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

by Lauraine Snelling

  Rebecca leaned over and kissed Jonah’s cheek before leaving the room. His sadness made her heart hang heavy in her chest. Here he’d found something he was so eager about and he couldn’t go.

  But you weren’t going to let him go back out there anyway after the way Mac spoke to you.

  But he apologized.

  She ignored the accusing inner voices and dialed the phone. How she ever would have made the edict stick was beyond her. How could she even have thought of disappointing Jonah so?

  You have to admit, you were looking forward to going back out there until . . .

  Just shut up and leave me alone.

  She snatched up the phone and punched in the numbers. At the command to leave a message after the beep, she did as she’d been told, then hung up.

  This was definitely turning into a lousy day.

  She spent the afternoon wrapping Christmas presents so she could get them in the mail. Only ten shopping days until Christmas, the television reminded her. With the shipping boxes all addressed, she took out the carton of house decorations and set out the nativity scene her grandmother had left her; candles with cheery rings; a soft sculpture snowman to sit outside by the front door; a grapevine wreath with tiny wrapped gifts, balls, and picks of holly and evergreens decorating the door. She set the artificial tree up in the corner but waited for Jonah to help decorate that.

  With some Christmas music on the stereo, she placed the electric candles in the windows—something she’d learned when her family lived on a base near Washington, D.C. She’d been enthralled with driving through the towns and seeing all the candles in the windows. She had promised herself way back then that when she had a home of her own, there would always be candles in the windows. What a shame it had taken her until now to get them out this year. Such was the life of moving from place to place.

  When the phone rang, she lifted the receiver and sat down in the recliner to talk.

  Mac’s voice made her sit a bit straighter.

  “Cody is sure sorry Jonah couldn’t come out and play.”

  “So is Jonah, although he’s slept most of the day. He doesn’t cry very often, but the tears were there. Made me feel like the Grinch who stole Christmas.” She nestled the phone against her shoulder.

  “Poor kid. There should be a law against getting sick before or during Christmas.”

  “I’d vote for it.”

  “Hey, I might have a surprise for him. Could you tell me your apartment number?”

  “Two twenty-one, why?”

  “Give me a few minutes and you’ll know.”

  All she heard was the click and the dial tone. What can he be up to? She picked up the now-empty boxes and hauled them back to the storage area off their deck. Then, taking a string of lights, she wound them around the railing. Eyeing the deck above theirs, she saw the hooks someone else had inserted in the wood. The icicle lights would work there.

  When she went back in the house, she found Jonah looking for her. The way he clutched her waist indicated his growing panic when he didn’t find her.

  “I’m sorry, Sport. I was just outside hanging up the lights. You go sit on the couch with the afghan, and I’ll put the rest up so you can turn them on, okay?”

  He shook his head and clung harder.

  “You want some juice or hot chocolate?”

  His nod set his hair to tickling her neck.

  “Okay, juice?”

  Head shake.

  “Hot chocolate it is.”

  She set him on the counter, poured water in the teakettle, and set it on the burner. “Marshmallows?” Another nod. Taking out two packets of hot chocolate mix, she set them on the counter and paused at the ringing of the doorbell.

  “Who do you suppose that is?”

  Jonah shrugged and wiped his hand under his red nose.

  “Here’s a tissue, Sport. Use it.”

  She went to open the door and stepped back in surprise. “Mac.”

  “I brought someone to cheer Jonah up.” He whistled, and Bungee took the steps at a dead run to skid into the doorway. “Can he come in?”

  “I–I suppose so.” She ushered them into the living room. “Jonah, you have company.” She heard him jump to the floor and come around the kitchen wall. A grin brightened his red eyes as the dog wriggled from nose to paws and everything in between. Bungee’s tongue made lightning licks across Jonah’s cheeks. His whimpers and yips made both the adults smile.

  “Thanks, Mac. What a nice thing to do.”

