“You said you had a horse before.” He steps out of the stall and joins me in the aisle. “Did you board the horse or was it on your own property?”
“We boarded. I always wish I could live somewhere like this though.”
Jacob just nods. A second later his phone rings. He answers, and I can tell he’s talking to Crystal, the vet tech, who typically assists him on farm calls. “She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes,” he tells me.
Fifteen minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, but now I have to think of a way to entertain Jacob until then. Though really, there’s enough to be done around here I don’t have time to just stand around.
“I’m going to put everyone but Freya and Thor out. They only brought them in because everyone was so frazzled, and I needed to see them all safe in one place. I typically leave them out as long as possible and I intended all along to put them back out,” I tell him, feeling the need to explain what I’m doing. It’s a bad habit I’ve always had, and I don’t know why I feel the need to give everyone my life story, yet I do.
“I’ll help.” Jacob says, and while I’d rather tell him I don’t need his help, it would be nice to have someone bring the horses out with me. I walk slowly, trying to buy as much time as possible, but it only takes about five minutes to get the remaining horses out in the pasture.
Back in the barn, I sneak Freya some hay without Thor noticing. His head is hanging down again and he’s half asleep. Silently I lay a flake of hay down in Freya’s stall and quietly close her door. And now I’m back to awkwardly standing in the aisle with Jacob.
“How is Pongo doing?” I ask. “Everly, my daughter, would love to come see him again. She’s gotten really attached to him.”
“He’s trying to hold on,” Jacob says. “He’s got a long way to go but he seems to understand that we’re trying to help and is putting up a good fight.”
“That’s good. Hopefully he keeps fighting so we can bring him back here soon.”
“When he does come back, it’s still going to be a lot of work taking care of him. He’ll need to be closely monitored, as well Freya if she is in fact pregnant.”
“I am aware,” I say trying to keep my tone polite. Does he think I’m an idiot or something? Of course, a sick, pregnant mare is going to require extra love and attention. And once Pongo is healthy enough to come home, I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t relapse. “Good thing it will be summer soon. My daughter will be able to help along with her friends who have volunteered here with my aunt in the past.”
“Freya won’t go into labor this summer.” Jacob turns, looking at me and I hate that I can’t read the expression on his face. Are his sky-blue eyes void of emotion? Or are they holding everything back? “I can’t tell you until I see the ultrasound, but I’m going to guess she won’t go into labor until early spring. Your daughter will be in school by then.”
“Right.” I roll pieces of loose cement under my boot and look through the stall bars at Freya. She’s happily munching on her hay, unaware of the situation going on. I’ll figure it out. Somehow.
I slowly and heal leaning back against the stall again. I can feel Jacob’s eyes on me and when I turn, he quickly looks away.
“What are you gonna do about work?” he asks.
“What do you mean?” I turn, angling my body toward him and am caught off guard when I see him looking right at me again. Our eyes lock, and I can hear my heartbeat once…twice and then he looks away.
“You have a job. You mentioned they were calling you while we were eating lunch.”
“Oh yeah.” I inhale slowly let it out, not sure why I feel so vulnerable right now. “I work remotely, so I’ll be able to get my work done here. I only have to report to the office a couple times a year.”
“I don’t want to tell you what to do,” he starts as he takes a breath. My eyes go to his chest, watching his pecs rise and fall under his T-shirt. “And I mean no offense by this.” This time, his words shake me back to reality.
“Whenever someone starts with a no offense thing, I know whatever they’re gonna say it’s pretty damn offensive.” I cross my arms and lean back against the stall, waiting for Jacob to continue.
He gives me a blank stare for a fleeting moment and then plows his hand through his thick brown hair, messing it up even more than it already was. It’s not fair that the messy look works so well on him. I would love to get out of bed, not mess with my hair or makeup and still have people find me attractive.