Tumbleweed (9 page)

“Wow. All that in one breath.”

“You asked.”

“And so I did….. are you?”

“Am I what?”

“A flake,” he prompted. “And before you answer, keep in mind that I've seen your resume.”

“Ouch. I don't know. Maybe I am. Maybe I've just taken longer than they did to figure out where I fit. That doesn't mean they should treat me like I'm a fool.”

“Maybe they wish they had your courage,” he suggested.

“Somehow I doubt that.” I remained skeptical.

“I like the way you are. Don't ever let anyone tell you there's something wrong with it,” he whispered.

“Thank you.” I blushed awkwardly, grateful for the low lighting.

“Now stop talking my ear off. I want to get some sleep.”

“Jerk,” I laughingly accused.

“Why is a horse trainer in Southern California avoiding your call?” Ethan sat up straight again.

“Missouri Fox Trotters are ideal movie horses because of their trainability and disposition. We have some very beautiful, well trained MFT's for sale. I thought he would want to know. Apparently not because I can't seem to get him on the phone.”

“That's a good idea,” Ethan sounded a little surprised.

“Don't sound so shocked. And yes, it was a good idea. But I think I'm hitting a brick wall.”

“Let me think about it a bit. Maybe I can come up with something. We'll figure it out in the morning. Now for the love of all things holy, stop talking.”

“You really are a jerk, you know that?”

“Yes, but I'm a hot jerk.”

I threw my pillow at him. He smiled at me and stuffed the pillow behind his head. I frowned, debating whether I should get it back or just make due. I didn't trust myself in a wrestling match with Ethan, so I curled up on my side and tried to double my blanket as a pillow.

Chapter Six

About the time
I finally dropped into a good sleep, the first rays of sun trickled through my window. I groaned and tried to snuggle deeper into my blanket. That was my fatal mistake because Blue realized I was alive and instantly started licking my face. That was code for “get off your lazy behind and let me out, crazy lady.”

I sighed deeply and stumbled to Aaron's door to let Rover out of the room before heading to the front to let them both out. As soon as I swung the door open, I caught a glimpse of the sheriff's car kicking up dust on the driveway. I quickly shut the door and raced for the bathroom and my brush. There was no way I was letting one more member of this town see me with my rat's nest morning-hair. Since I had two whole seconds to spare before he knocked on the door, I went all-out and slid a bra on before racing to pull on my boots. I was opening the door again just as the sheriff was raising his hand to knock.

“Mornin' ma'am.” He tipped his hat politely.

“Mornin',” I nodded in response and stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind me. The door suddenly pulled back and I nearly fell backwards into Ethan.

“Mornin' Ethan.” The sheriff grinned slyly, looking from me to Ethan and back again.

“Mornin' Bobby.” Ethan grinned easily back. I blushed furiously. Would it make matters worse to insist that nothing had happened?

“Was it a quiet night around here?” Bobby smirked.

“Well, we didn't see Hobbes if that's what you mean,” Ethan drawled and my jaw dropped just a little. Why didn't he just call me a screamer and be done with it? What happened to a lady's honor?

“Oh, yeah, Hobbes.” Bobby seemed to finally remember why he was here. “We think he's skipped town, but no one knows for sure. I went by to check on the filly this morning. She don't look too good. Certainly not how I'd keep my horse, but if we don't know that Hobbes is gone, she's not in bad enough shape for the ASPCA to take her.”

“So what do we do?” I finally found my voice.

“We wait,” he shrugged. “Not much else we can do.”

“Should we feed her? Water her? There's nothing but scrub in that field of his,” I protested.

“We don't know that he's gone, and the horse isn't technically starving yet.”

“So we have to watch her starve?” I was incredulous.

“I don't think it'll come to that,” he assured me.

“Can I at least bust up her water when it freezes?” I asked.

“I'm sure that'd be fine,” Ethan interjected.

“In fact, I'd appreciate it, ma'am,” Bobby nodded.

“Okay,” I nodded back.

“Let us know if ya'll see him around,” Bobby took a step back.

“We'll do that,” Ethan affirmed. “You let us know if you hear anything else.”

