“Okay,” she said.
“Hey, do you want to go over to Alison and Bob’s to watch a movie?”
“I’m game.”
“We will be there in a few,” I said.
“Great,” she said. I hung up the phone.
“Are we going to make it through a movie?” I asked.
“I will make us some coffee to bring,” he said.
“I am sure Alison will have a pot brewing,” I said. “Let’s put our things away and head over.”
“Okay,” he said getting up from the table. He grabbed the cheesecake and I cleared the dishes. After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, we headed over the Bob and Alison’s house. When we pulled up, we could see Alison in the kitchen window. She held up a pot of coffee. “Man, she is good.”
“She knew how tired I was all day, so I knew she would have some ready,” I said. We got out of the truck and went inside.
“Hey, you two,” Bob said.
“How are you?” asked Josh, extending his hand. “Thanks for the invite.”
“I am good,” he said, shaking Josh’s hand. “You’re welcome. I am glad you came. While the girls are out on Saturday, me and a couple of the guys are going to get together for a card game. Do you want to join in?”
“Yeah, I don’t see why not.”
“Cool, it will be Vanessa’s boyfriend, what’s his name?”
“Jimmy,” Josh said.
“Yeah, that is it. I don’t know why I can never remember it. Him, Doc Russell, Mike, and Nick, basically the significant others of the ladies going out. I know you don’t fall into that category, but we would like to have you join in. It probably will only be a couple of hours and the women won’t even be home when it ends.”
“Sounds like a great idea, Bob, I would like that. Thanks for including me,” he said, looking at Alison and I. We were trying to stifle a laugh.
“What are you two laughing about?” asked Bob.
“Oh nothing, honey, just girl stuff,” Alison said, grinning.
“You two and your girl stuff,” he said. “Come on, Josh, let’s go into the living room.
“After you,” he said to Bob. “What are we watching tonight?”
“Some movie called Safe. It is supposed to be action packed,” Bob said with his back to us. Josh turned to us and gave us a shrug. We laughed harder.
“I have heard of it. I think it has Jason Statham in it.”
“Yeah, I like his movies.”
“Me too,” Josh said. We came into the living room with a tray of coffee for the three of us and a beer for Bob. He started the movie. It was definitely the action packed adventure he was looking to watch. Surprisingly, Josh and I stayed awake for the entire movie. When it was over, I stood up and stretched. I was really beginning to feel tired. I needed to sleep.
“Thank you for inviting us over, Bob, but I think it is time to hit the sack. I am tired.”
“Shopping with my wife all day will wear you out,” he said, giving me a hug.
“Shut up, you big lug,” Alison said. “Have a good night you two. Call me tomorrow so we can decide on what time we are leaving and I will let Vanessa know.”
“Will do,” I said with a smile and headed out the door. Josh followed. We drove back home in silence. We were both too tired to talk. “I am headed to bed. I will have to register Cassie in the morning.”
“Okay,” he said, yawning. “I will see you in the morning.”
“Are you going to sleep in your own bed or would you like to come upstairs and sleep in mine?”
“I think coming upstairs could be trouble.”
“Somehow I doubt that, tonight, at least,” I said with a grin.
“Good point,” he said, yawning again. “Let’s go.”
“Okay,” I said, heading up the stairs. He followed. He saw the dress hanging on the closet door.
“That is going to look beautiful on you,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said, undressing to my bra and panties and climbing in bed. He followed suit. I was facing the closet when I felt his arm come around me. He kissed my bare shoulder.
“Good night, beautiful,” he said.
“Good night,” I said. Within in five minutes the two of us were fast asleep. The alarm startled me awake. Josh was already out of bed. I did not feel him get out of bed. I got dressed and went downstairs to see that he had coffee brewing, but was outside. I was starting breakfast when he came back in. “What time did you wake up?”
“About an hour before the alarm,” he said, planting a kiss on my cheek. “I carefully got out of bed so I didn’t wake you. You were sleeping so peacefully.”
“Thank you for that,” I said. “I didn’t know you had left.”
“Good,” he said. It was the second night in a row where I had a peaceful sleep. There were no nightmares and John did not invade my dreams. I wondered if I was beginning to move on. Josh saw the look of concern on my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling. “I am okay.”
“Okay,” he said, pouring us both a cup of coffee. “I think today should be your first lesson on one of the machines.”
“That sounds good to me,” I said. “After breakfast, I will register little Cassie, who looks like she is waiting for you to come back outside, and then I will be out for my first lesson.”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” he said, looking out the window and shaking his head.
“She likes you,” I said.
“I don’t know about her.”
“It is fascination,” I said. “She is not sure what you are, but knows that you are nice to her. You were also the first person she saw. Your hands were the thing that helped her come into this world.”
“I know, but I am not her mother or father.”
“John used to have the same thing take place when he helped birth a calf or colt. He said it would end in a couple of days. Most of the time, it took about two weeks before they would stop following him around.”
