And she likes horses.
Jacob and I are going on a double-date with his brother and his fiancée tonight, meeting each other in person for the first time. I’ve messaged Chloe a few times via social media, and she gave a very sizable donation that enabled us to buy a much-needed round pen to use for training.
“Don’t forget about the llamas and Bowser,” I tell Everly, eyeing the brown cow rummaging through leftover sweet feed that fell out of his feed dish from the morning. Both Bowser and the llamas are freshly bathed and clipped for the summer, thanks to a volunteer named Lynn, who lives in a nearby town and saw Chloe’s repost of Everly’s video saying we’re ready to have a few volunteers come out on the weekends to help with barn chores.
I unwrap two lead ropes from the gate, and the clinking of metal against metal makes the entire herd come running, wanting their dinner.
“Hey, big guy,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face when the big black thoroughbred canters over. He’s still the low man on the totem pole and hangs back, letting the other horses crowd forward first. Today marks the end of his first week here at the farm, and he’s adjusting really well now that he has other horse-friends to be with. The gray mare is still at the clinic along with the ponies.
The poor old girl had a belly full of worms and an infected cut on her back leg from an injury that Jacob said looked intentional.
“We are definitely going to have to divide the pasture up,” I pant once Everly and I get all the horses inside. We’ve been rotating who goes out in the morning and in the afternoon. Ideally, I’d like all the horses to be outside as long as possible. Pongo doesn’t have the strength to be turned out in a herd just yet, and Loki is limited to about two hours of lush spring grass a day. It’s crazy to think that grass contains sugar, and too much of it can be bad for a horse who’s not used to it.
It’ll take time, and I already put a little bit aside for new fencing. There’s a chance that by the end of the summer, I might have enough to, at least, get something temporary to help us with the chaotic process of bringing the horses in and out.
“You’re good?” I ask Everly, looking at our full barn. Thor went to Poppy’s barn only a few days ago, and instead of paying an adoption fee, she brought Odin with as well, giving him thirty days of professional training as a tune-up. The horse knows what he’s doing and, with a refresher course like this, he’s going to make someone very happy once he’s adopted.
“Yes, go shower or you’re going to be late.” Everly sets up her phone again, testing the angles before filming. She’s spending the night at Maria’s, and they’ll be back in the morning to do turnout and clean stalls. Heather and I decided that one early morning a week in the summer is more than fair, and since she has an older daughter who can drive, it gives us both just one day to sleep in just a little bit.
Riley and Gunther are lounging in the shade on the porch, and I’m getting even closer to putting a collar on Gunther and keeping him in my little fenced-in yard, which looks really fucking nice right now if I do say so myself.
It’s thanks to Jacob since he not only fixed my broken mower, but also mowed the lawn for me last week. My heart speeds up when I think about him, and I’m excited for dinner tonight. We said we were going to take things slow and go together wherever this leads, though it’s become apparent over the last two weeks that going slow is kind of driving us fucking insane.
Because we both want to wake up next to each other without having to rush away in the morning. Everly is aware we’re dating now and, I’ll admit, it’s new territory for us all. The few times I dated before, I never introduced the guys to Everly. There was no point unless things got serious. But Ev already knew Jacob and it’s not like I can suddenly keep her from seeing him when he’s here often to take care of the horses. Besides, they get along and like each other—as they did before we started dating. Ev got to job-shadow two more times before school got out and she’s going with Jacob and a few techs from his clinic to some sort of vet-med convention later this summer.
I step into Aunt Kim’s room and look around, heart aching all over again. Louisa helped me go through her things before she left, and Jacob carried the rest of the bed frame outside to the end of my driveway. Someone picked it up overnight, and a weird emptiness settles on me as I look around the room.