“Will do,” Bobby waved and got back into his cruiser. I leaned back into Ethan. Call it tempting fate, but I wanted to bask in the feel of his solid chest against me. Little shivers of pleasure ran the length of my body like electrical impulses. He must have been feeling like a glutton for punishment, too, because he wrapped one arm around me and kissed the top of my head. I sighed. He sighed. Aaron opened the door and we both tumbled backwards into the house.

“Hey Mom.” Aaron shook his head like I was completely senseless.

“Hey babe.” I smiled feebly.

“Whatchya doin'?” He eyed me skeptically.

“Just talking to the sheriff,” I answered hastily.

“Mom, there's no one out there.”

“Well he's gone now. I didn't imagine him, Aaron,” I snapped.

“Whatever, Mom.” He shook his head again and leaned out the door to grab the milk from the crate sitting on the porch.

“Why is your milk sitting by the front door?” Ethan blinked, wondering if there had always been milk by the front door.

“To keep it cold.” I looked at him like he was a little slow.

“Isn't that what a refrigerator is for?”

“I suppose. But those cost money and it's chilly enough outside. If it warms up I just get some ice for the cooler.”

“Oh. Well then. That makes perfect sense. Do you have any groceries? I can make some breakfast.”

“We have granola bars. Cereal. Fruit,” I offered. “I can put some coffee on.”

“Isn't there anything to cook?”

“How would we cook when we don't have a stove?” Aaron looked at Ethan like he was completely insane.

“You don't have a stove?” Ethan whirled around to confirm this fact. “I had no idea there wasn't a stove.”

“We have a microwave – bought it last week. We have an indoor electric grill and a waffle iron. What else do we need? Oh, I could make waffles,” I offered.

“Please mom, no more waffles. No more waffles, no more potatoes, no more bread with butter. I'm begging you.” Aaron rummaged through cereal boxes.

“I can't bear to watch this. It's child abuse,” Ethan declared.

“Hey!” I scowled at Ethan. “Watch it mister.”

“You are both coming over for breakfast. Come on, get dressed.”

“Do you have coffee?” I hesitated.

“Yes, addict, I have coffee. Now come on.”

“You're cranky early in the morning, you know that?”

“Please come on?” He gave me a beseeching look and extended his hand.

“I don't know, Aaron. Do we trust him?” I eyed the outstretched hand speculatively.

“Do you have bacon?” Aaron looked expectantly at Ethan.

“And eggs. And biscuits.”

“Let me grab my shoes.”

“Great. If you guys help me make the morning rounds, we can eat that much sooner,” he called over his shoulder as he strolled out the door.

“I knew there was a catch,” I muttered as I went to change from my flannel pajamas into jeans. Despite my grumbling, I was actually happy to help with the morning rounds. Since I didn't have to do them every day, they felt less like chores and more like a chance to interact with the horses while spending time with two people I liked being around. Although I had come to a conclusion somewhere during the night: given my track record, there had to be something wrong with Ethan, and the sooner I figured out what it was, the sooner I could get over him and move on.

Horses have impeccable internal clocks. They were all calling loudly from their stalls by the time we arrived to turn them out. With the three of us working together, it didn't take long to shuffle everybody to the appropriate spot. Mares went in the Northwest pasture for the day, geldings in the Southeast. I slid a halter on the stallion's head and led him to the smaller turnout pen because I knew Ethan would want to work with him before he went out for the day. He nudged me playfully and I shoved him back.

“Ethan, would you teach this beast some manners?” I giggled as the animal began to nibble at my hair.

“You're ruining him, you know.” Ethan tried to sound stern, but couldn't quite keep the laughter out of his eyes. “He's not a puppy.”

“I know, I know.” I scratched Zane's neck before slipping his halter off and hanging it outside the gate. He bobbed his head impatiently, ready for breakfast. I shoved him out of the way so I could slip through the fence railings to grab the bucket of grain Ethan had set out for me. “That's why you're the trainer. I'd ruin them all if it were up to me.”

“I noticed you never got around to scheduling the appointment to geld Zane,” Ethan pointed out.

“Yeah, well, what can I say, I'm just a big softy. Besides, do you know how they do that?”

“I seem to recall mentioning that.”

“Not the specifics.” I shook my head. “Definitely not the specifics.”

