The Gift: A Horse, a Boy, and a Miracle of Love

by Lauraine Snelling

  Saturday morning, Jonah was up, dressed, had eaten his Cap’n Crunch, made his bed, and put his laundry in the basket before his mother wandered into the kitchen, dreaming of hot coffee served instantly.

  “Did you eat?”

  He nodded and showed her his cereal bowl in the dishwasher, along with her cup from the night before.

  She yawned and stretched, then filled the coffeemaker with water and vanilla-flavored grind and plugged it in. “Why I don’t fix this the night before and set the timer, I’ll never know.” She turned to ask Jonah something and realized he’d gone to watch cartoons. A note on the table in large block letters said 9:30 a.m. She smiled at the reminder. No doubt on that score; Jonah wanted to go out to see Cody again. While the coffee dripped, she went back to her room, glancing into Jonah’s to see the bed made and floor neat. Taking no chances, is he? She made her own bed, waiting for the bing from the liquid energy maker.

  By the time they drove into the McNeally yard, they were still ten minutes early; and, if Jonah had had his way, they’d have been half an hour earlier. Bungee greeted them with deep-throated barks and a bouncing lope that gave him his name. When Jonah opened his car door, the dog sniffed once, then turned himself inside out to greet him.

  “Be careful, Jonah. He doesn’t know you that well yet.” Her caution was lost in the yipping.

  Mac came out the back door, shrugging into his sheepskin vest over a blue plaid flannel shirt. He looked just as good in daylight as he had in her dream. She’d read once about warm-fudge eyes. The description fit. Chiseled jaw, too, but the rough edges were softened by smile lines bracketing his mouth and crinkling the edges of those eyes.

  Stop it, she warned herself. You’re here to help your son, not to dream of cowboys, nor a certain cowboy, if one could call a plumber a cowboy. But then how many plumbers wore a sweat-darkened tan Western hat with the edges slightly rolled up, worn jeans with a tooled belt and an engraved oval belt buckle, and a sheepskin vest?

  “Good morning.” He smiled at each of them, making eye contact at the same time.

  The flutter she felt in her middle hadn’t made itself known since Gordon died.

  “How about we give Cody a good brushing and then I teach you how to saddle him up?” He looked at Jonah, who bobbed his head. His smile said all the words he couldn’t utter.

  I want to learn, too. Rebecca kept her words to herself. This is for Jonah’s benefit, she had to remind herself a second time. She followed behind the two of them, distancing herself.

  “And then we’ll put Cody on a lunge line. That’s a long rope, and you can ride him around the corral.”

  “He’s never ridden before, remember? Let’s not rush things.” Be careful with my son! her mind screamed.

  Mac stopped and slowly turned to look at her, one eyebrow cocking in a way that clearly said, You think I don’t know what I am doing? “He’ll be all right. I’ll be at the other end of the lunge line and keep it short until I feel certain he is secure.”

  “Oh.” Talk about being chastised with a look and gentle words.

  Mac whistled and, down in the field, Cody raised his head. When Mac whistled again, the horse broke into a trot, his mane flying in the breeze.

  “Oh, he’s so beautiful.” Indeed, the lightly spotted white horse, which galloped across the pasture, looked like a movie rendition of wild mustang days.

  “Doesn’t look old when he runs that way, does he? Not that twenty is old for a horse, but he’s no youngster anymore, either.” Mac slapped Cody’s neck and raised a cloud of dust. The horse appeared to take the move as one of affection. The horse sniffed the man’s pockets, then nuzzled one and nudged the laughing owner. “Can’t fool you, can I?” Mac pulled out two horse cookies and gave one to Jonah before giving the other to Cody. “Now it’s your turn; remember to keep your hand flat.”

  Jonah did as he was told and giggled, rubbing his hand after Cody whiskered it, lifting his treat.

  Rebecca swallowed the rising “Be careful” and wished she could feel the horse’s whiskery lips on her hand. Or was she thinking of another kind of whiskers brushing her palm? She swallowed again, this time hoping the heat she felt rising from her neck might somehow be attributed to the weather.

