen cows into a pen.
“Uh, sure,” I said, swallowing down my nerves.
Jake dismounted and with the reins to Jenny in one hand, he held out the other. I put my shin into his hand and counted to three. Then he gave me a heave and I was up and nearly over the other side of Aria, he’d hefted me up so hard. I looked down at him in surprise. Damn. He was strong.
He chuckled. “Sorry about that.”
“You almost sent me clear over her!” I laughed.
“Yeah. Well…” He turned away. “Don’t say I never did you any favors, Posh.”
“I won’t,” I laughed.
“Have a good ride.”
“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure why but I was disappointed as I watched him mount Jenny and then trot off. Somewhere inside of me, I’d hoped he would stay. But there was no reason for me to feel this way. I had to get my head on straight. I was going to get my head on straight…
I rode Aria over to the arena. The sand was a little deeper than I’d like, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, right? In the course of my time here, I found myself repeating that little mantra more times than I was comfortable with.
I let her walk for a few minutes on a loose rein, staying relaxed as she got accustomed to the surroundings, then I collected her up and got her into a nice frame to start our hack. Her back was tense and I was sure she was tight from the drive out. After some time, I felt her back loosen and we did some basic exercises, including a spiral in and spiral out, we worked a square, a triangle, threw in some serpentines and finally did a slalom exercise.
After forty-five minutes, I put her back on a loose rein and cooled her down. That was when I noticed that Jake was sitting on the porch with Rue, both of them watching me.
“Nice riding,” she yelled.
He held up a water bottle. “Want one?”
“Sure,” I replied.
He jumped off the porch and approached us as I halted Aria. He handed me the water and smiled up at me in that flirtatious way of his that was getting under my skin. “You’ve got skills, Summer.”
“Did you doubt me?” I smiled down at him as I took a few gulps of the water and then handed the bottle back to him. Aria started to whinny like she was getting bored just standing here with me atop her.
“Nope. Hey, Rue says you’ve got to go into town for a job interview over at the diner,” he started, sounding like an excited kid. “I can take you.”
“I don’t want to be a nuisance,” I answered as I glanced back at the Chevy. “And I’ve got my own ride.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m still amazed you made it here in one piece in that thing.”
I sighed because it was the truth.
“Look, it’s no problem,” Jake continued. “Rue’s sending me to the store for some things anyway.”
“Okay, thanks,” I replied, hearing the hesitancy in my voice.
“You better get a move on then,” Jake continued. “Want me to rinse her off for you?”
“No. No. I can do it.”
“Okay. See you in forty minutes?”
“I’ll see you then.”
He headed back over to Rue, as I rode Aria out of the arena, all the while trying to ignore the sensation in my stomach which felt a lot like butterflies.