  “You’re welcome. You want Jonah and dog on the couch or in bed.”

  “Bungee on the bed?”

  “Not unless Jonah invites him. Poor kid looks so miserable.”

  “I’m making hot chocolate. You want some?” The kettle took up singing just as she mentioned it.

  “Sure.”

  “Marshmallows?”

  “Of course.”

  She glanced over her shoulder to see Jonah lying on the couch with Bungee stretched out beside him, his tail wiggling half his body. Her son wore a smile that belied the red nose and smudged eyes.

  She couldn’t quit smiling herself. Mac came to cheer her son, actually the both of them, if she were honest . . . if the warm puddle in her middle were any indication.

  It was a shame she hadn’t baked cookies like she’d thought of earlier. Here it was almost Christmas and she had no baking done, but at least a good part of the decorating was finished and the boxes were ready to mail. She had made progress. She took a tray down from the top of the refrigerator and placed the three full mugs on it, adding napkins along with spoons for stirring.

  Mac leaned against the sofa from his place on the floor in front of Jonah, who was lying on his side, head propped on his hand. The other hand stroked Bungee, who wore a blissful look on his mottled face.

  “I didn’t know dogs could look blissful,” she said as she sat the tray on the coffee table.

  “Of course they can. You just have to learn to read their body language. Bungee is especially adept at letting his feelings be known.” Mac stroked his dog and got a clean ear in the bargain. “Aren’t you, Fella?” The tail flipped into overdrive.

  “Jonah, you better sit up to drink this.”

  “Bungee, down.”

  The dog paused, as if making sure the command was going to be enforced, then leaped to the floor to lay down with his chin on Mac’s knee.

  At the look on Rebecca’s face, Mac smiled. “What can I say? The dog loves people.”

  “Is this a case of love me, love my dog?” Oh my goodness, what did I say? What is he going to think? Rebecca, think before you speak. She could feel the heat working its way up her neck.

  The look in his eyes made her stomach curl up and purr.

  “You could say that.” His voice slowed and deepened, like the richest hot fudge sauce, sliding down the sides of a dome of French vanilla ice cream.

  The thought of curling up in the circle of his arm flashed across her mind and brought on another wave of heat.

  He lifted his hot chocolate mug to his lips and sipped, then licked the marshmallow off his upper lip with his tongue. A bit of fluff clung to his mustache.

  She took a swallow of her own—anything to keep her hands busy so her finger didn’t sneak over there on its own accord and wipe that smidgen of sweet off and . . .

  She got to her feet in one smooth motion but felt like a shuddering volcano inside. Please, phone, ring. Someone, something, do something.

  “Can I get you anything else?” She could hear the shaking in her voice.

  He patted the carpet beside him. “Sit down and relax.”

  She sat in the chair at the opposite end of the room, as far away from him as she could get, and curled her legs beneath her.


  This wasn’t the way she had planned on spending her evening at all. Not in her wildest dreams.

  But, oh my, it felt good.

  He carried the sleeping Jonah back to his bed, then shrugged into his down jacket. “Thank you for a most pleasant evening. You make great hot chocolate.”

  “I forgot to even ask if you’d had dinner.”

  “I ate before I came. Rebecca, you worry too much.”

  “Occupational hazard, I guess, or maybe it’s genetic. My mother worried and now I do.”

  “I see.” He leaned against the doorjamb. “Call me as soon as Jonah is better so he can come ride?”

  “I will. Thank you.” Her heart had picked up the beat as she continued to look in his eyes.

  The urge to lean into his embrace surprised her so, she took a step backward, the magic spell tinkling in crystal shards at her feet.

  Bungee licked her fingertips. Mac settled his dark brown Western hat on his head.

  “See you soon.” One finger burned her chin; then he and the dog went bounding down the steps, his boots ringing on the metal treads.

  Nine

  “They’re coming tomorrow, Cody,” Mac said, dumping sweet molasses-smelling grain in the rubber tub.