  “Okay, Jonah, let’s go back to the barn. Cody will meet us there.” They turned as one, with Rebecca tagging along behind, and ambled back to the hip-roofed barn with a stone foundation that looked like it had sprouted right out of the land.

  “You get the bucket of brushes out of the tack room, and I’ll let Cody in through the back door.” Mac pointed to the tack room and watched while Jonah scampered off to do his bidding. He flashed Rebecca a smile and continued on into the dimness of the dirt-floored building.

  She leaned against the open door. “Good job, Jonah.” Her son’s grin caught at her heart. How unlike him to take to a stranger as quickly as he had to Mac. Was it the pull of the horse or the man himself?

  Down at the end of the barn, the door squealed as Mac pushed it open and let Cody in. He grabbed the horse by the mane and put some kind of harness over his head, then buckled it behind the ears. Taking a rope off the hook on the wall, he snapped that under the horse’s chin and the two walked together, Cody’s head bobbing along about the man’s elbow, keeping time with Mac’s feet.

  Rebecca rubbed her elbows. The chill of the sharp breeze bit through her jacket. One thing about Tehachapi: It did have four seasons just as the advertisement promised. Or was it the disconcerting chill of being out of her comfort zone? A horse, a barn, her son trying new things.

  “This is a halter. This is a lead rope or shank. I’m going to tie this other end to that round metal circle on the post there. You see that?” Jonah nodded. “We always tie Cody up like that when we groom him so that if something spooks him, he won’t run off. Not that much spooks old Cody here, but it is wise to be careful. What you learn with one horse, you’ll know for all the others.”

  Jonah’s quick smile brought one in return.

  “I believe if you learn things right in the beginning, life gets plenty easier later on.” As he talked, Mac stroked the horse and reached for one of the brushes. “Now, this one is good for general brushing. See how stiff the bristles are?” He scrubbed them across his hand, the sound like dry leaves rattling in the wind. “The other one there is softer, for his face. And that black rubber oval is a curry and good for cleaning off mud or pulling out dead hair in the spring. Now, since he is so dirty, which one should I use?”

  Jonah handed him the curry.

  “Good. Now, since I have two hands, I will use the curry in one and the stiff brush in the other. Grooming is a two-handed job, goes much faster this way.” He stroked down Cody’s shoulder, the curry hand followed by the brush hand. “There is another brush in there that you can use, and you just follow what I’m doing.”

  He let Jonah brush a few times and then handed him the curry. “Now you can do it right. You start with his neck and shoulder, go on to his belly, and then his rump. Don’t use the curry down on his legs, but it’s good for the mane, all that long hair on his neck.”

  Jonah’s forehead wrinkled in his concentration as he brushed.

  “I think we’ll have to get you a box to stand on, but this time I’ll do the high parts. See, short strokes like this loosen the dirt and dig it out.”

  All the while Mac talked and brushed, he pointed out things like following the way of the hair, the flank where Cody was ticklish, and how watching the ears told them what Cody was thinking.

  He couldn’t be thinking much, Rebecca thought. He’s almost asleep. She shivered.

  “You want to come help?”

  Rebecca started. “Me?”

  “Who else?”

  “I guess.”

  “After all, Jonah might want a horse of his own someday, and yo
u’ll need to know all this stuff, too. My Dani got her first horse about the age of your son here, and she’d have a whole herd if I let her.”

  Rebecca took the proffered brush and glanced down to see Jonah shaking out his hand. “You okay?”

  His quick nod as he returned to his vigorous brushing told her he hadn’t planned on her seeing him.

  “Brushing is hard work if your arms aren’t used to it.” Mac stepped back and let her brush for a few strokes. “No, like this.” He laid his hand over hers to put more pressure on the brush. The tingle that flew up her arm made her catch her breath.

  “I–I see.”

  When he stepped back, her side felt the chill again. His body heat had shielded her, warmed her. She hadn’t felt such comfort in a long time. If comfort was the proper word.

