by Holly Rayner
The little foal stumbled and fell several times as she fought to gain balance. In a moment of frustration, she let out her first indignant neigh. Kaled and Anne-Marie laughed at the frustrated little sound.
“She’s a feisty one; I’ll give her that,” Anne-Marie said. “What do you think we should name her?”
Kaled watched the tiny horse as she made her way to her mother and began suckling for some milk. Aloha was quick to help her find what she needed, and the foal drank with gusto.
“I think we should call her Anne-Marie Jr.,” he quipped.
Anne-Marie swatted him playfully on the shoulder.
“Be serious! We need to give this little horse a name. She’s one of us now.”
Only after she said it did she realize she was mentally including Kaled in that calculation. She would have to stop that if she wanted her heart in any way intact.
Still, in that moment, he was one of them. He had become an active participant in ranch life over the past few days, and he deserved a say in the naming ceremony.
Kaled stood in thoughtful contemplation for a moment, watching as the foal finished her meal and began her first attempts at running around in circles.
“I think we should call her Phoenix,” he said, and Anne-Marie tilted her head as she gazed up at him, holding a hand up to block the glaring sun from her eyes.
“Interesting choice. Why Phoenix?”
“Because she’s a symbol of the everlasting promise of rebirth. The world changes, for better or worse, and yet this little creature still rises from the dirt, ready to fight her way through life. I think the name suits her quite well.”
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the foal dance around, enjoying life for the first time.
Anne-Marie grinned. “Phoenix it is, then,” she said.
Kaled reached down and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as they enjoyed a good laugh over their new addition to the ranch. Anne-Marie held on to his hand, enjoying the feel of being close to another person. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before in her quiet, lonely world.
After leaping around the field for a while, Phoenix grew tired, walking shakily back to Aloha and nuzzling her mother, fully prepared for her first nap.
“All right, let’s get you two settled in for the day. It’s time for a good rest,” Anne-Marie said.
She led Aloha toward the stable, Phoenix following close behind. As she settled the new little family in, she gave them both an affectionate kiss on the nose before heading back out. Unsurprisingly, Kaled had been working to set the other horses loose again, and they were back to their original spots, basking in the warmth of the sun.
A breeze brushed against Anne-Marie’s back, and she turned, gazing up at the sky. A series of clouds was beginning to crop up along the horizon, a sign of a coming storm. Calculating the distance, she figured they would be getting the brunt of it around dinnertime.
Kaled joined her then, his eyes directed past her.
“Those clouds don’t look happy,” he said.
“They sure don’t.”
“I thought you said it was always sunny in Texas,” he quipped, and Anne-Marie grinned.
“I said almost always. We’ll want to keep an eye on it. I don’t want our new baby to experience fear for the first time so soon.”
“You might not be able to help that,” Kaled said.
“I can try,” Anne-Marie replied, stubborn as ever.
They stood gazing out at the land once more, absorbing the events of the afternoon.
“Well, that was certainly eventful,” Kaled said. “What shall we do with ourselves now?”
Anne-Marie glanced back at the oncoming storm, and her eyebrows lowered.
“We should do some prep for that,” she said, pointing in the direction of the darkening clouds. “Then I think we should take the afternoon off.”
Kaled did a double take at her words.
“I’m sorry, did you just say that we’re going to do no work this afternoon? Have you seen how much needs to be done?”
Anne-Marie grinned. She really had rubbed off on him. Normally she would have worked through the entire afternoon, but with the storm coming, she felt the need to bunker down. Also, a baby had just been born. They had managed to bring a tiny little life into the world. Surely that warranted a glass of champagne and some rest?
“Come on, then. Let’s make sure the barn is secure and everyone has a blanket in case they need them,” she said, waving him over to the barn.
After another pause, he followed behind her, and for a moment she thought he was going to lace his fingers with hers again as he reached forward. His hand nearly got there before it stopped and returned to his side. Anne-Marie watched all of this from the corner of her eye, looking ahead, and she fought the disappointment at not getting to hold Kaled’s hand once again.
They peeked in on Phoenix and Aloha, both of whom were sleeping soundly in their cozy little stall. Kaled helped Anne-Marie bring in some fresh hay for the evening, as the horses would be going into their stalls early.
“Perhaps some sugar cubes wouldn’t be a bad idea?” Kaled suggested, and Anne-Marie shook her head with a bemused smile.
“You really do spoil our children; you know that?”
Kaled grinned, his dimple on full display.
“What else is a father for?” he teased.
Unable to stop herself, Anne-Marie thought about having children with Kaled, picturing two beautiful little babies resting in her arms as he stood above them, cradling them all in his protective embrace.
“Anne-Marie?” Kaled asked, startling her out of her reverie.
“Yes, I’m sorry. What?”