“On that pleasant note, are you finished?” He tugged at my ponytail in a familiar, playful gesture. “Aaron's already done with the geldings; he's meeting us back at my place.”

“Are you trying to say I'm slow?”

“Something like that.”

“I know it's going to drive me nuts for ages if I don't get this out of the way now…” My mind switched gears and I plunged right into what I really wanted to know. “What's wrong with you?”

“Excuse me?” he arched an eyebrow.

“You seem so nice, so steady. It's very out of character for me to be attracted to nice and steady. Besides, if you tell me your flaw now I can get it in my head that you're all wrong for me and we can get back to being great friends and co-workers.”

“Very pragmatic thinking indeed.” He nodded as if he understood completely.

“Don't patronize me, just tell me what your flaw is and let's be done with it.” I kept my tone light but refused to look him in the eye.

“I'm a horrible cook,” he informed me gravely. “Absolutely terrible.”

“Please tell me you're joking. I'm really hungry, and you promised me food.”

“Guess you'll just have to wonder about that for a bit.” With that, he went to make breakfast.

It didn't take long for my nostrils to tell me he had been joking. By the time a plate was set in front of me, I had decided that he might even rival Daddy when it came to making breakfast – and that was high praise indeed.

“So what do you think we should do about the California horse trainer?” Ethan sat down next to Aaron at the table, his plate piled high with bacon, eggs, hash browns and a biscuit.

“I think you should send him a video of the horses for sale. Maybe a slide show presentation like our teacher did to teach us about colonization,” Aaron interjected, surprising both Ethan and me. “It got our attention.”

“That's a pretty good idea, but how do we get him to watch it?” Ethan paused in mid-bite to consider.

“We could send him flowers with the disc tucked in it,” I suggested and immediately scowled at myself.

“Flowers? Really?” Ethan arched an eyebrow at me.

“Fine, maybe a fruit basket.” I decided to stick to my guns. The basic idea was sound even if the execution wasn't. “Oooh, or a fruit bouquet, you know, where they cut the fruit to look like flowers?”

“You might actually be on to something. Even if he doesn't bite, we could use it again for other prospective buyers.”

“I have a decent digital camera; it would be cheaper to use it than try to make a video.”

“I'm guessing you know how to turn that into a media presentation?”

“Mom's great at that kind of stuff.”

“It's part of that diverse background you hired me for.” I grinned around a mouthful of hash browns.

“See? I knew that would come in handy someday.”

“So, now that I know you can cook – are you going to tell me what your flaw is?” I changed topics.

“Maybe he snores,” Aaron jumped in gleefully, not sure why we were trying to find Ethan's flaws but happy to help.

“Nope,” Ethan shook his head.

“Do you have a gambling problem?” I perked up at the thought.

“Because there is such easy access to gambling in Ava, Missouri.”

“Love 'em and leave 'em?”

“Aaron!” I dropped my head in my hands. Did I want to know where that came from?

“Fine, speed in school zones?”

“That's better.”

“Sorry,” Ethan shrugged. “I did miss church today if that makes you feel any better.”

“I'll figure it out. Give me time,” I bit my lower lip in thought.

With that resolved, we all settled into the business of finishing our breakfast. My proverbial plate had just gotten fuller, and I wanted to get started on my new project.

Chapter Seven

I dove into the day
with a renewed intensity, partially to keep my mind off of Hobbes, partially to keep my thoughts from straying to Ethan. Aaron and I slipped off to Hobbes' place to break up the ice in Allie's trough, then he helped me groom each horse as well as possible for the time of year – since we turned out our stock each day they all had thick, fuzzy winter coats that made them look more like loveable teddy bears than sleek champions.

We decided to work together on one horse at a time so no one could roll in the mud before we had a chance to take their pictures. By five that evening, we'd accomplished our goal and had at least a few decent photos of each animal for sale; we'd also worked straight through lunch, and were hungry, sore and tired.

The town with the good pizza also had amazing Chinese food, so we hit the buffet before crawling home stuffed to the gills to shower and collapse into bed. Sometime during the night Ethan slipped into the cabin to sleep on the recliner. He slipped back out again before the sun had fully laid its claim on the sky. I pretended not to wake up for his arrival and departure but was very aware of his presence in between the two.