To Begin Anew (Blue Jay Romance) (13 page)

Eric felt his ears perk at the mention of Debra’s mother. In the couple of days that he’d known her, given the fact that there wasn’t much opportunity for her to talk about herself, she’d not said anything even remotely personal. He asked, not really thinking before he spoke, “I’ll bet your mother is just as kind.” He also bet that Debra’s mother was just as beautiful.

“My mother is dead.” Her voice was flat and informational, almost completely devoid of emotion.

Eric had to blink at the dull sound of Debra’s voice and he felt like an idiot for not having thought about the words that had come from his mouth. He noticed Debra’s expression, the way her eyes looked hollow as if there wasn’t anyone behind them, and he said, his tone as sincere as he could make it, “I’m sorry, I…”

“It was a long time ago,” Debra said as she moved past Dr. Nelson and headed for the blueberry bushes. Emma had them growing along one side of the greenhouse and when she saw the round dark berries, ripe and sweet, she forgot the dark shadow that had passed over her mood. She rarely spoke of her past, of her family, used to the fact that everyone in town was already up to speed. Now that Dr. Nelson was aware that she didn’t enjoy taking that stroll down Memory Lane, he wouldn’t be very eager to bring it up again. If he was going to be a friend to her, the sooner he learned that about her, the better.

Eric decided that the more he stuffed his mouth with blueberries, the less he could stick his foot in it and that fresh berries right off the bush couldn’t taste better if they’d been grown on a farm in Heaven. Well, that might have been going a bit too far, but his blue tongue begged to differ.

The time passing in silence was good for both of them, Eric sensed, since the more time that passed, the more Debra’s mood seemed to slide back from the darkness that had tried its best to engulf her.

Eric sat back on his rear in front of the bushes, his stomach so full he thought perhaps he’d never have to eat anything again. He said, “Wow, I sure have been missing out!”

Debra chuckled at him and put her hands on her hips. “You should see your face! You look like the kid who ate all the cupcakes.” She lifted an eyebrow as Dr. Nelson stuck his tongue out at her playfully, and she added, “You going to sit there all day? There’s other things we could be doing.”

Eric stuck his hand out, not necessarily because he couldn’t get himself up, but because he was full and feeling lazy. It was a surprise to him, then, when Debra took his hand and he felt the rush of her warmth flood him. It was like being hit with a taser - the electric shock that crossed into him almost took his breath away. Once he was on his feet, he was certain to let her hand go as quickly as he could and, not bothering to look at her or say anything to her, he found the exit of the greenhouse and was at the road waiting for her before she thought to catch up with him.

It was as if the sensation had irritated him, or in particular annoyed him, but it had unsettled him to the point where he didn’t know how to react, or even if he
should
react. As Eric took note of Debra’s face, he could see for himself that she felt much the same way. Perhaps the best thing to do was pretend that it hadn’t happened.

Debra was glad that Dr. Nelson was silent, since all of her brain cells had been directed to keeping a blush from creeping over her features and couldn’t be used to make proper conversation.

They stood on the road for perhaps a full minute before she shifted and looked towards the sky. She had no idea they’d spent so long in the greenhouse or that it had, without their notice, slipped from morning into afternoon. Debra thought about suggesting going to have lunch, but with breakfast and a buffet of blueberries swimming around in her stomach, she was the furthest from hungry she’d ever been.

“How about we go catch that movie?”

Debra blinked. Movie? When Dr. Nelson had suggested it yesterday, she’d thought he was joking, thought that he had to have known that the only theater in town showed movies that were older than both of them. She said, “It doesn’t open until after dark. And I’m pretty sure they don’t run shows on the weekends.” She flicked some hair from her eyes and said, “I thought you knew that.”

Eric folded his arms to his chest and, for lack of any other action, he pouted. “Well then, that puts most of my plans out the window. I haven’t been living here that long, so I have no clue what there is to do around here to occupy time.”

Debra tilted her head. So far, standing in the middle of a dirt road and talking about nothing at all, or staring into space with a stomach full of tiny fruit seemed to be doing the trick. She brightened. “You ever been horseback riding?”

~*~*~

Of all the things he could think of doing, jumping on the back of an animal that outweighed him by the power of two was not one of them. Eric was sure that the only time he’d ever been on a horse was the one time his parents had convinced him to go to summer camp - and that had been the last time. Thrown from the back of an animal into a pile of shoveled dung had not been the definition of fun in his book - or anyone else’s, he suspected.

The farm Debra took him to was another local space and in fact had been only a mile and a half from where they’d had their fill of blueberries. Eric suspected that Debra made her rounds on a regular basis and that most of these people expected to see her and it was very likely they relished seeing her. Debra didn’t say that these people were
her
friends. Rather she made comments that they had been friends of the family, but a blind child could see that these people loved Debra for Debra and, whether she acknowledged it or not, they were her friends.

“Jeremy and his family board horses for the other folk in town and he loves it when I come to ride them because it gets them out for some exercise,” Debra was saying as he followed her around the side of a farmhouse and into a stable.

The place, to Eric, smelled strongly of hay and other things and he wasn’t certain it was an altogether pleasant smell. It made him want to itch his nose, or cover it, and yet Debra didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all.

“Doesn’t the smell get to you?”

Debra faced Dr. Nelson, looking around her at the pitched hay and the filled stalls. To her, the smell of a stable, the drafty open feel, was wonderful. She inhaled, held it in and then exhaled. She shook her head. “Nope, I love it.” She eyed him for a moment and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it before long and we’re only gonna be in here long enough to tack the horses and lead them outside.”

“Tack?”