  She grinned down at Jonah when she went around to his side of the horse, shaking out her arms like he had. His eyes danced as he nodded.

  “That looks pretty good. Now I’ll pick his hooves. You can see he isn’t wearing shoes . . . .”

  At Jonah’s glance at his own sneakers, Mac chuckled. “You’re right, Son. Cody’s shoes are different than yours. See that?” He pointed at a metal arch on the post. “Those are Cody’s shoes. They are nailed into his hooves . . . .”

  Jonah took a step back, horror rounding his eyes and mouth.

  Mac smiled again and shook his head. “No, it doesn’t hurt him, any more than cutting your toenails does.” Jonah nibbled on his bottom lip, his eyes still shadowed with doubt. “Here, I’ll pick his hooves and show you.” Mac picked up one of Cody’s front feet, dug the hoof pick out of his pocket, and pointed out the hoof wall, the tender frog, and the dirt that he dug out. “If Cody gets a rock in here by the frog, he could go lame and limp like if you had a rock in your shoe. If his hooves are never cleaned out, he could get an infection. I’ll let you do this next time.”

  Rebecca sucked in a breath, loud enough that Mac looked her way. “What if . . . ?”

  “Cody stepped on him or knocked him over?” He finished the sentence for her.

  She nodded.

  “That’s why I’m teaching him the right way. Getting stepped on happens sometimes. You just learn to keep your feet out of the horse’s way.” His gentle voice calmed the up-speed of her heart. She’d not thought of all of this when she agreed to bring her son to befriend the horse. But one look at Jonah’s face told her they were doing the right thing.

  A brief nod said she—she what? Agreed? Approved? What?

  The phone on the tack wall rang.

  “Excuse me.” Mac left them with the horse and Jonah picked the soft brush out of the bucket and, tugging Cody’s head down to his level, began brushing the horse’s face. Cody’s eyes closed again, and he slightly leaned into the brush.

  “He likes that.”

  Jonah nodded. He did, too.

  Mac returned. “I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to go deal with that guy. He owns the house I’m working on and can’t get out there during the week. We won’t get to the riding today after all.” He squatted down to Jonah’s level. “Next time, all right?”

  Rebecca could feel relief soothe her neck and shoulders.

  Jonah nodded and dumped his brush in the bucket. He turned and stroked Cody’s nose, leaning his forehead against the horse’s face. The sweet vision of the two caught her heart. She glanced up in time to see Mac smile and nod. He laid a hand on her son’s shoulder, his other on the horse’s neck.

  “You did good, Jonah. Real good.” He turned to look at Rebecca. “Could you come back tomorrow afternoon? I get home from church about twelve-thirty or so.”

  Thoughts of the amount of work she had left to do made her pause.

  “If you want to, that is.”

  Jonah left the horse and came to stand by her side, taking her hand and imploring her with every ounce of his being.

  “If you’re sure it’s no bother. I mean . . .”

  “I don’t ever say something I don’t mean.”

  At the firmness in his voice, she nodded. “We’ll see you then.”

  As the three of them walked on up toward the house, she noticed Jonah slip his other hand into Mac’s. Was this whole thing going too fast? Fear bombarded her. What if Jonah got hurt? What if . . . he fell off? What if the horse . . . ?

  Ah, but what about you? The little voice made her grit her teeth.

  Five

  “Is that all you wanted?”

  Mr. Miller took a step back. “Ah yes, I mostly wanted to touch base with you, check on that addition. Sorry if I took you away from something important, but this is the only time I have for the next two weeks.”

  Lord, save me from overzealous homeowners. Mac accepted his apology with a shrug. “I’m here now, so let me show you what I had to do. I wrote up a change order with the extra charge on it. I have a copy for you and one for Jim in the truck.” After pointing out a problem they’d not anticipated with the addition and listening to the man compliment him on a fine job so far, Mac handed him the change order, shook hands, and watched as the man climbed back in his SUV and wheeled out the drive.