  The horse sniffed Mac’s pocket before dropping his head to eat out of the tub. The sound of crunching filled the silence of the barn.

  “How come you went and got so dirty?” Mac retrieved the brush and curry comb and set to cleaning up the mud-caked horse. “Just because we got rain, did you have to roll in every puddle?”

  Cody’s ears flicked back and forth, picking up every sound and nuance, as he nosed for the last few kernels.

  “Now you stay clean tonight, or I promise you, you’ll have to start spending the nights in your stall in the barn.” Actually that was more a threat to himself, for someone had to clean out the stall, and he’d yet to train the horse or dog to do the deed. Or Jonah. How would Rebecca react if he said the boy had to shovel straw and manure out of the horse stall? All part of owning a horse, but then Jonah didn’t own Cody. He just came out to ride and spend time with him.

  That evening Mac picked up the phone and dialed the number he’d memorized while staring at it so long the night before. Long meaning the time it took to build up his courage to dial it. She had excellent phone skills, her voice warm and friendly from the first hello.

  Had her voice warmed even more during their conversation? He promised himself to listen for that tonight.

  “Hello?” Yes, nice and warm.

  “This is Mac, just calling to check on the little guy.”

  “He’s better. When I threatened to take him to the doctor, he started to get better. I think you have to scare the germs away at times.”

  Mac chuckled. “I can remember being sick. My mom would drive clear down to Bakersfield to the doctor. He’d say, ‘How are you, Mac?’ and I’d say, ‘Fine.’ I think she wanted to bust me one a few times.”

  It was her turn to chuckle. “I figure the worst must be over. He’s wanting real food, not just Jell-O and Popsicles.”

  “Kids bounce right back as soon as the temp goes away, at least that was our observation. Good thing I don’t get sick often.”

  “Me, neither.” A pause lengthened.

  “Did you get the rest of your lights up?”

  “Yup, and the boxes mailed. My neighbor came in and stayed with Jonah while I ran errands.”

  Half an hour later they hung up, and Mac wasn’t even sure where the time had gone. But she’d made him laugh, and he’d made her chuckle. He couldn’t wait until the next day. He leaned back in his chair and stared into the flames dancing in the fireplace. She’d traveled the world over and he’d only seen the lower western states. She could speak three languages and he had only a smattering of Spanish to add to his English. She had no place to call home and he had a hunk of heaven right here in this lovely mountain bowl. A fair trade, all taken into account.

  When the SUV drove in the next afternoon, Bungee lived up to his name, bouncing and leaping as Jonah jumped to the ground.

  “Hey, Jonah, glad you got over that cold. Cody’s been missing you.”

  Jonah smiled and, with an extra-wide grin, pointed to Bungee.

  “Yeah, he missed you, too, but at least he got to go visit. On the way home, he told me he sure felt sad that you were sick.”

  Jonah raised his eyebrows and looked to his mother.

  “You’re right, Sport. He’s pulling your leg.” Rebecca flashed Mac a smile that smote him in the chest like being hit with a chunk of concrete.

  When he could talk, he nodded at her. “You sure look nice in that scarf. Blue becomes you.”

  “Thanks, thought I might need something around my ears the way that wind is blowing. About the time I’m surprised to think we are being blown away, I remember the windmills and remind myself that white regiment on the east hills should have been a high wind warning when we moved here.”

  Mac pulled his wide-brimmed hat down more tightly. “Two more days and Danielle will be home. I can’t wait for you to meet her.” He led the way to the barn. “She said she hopes you love Cody like she always has. She’s afraid he’s grown lazy while she’s been gone. Don’t tell her, but he has.” Mac lifted the lid on the horse-cookie bin, and Jonah put several in his pockets, then kept one in each hand. Mac whistled and Cody came jogging toward them; but this time, instead of going to Mac, he headed straight for Jonah, his nostrils fluttering in a soundless nicker.