Debra answered, “It means to put a saddle and a bridle on a horse to get him ready for someone to ride.” Debra moved to a stall and smiled when she heard a familiar nicker greet her. The head of a beautiful mare poked over the front, and she rubbed the mare’s chestnut nose.

“This here is Tessa,” Debra said as she absently, and without thinking, pulled Dr. Nelson’s hand forward with her own and put it on the mare’s muzzle. Dr. Nelson tried to take back his hand at first, but when Tessa pushed forward with her face, he smiled and moved his hand upwards to scratch her ears.

“Oh, wow. She’s really something, isn’t she?”

Debra was now conscious of how close Dr. Nelson was to her, and she could feel the warmth of his body emanating outwards from him, feel the soft rustle of his shirt as it brushed against hers. He didn’t seem to be aware of her, only the horse, and as she stepped back away from them both, she was glad for it since it hid the furious blush that colored her face.

Distracting herself because now it was necessary, she picked up a brush and a horse blanket and, unlatching the stall door, she encouraged Dr. Nelson to move out of the way so that she could first brush Tessa’s hair and then place the blanket over her back. She was careful to let the horse know she was there by placing a hand on her hindquarters, and when she had to walk behind her, she tapped her rump twice so that Tessa wouldn’t accidentally step on her.

“What’s the blanket for?” Eric called to Debra as she scooted herself to the other side of the horse.

“It’s called a saddle blanket. It keeps the saddle from making the horse uncomfortable and from rubbing sores on her,” Debra replied as she put the blanket on Tessa. She then turned and pulled Tessa’s reins from the left side of the stall, and once she had the halter on, she moved to Tessa’s front, made a clicking sound underneath her tongue and led her from the stall.

“Tess is a teenager for a horse and, while I’m not going to let you ride her all by yourself at first, she’ll be up to doing more than a walk if you want to try some fun stuff later.”

Eric frowned at the idea, thinking it would be all he’d care to do to just sit on Tessa’s back like a five year old and not cry in terror. As he was thinking this, Tessa nudged his chest, and when he didn’t do anything, she snorted and pushed him more forcefully.

“She really likes attention, doesn’t she?” Eric couldn’t keep the amazement out of his voice and he knew he was staring so wide-eyed at the horse that at any moment the horse could have spontaneously combusted and he couldn’t be more surprised.

Debra led Tessa out of the stable while Dr. Nelson followed behind her, and just as they were heading out in the open, Jeremy moved from behind his barn, smiling from ear to ear and waving as he walked over.

“Well, there you are my girl!” Jeremy said as he hugged Debra to the point that she thought her spine might snap. He said as he let her go, “Didn’t think you’d be by today, but I’m glad you came. Tessa’s been mighty pent up without you here to ride her every now and then.”

Debra smiled. “You know me, Jer. I have to come by or else Tessa here might stage a revolt and make me feel all bad.”

Jeremy looked from Debra to the man standing next to her and then back again. If it had been anyone but Debra poking around in his stable with a stranger, he might have thought to be mad, but Debra was a good girl and he trusted her with the animals as he did his own daughters. He looked back to the man. “Don’t I knows you from sum-where, son?”

Eric stepped forward and stuck out his hand and when Jeremy took it, he said, “No sir, but I’m glad to be meeting you. My name’s Eric Nelson.” If he had to hear Dr. one more time that day, he’d have to have a full five minutes to himself to sigh in exasperation.

“Oh, that’s where I knows you from. You’re that man on the television my girls liked to watch all the time.” Jeremy ran a hand through his hair and gave a kind of aww-shucks expression before he added, “It’s kinda nice to have a celebrity on my ranch.”

Eric shook his head. “No, the pleasure is all mine, sir, I promise. It’s not everyday I get to see horses close up.” Eric noted the sort of bowed way in which Jeremy stood. He was an older guy of perhaps fifty-something, saltier than the ocean, his jeans hitched up over his hips and attached to his gut with a belt. His cowboy boots were pointed with his blue jeans tucked into them, and Eric couldn’t help but think that Jeremy was just like a character out of a novel. Too large for life and Eric half expected him to suddenly spit into a bucket.

“Well, that’s kind of you, boy. Just you make sure to be careful with my horses and that you don’t go hurting yourself. A city boy like you needs to be cautious.”

Eric would have been offended if what Jeremy was saying wasn’t the absolute truth. He was from the city, born and bred, and he’d not been on a horse in more years than he wanted to remember. He said, “You bet.”

Jeremy regarded the famous city slicker for a moment before he turned to Debra. “You know horses and you know Tessa. Make sure this guy here don’t break his neck.” Then he turned and walked away.

Debra laughed, thinking that it would be such a shame if Dr. Nelson went and bent that beautiful neck in the wrong direction.

~*~*~

“Oh, oh, I don’t think I want to do this!” Eric gripped the reins that Debra had handed him and held on for dear life. The feel of the horse’s muscles bunching underneath him, the knowledge that he was at the mercy of an animal that could take off at a moment’s notice with him attached to her, made him feel scared to the point that it was humbling.

Debra thought the look of sheer terror on Dr. Nelson’s face was about the funniest thing she’d ever seen, and while she knew he thought he had hold of the reins, just as a precaution, she held on to the lower half of them out of sight so that if anything happened, she could pull the reins and have Tessa under her control.

Five minutes went by, and the longer the dear doctor was on the horse, the more relaxed he seemed to be. Smiling, Debra took the reins from him and led Tessa to a post. She tied the reins, and said, “Wait here while I go and get Faust. I think you’ll be able to handle Tess by yourself now and I don’t want to miss out on the day.”