  Baby-sitting owners wasn’t on his list of pleasurable duties, but sometimes that came with the territory. Since he had yet to overcharge or cheat anyone, he had to remind himself that all plumbers and plumbing contractors didn’t work by his standards. Keeping on top of the project was wise for someone having a house built. It helped, however, if they had some kind of rudimentary knowledge of construction.

  Or trusted their contractor. Jim Benson was no more in the business to cheat someone than he was. Otherwise he wouldn’t work with him.

  So, I’ll see them again tomorrow. Instead of turning on Banducci Road and going west toward his place, he turned right and headed to town. If he put a roast in the oven, surely they would stay for dinner. After buying more than just a roast at the supermarket, he loaded the six grocery bags in the rear seat of his king cab and headed on home. Good thing the housecleaner had come this past week.

  That evening, he kept one eye on the football game and one on the phone. Should he call her and apologize for running off like that? And invite them to stay for dinner? What if they already had other plans? But she’d said they didn’t know very many people. “Good grief, Turner James McNeally, you are dithering like a teenager asking for a date. What’s come over you?”

  Bungee rose from his place on the rug by the wood-burning stove and came to lay his head on Mac’s thigh. His brush of a tail wagged, and Mac could swear his eyebrows rose in question.

  “No, it’s not your problem, Boy.” He thumped the dog’s sides and rubbed his ears, gaining a whimper of pleasure for his efforts.

  The Sunday school class he taught on The Letters of John seemed to last twice as long as the allotted hour, and the pastor doubled his sermon time, or at least it felt that way. Mac was headed out the door without staying for coffee when one of the men stopped him.

  “Hey, what’s your hurry?”

  “I have a boy coming to ride Cody, my daughter’s horse.”

  “That was your ad in the paper then?”

  “Yep. And it worked. Nice little boy.” With a nice mother.

  “Well, good for you. I thought that was your number. Told Maggie, ‘See, Mac’s making changes.’”

  “Well, I don’t know about changes but . . .”

  The man thumped him on the shoulder. “’Bout time’s all I can say.”

  “See you.” Mac scuttled out the door before anyone else could grab him. He knew this was totally unlike his normal behavior, but so be it. Halfway home, the man’s words came back to him. About time for what? Company for Sunday dinner? He and Dani frequently had company. He was known as a pretty good cook in general and of gourmet-chef caliber on the barbecue. The youth group use
d his pool, as did other groups from the church. His home was always open.

  Except for today. Today it was open to someone different.

  He dumped a packet of onion soup mix on the roast and, after wrapping it in aluminum foil, set it in a pan and put the pan in a 300-degree oven. After all, Jonah might like to ride for quite a while, at least by the time he groomed Cody again. And the longer the roast cooked, the better it would taste. He peeled potatoes and left them soaking in a pot of water. Glancing at the clock, he realized he had a choice—make the salad or go groom Cody himself. What was best for the boy? For Cody? After all, that’s who this was all about. A needy boy and a lonely horse.

  Let alone a lonely man. The thought brought him to a halt, staring out the window. Was he lonely for a woman? Or would anyone do? Friends and family had been fine up to now. What was different?

  He closed his eyes. Rebecca appeared on the backs of his eyelids. Just as he had seen her in a dream. One he’d forgotten about until just now. So why was he attracted to her?

  Lord, help me out here. Did You bring her to the ranch for a reason? Is this some part of Your divine plan? You know, I’ve told You all along that when You have the right woman for me, You have to bring her into my life. I’m not going searching. I tried that. Never again. He shuddered at the memory. One of the women from church had said she had a sister she wanted him to meet. He’d gone along with the plan. Dated her a few times. But, when she began to want more than friendship, he realized he wasn’t ready for that. And she wasn’t the right one. Clingy had never set well with him. Most likely because he’d been married to a strong woman, and they’d grown into the kind of marriage that people envied.

  Not that it had started out that way.

  Bungee’s barking tore him from his reverie as a familiar SUV drove in and parked by the gate to the yard. Jonah bailed out and allowed the dancing dog to lick clean his ears, cheeks, and every other part of his face that Bungee could reach.