  “Hey, look at that, he’s talking to you.”

  Jonah’s eyes shone like he’d been given a gold medal. He palmed the horse cookie and Cody chewed it down and nosed for another, lipping it off Jonah’s palm with a brushy upper lip. When Jonah headed for the barn, Cody walked right beside him, as if he had a rope around his neck.

  “Will you look at that?” Mac shook his head.

  “What if Cody steps on him?” Rebecca shoved her hands in her pockets as if to keep them from reaching for her son.

  “Cody is careful about where he plants his feet, most of the time. And Jonah needs to watch out, too, but look at the trust growing there. Would you rather Jonah stayed with you and looked on rather than getting out there and experiencing everything he can?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Yes and no?”

  “Yes, I want him to enjoy things. No, I don’t want him hurt.”

  “None of us want those we love to get hurt, but sometimes you have to let loose enough for them to fly.”

  He watched her grit her teeth and take in a deep breath.

  “He’s so little.”

  “Maybe in size, but not in heart and that’s what counts. You’ve done a good job with him, Rebecca, but you have to let him grow stronger, too.”

  She shot him a look that warned he was close to overstepping with his advice again; then she headed for the barn herself.

  Jonah had Cody tied to the post, halter on correctly with the knot like the one he’d seen Mac tie. Brushes in hand, he’d begun the grooming, looking up to give his mother a grin and tilting his head in question to Mac.

  “You did real well, Son, even to the knot. You are one observant young man, you know that?”

  Jonah nodded and kept on brushing.

  Mac motioned for Rebecca to help her son. “Without a stool, he can’t reach the top line and rump.”

  “So?” She stared at his arm. “I don’t see a cast.”

  Mac blinked, then burst out in laughter. Ah, I see things are changing. Thank You, Lord. “How about a bargain? You take that side. I’ll take this one, and the loser has to pick the hooves.”

  Rebecca raised her spread hands in front of her and backed away. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll brush, but you take care of the hoof, hooves. Whatever.�
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  “What are we going to do, Jonah?”

  Jonah grinned, handed his brush to his mother, and, leaning over the grooming bucket, dug out the hoof pick and handed it to Mac.

  Rebecca snorted, then giggled, ducking behind Cody, but Mac could hear her laughter.

  Jonah giggled a little boy giggle that tickled Mac’s funny bone even more than the laughter of the woman hiding behind the horse.

  He chuckled along with them, bent to pick up a hoof, and proceeded to clean Cody’s feet.

  Once they’d saddled Cody, Jonah led the horse out into the corral. Mac walked beside them with a long coiled rope over his shoulder.

  “This is a lunge line, and I’m going to snap it to the halter. That’s why I left it on under the bridle. We’ll begin with me walking beside you, and then as you get more comfortable, I’ll let the line out. Okay?”

  When they stopped in the middle of the corral, he motioned for Rebecca to put the black tub she’d been carrying down for a mounting block.

  Jonah mounted, dismounted, and mounted again several times before Mac led him around the corral, first in circles, then reverses, figure eights, and more circles.

  “You’re doing a real good job there, Jonah. How does it feel?”

  Jonah nodded along with a big grin and leaned forward to pat Cody’s neck.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d be thinking he’s ridden for weeks instead of a few hours.” Mac smiled at Rebecca, who’d gone over to lean against the rail fence.

  “He’s always picked things up quickly. Like his dad.”

  Was that pain he heard in her voice?

  “Good. Okay, Jonah. I’m going to let this rope play out. Cody knows what he is doing, and now I want you to pick up the reins and hold them both in your right hand, together like this.” Mac showed him how. “Good. Now your job is to keep the reins even. That’s all you have to do and not pull back on them. If you pull back, Cody will stop. If you pull too hard, you will hurt his mouth. That’s what the bit is for, to stop and guide him. You understand?”