“Now I know what I have to look forward to,” he said, smiling.
“Yes, you do. She is just getting to know you. She will become fascinated with her own kind soon enough.”
“I hope so,” he said as I put breakfast on the table. We heard a deep, low outcry from outside. We both went to the window. Cassie was mooing because Josh walked away from the window.
“I think we need to have breakfast on the porch so she can see you,” I said with a laugh.
“Oh jeez,” he said. “Is that why she cried out?”
“Yes,” I said. “You moved out of her sight.”
“She doesn’t do that at night,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “But that is because she is in the stall with her mother. She knows when it is bed time. It is during the day she wants to see you.”
“Alright,” he said. “I guess we should eat out there then.”
“Soon,” I said, grabbing our plates. “You just have to be patient.”
“I will be,” he said. We ate our breakfast with Cassie watching our every move. I cleared the plates and went upstairs to register her name. When I came back down, Josh was waiting on the porch steps. “Are you ready?”
“I am,” I said. “Which machine are you going to teach me today?”
“I think the tractor should be your first lesson.”
“Okay,” I said. “I am ready.”
“Great,” he said. We began walking hand in hand toward the equipment barn when there was a nudge prying our hands apart. Cassie had worked her head between our hands. I laughed. “What? Do you think my hands are only meant to be petting you?”
She looked up at him with her big, brown eyes. He petted her on the head. I joined him in giving her some pets. She leaned up against him. He looked at me and smiled.
“Do you see what she does?”
“Yes,” I said. “It is cute. She really likes you.”
“I guess,” he said. “Let’s get on that tractor.”
“Let�
�s,” I said. We walked the rest of the way to the barn with Cassie between us. Josh went in and drove the tractor out of the barn. Cassie and I waited. He pulled it through the big double doors and turned it off. He climbed down. I noticed just how tight his jeans were. I smiled. He got off the last step and turned around.
“Climb on up,” he said. I climbed the step ladder to the driver’s seat. He went around to the other side. He climbed up. “Ready to begin?”
“Yes, I am,” I said with child like enthusiasm.
“Put your foot on the brake and turn the key,” he said. I did as he instructed. “Now, move the shifter to the left and forward, easing your foot off the brake.”
“Okay,” I said, doing what he said. I felt the tractor jerk into gear.
“Place your foot on the gas and press gently,” he said. The tractor jerked forward and started to roll. “Good, now push down a little harder.”
“Okay,” I said. The tractor picked up speed.
“Good, now push down on the clutch and ease off the gas. Move the shifter straight back.”
“Okay,” I said. The gears made a grinding noise. I winced.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You just need to push the clutch in further before you shift.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Now, push back down on the gas and get it going as fast as you can.”
“Okay,” I said. I pushed the gas pedal down, bringing the tractor up to speed.
“Push the clutch in as far as it will go while you ease off the gas. Push the shifter to the right and forward.”
“Okay,” I said waiting for the grinding noise to take place again. This time it did not make a noise when it shifted into gear. We were coming up on the fence line quickly. I turned the wheel. Josh almost fell out. He gripped the overhang tighter. The tractor slowed down, but quickly regained speed.
“You are doing great,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said. “Are you okay? I thought for sure I was going to lose you.”
“It is okay,” he said. “I have fallen out of tractors before.”
“What?” I asked.
“Yeah, I was a teenager goofing off with my friends. I ended up with two broken ribs and a broken arm.”
“Trying to impress a girl?”
“Yes,” he said smiling.
“Was it Vanessa?”
“No, she was like my big sister. She laughed at me when I told her what happened. She said that is what I get for trying to impress Wendy. She would never go out with me. I was two years younger than her and her boyfriend was on the football team. He would probably kill me if he found out that I was crushing on her.”
“Is she the one you always go to for advice on relationships?”
“She is, but I have yet to go to her about us,” he said.
“What about Doc Russell?”
“Please, he is just as clueless as I am,” he laughed.
“That is so mean,” I laughed. “I think he did pretty good with Angelica.”
“I am sure he asked Vanessa’s advice,” Josh said.
“You know, now that I think about, he probably did.”
“I would not doubt it,” Josh said with a smile.
“Will you go to Vanessa?”
“I may,” he said. “When you are ready to allow me to tell people about us. I know the bet is squashed now that I am going to be at Alison’s while you guys are out.”
“Those card games don’t last past nine,” I said. “You could be a lot earlier than you think. You could still win the bet.”
“I will win it,” he said.
“I don’t even know if I am going to come home that night. I may spend it at Vanessa’s. She wants to drive and let me drink for once.”
“That could be dangerous,” he said. “You may let the cat out of the bag.”
“I may, but I am pretty good at holding my liquor. We will have to see what takes place.”
“If I get weird looks from her before I go to tell her, then I will know you told her.”
“Yes, I may not remember telling her.”
“All the girls you are going with may look at me a little funny next time they see me,” he said laughing.
“That is true. You never know what is going to come out of my mouth when I get drunk.”
“Oh jeez,” he said. “Are you guys just going to drink and hang out?”
“No, there is a concert going on,” I said. “We all like Christian Kane and he is going to be there. I need to call Alison later so we can figure out what time we are leaving. The amount of promotion that is taking place over there for it, we had better get there early or we may not get in.”
“Oh wow,” he said. “Yeah, you had better call her. I think your lesson is done for the day. You did wonderful. Next week we will have you drive the tiller. It is a bit more difficult, but you will get it with some practice.”
“Thank you,” I said smiling as I came to a stop and turned off the tractor. “You were a wonderful teacher. It was a lot easier than I thought.”
“I am glad that you thought so,” he said.
“I did. I am going to give Alison a call. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“Okay,” he said leaning down to give me a kiss. I returned the kiss and climbed off of the tractor. I walked back to the house. I was on the porch before I heard the engine start up again. He watched me walk the fifty feet to the front door. I went inside and picked up the receiver. It rang before I could dial out.
“Hello,” I said.
“I have been trying to call you,” I heard Alison say.
“Sorry, I was just about to call you. I was out on the tractor with Josh.”
“Oh really,” she said.
“Yes, he was giving me a driving lesson.”
“Sure he was,” she said with a laugh.
“You are such a pervert,” I said, laughing. “He was. I asked him to teach me to use the equipment in case I end up alone again.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
“I know, but it is a cautionary measure.”
“I can understand that, considering you never thought you would end up alone the first time.”
“Exactly,” I said. “So what’s up?”
“Well, I was calling to set up a time.”
“I am thinking we need to leave here about seven in order to get there with a little time to spare. You know that line is going to be long.”
“That is what I was thinking,” she said. “I am texting Vanessa now.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Do you think we should get a hold of Angelica, Susie and Stacie and let them know?”
“Yes, we don’t want them to be left out,” I said.
“We don’t have to tell them,” she said. “Vanessa said she will be ready and they are in the diner. She told them and they will be ready and meet us at Vanessa’s house so we can all go together.”
“Great,” I said. “At least we will not have to search for each other.”
“Exactly,” she said. “We go as a group, we leave as a group.”
“Yup, we may be a very drunk group, but we will still be together.”
“Yes, we will,” she said. “How did your lesson go?”
“It went well. The tractor is not as hard to drive as I thought.”
“Really? Well, that is good to know. If I ever need a lesson, I will come to you.”
“I’ll just send Josh over,” I said with a laugh.
“Oh Lord, don’t do that to me,” she laughed. “Thank you for coming over last night. I know how tired you were and Josh looked a little worse for wear.”
“Yeah, we came home and went right to sleep. I don’t think we would have made it much longer.”
“I was waiting for the two of you to fall asleep during the movie.”
“Thankfully, there was enough action to keep us both awake.”
“I don’t know how I would have explained it to Bob if you both pas
sed out.”
“Yeah, that would have been a bit difficult.”
“Yes, it would have. Bob is happy that Josh is coming over. He really likes him.”
“Josh is happy for the invite. I told him that the games generally end early.”
“Yes, they do. These men can’t hang like their women can.”
“I know. They have no stamina.”
“I am sure Josh has plenty for them all.”
“That he does.”
“Uh-huh, that was obvious yesterday,” she laughed. I laughed with her. “I will let you go. I will see you tomorrow. I can’t wait.”
“Me either,” I said as Josh walked through the door. “Talk to you later.”
“Alison?” asked Josh.
“Yes, we have decided that we are leaving at seven tomorrow night. She also said that Bob is happy that you accepted his invitation to the game.”
“Good, I am glad he is. I am happy to participate. I cannot wait to see you in that little red dress.”
“Alison and Vanessa are both wearing black dresses. I dared to be different.”
“You are different than the both of them. You have your own unique way about you. That is why I like you so much, Claire.”
“Thank you,” I said, blushing.
“Why are you blushing? Every time I compliment you, you blush.”
“I can’t help it. I have never been one to be good at accepting compliments. It is just my bodies way of reacting.”
“Yeah, well I like the way your body reacts to me,” he said with a sly smile as he walked over to me, pinning me against the counter. His lips brushed mine. A shiver ran down my spine. Our eyes locked. The look in his ice blue eyes set my stomach on fire. I smiled. His lips enveloped my bottom lip. He gently sucked on it. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He ran his hands up my sides. He slowly moved them back down placing them under my pink t-shirt before moving them back up again. His slow caresses on my tingling skin make my knees weak. I did not know how much longer I would be able to stand upright. He sensed the slow downward motion of my body and wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up and sitting me on the counter, never breaking his kiss once. I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him in closer. He moaned into my mouth. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. He caressed my breast, rubbing his thumbs over my rock hard nipples. It was my turn to let out a moan. I could feel my panties becoming wet. His ever present bulge was straining against his tight jeans. We both heard it at the same time.
The Stable Boy Page 16