Kaled’s gaze was pensive as he watched her for a moment before replying.
“There’s a hole in the roof, right over there,” he said, pointing upward.
Anne-Marie glanced up in alarm. Clear as day, in the far corner of the rooftop, was a gaping hole.
“I had no idea that was there!” she cried, staring up at it in dismay.
How long had it been there? There had been so many other projects to work on, she could hardly keep them all straight in her head.
In that moment, she considered Kaled’s offer again. Perhaps running the ranch on her own really was too much. How would they get that hole patched in time before the storm came? How had it escaped her notice?
“Hey, it’s all right,” Kaled said, seeing her worried expression. “We have plenty of time before the rain arrives. If you can give me some shingles, some nails and a hammer, I think I might be able to fix it.”
Anne-Marie crossed her arms and stared at him.
“You can patch up a roof?” she said, her tone laced with doubt.
“Have I proven to be incapable of any task you’ve given me so far?” he challenged.
“No, but this is dangerous, Kaled. The other stuff was just labor intensive.”
“Have a little faith, Anne-Marie. You don’t have to do this all by yourself.”
She stared at him, considering. After a moment, realizing they weren’t exactly in a position to delay, she conceded.
“Fine. But I’m going up with you.”
“What, to supervise?”
“To make sure you don’t fall and break your neck. I’m sure I could never afford the legal fees associated with the loss of someone as important as you.”
Kaled grinned, and it was maddening.
“Ready to climb?” he asked. He was radiating childlike excitement, like they were breaking the rules and about to get away with it.
Unable to resist, Anne-Marie grinned back at him as she grabbed a bucket and filled it with the necessary supplies.
“Let’s go.”
ELEVEN
Kaled climbed up the creaky wooden ladder first, making his way to the overhang of the barn. Anne-Marie quickly joined him, pressing close to him in the dark as they blindly reached for an opening hatch to the roof. When Kaled
found it, he pressed it open.
“Just how much time did you spend in that barn at your palace?” Anne-Marie quipped, but he wasn’t listening.
Kaled lifted himself up onto the slanted roof, gaining his balance before reaching a hand down for Anne-Marie to take, which she did, hefting herself up and steadying herself. She held on to his forearm as she glanced down to the ground below and swallowed.
“You’re afraid of heights,” Kaled said. It wasn’t a question.
Anne-Marie held his arm a little tighter.
“I can do this on my own,” he continued. “You don’t have to make yourself uncomfortable on my account.”
She gripped his arm tighter, tearing her gaze from the drop and keeping her eyes on him.
“Nonsense. This is my ranch. I will help you, rich boy.”
“Oh, name-calling now, are we?”
“Just point us in the direction of the damage so we can get back down, okay?”
Kaled placed a gentle hand on top of hers before he walked them slowly to the hole. He released Anne-Marie’s hand, and she swayed for a moment before sitting, feeling a bit more grounded that way. Kaled pulled out a tile and a nail and began patching up the hole.
“I think you lied to me before,” Anne-Marie said.
Kaled glanced up at her with confusion in his eyes. “About what? I think I already came clean about my purpose for being here,” he said, popping a nail between his teeth as he prepared to secure the first tile.
Anne-Marie’s spirits sank. She hadn’t been talking about his intention to buy the land for an oil drill, but it was a firm reminder that anything between them could still easily be an act on his part—a way to get into her good graces so she would cave and give him what he wanted. Was that really all she was to him?
Shaking off the thought, she followed with her intended response.
“I’m not talking about that,” she said. “I’m talking about the fact that you can perform every task on this farm like it’s nothing. Patching up a roof is not something a king should be able to do.”
“At least, not a very good king,” Kaled quipped, nailing the first shingle on tightly and reaching for another.
“Seriously, how do you know how to do all of this stuff?”
Kaled was nailing the second piece onto the roof, his muscles bulging beneath his shirt as he fought gravity and a strange angle to get the force necessary to secure the tile. The clouds that had been so far away were now creeping overhead. Kaled glanced up at the sky.
“Not much time left to get this in place,” he mumbled, sinking in the second tile. “One more should do the trick for now, but it’s not a permanent fix.”
Not wanting to sit idle, Anne-Marie handed Kaled the tile and the next nail, dropping the subject. There was something he wasn’t telling her. She knew because he had looked to the side as he’d changed the subject. She was thinking about a way to reopen the subject when she felt a raindrop land on her head.
“I think we’ve run out of time,” she said, glancing up before another large raindrop landed squarely on her nose. “We better get down before the roof gets slick.”
Kaled nodded, driving the last nail into the rooftop before reaching out for her hand again. Anne-Marie took it gratefully, holding him tightly as they walked carefully back to the opening and climbed into the darkness of the barn’s upper level.
They made their way as fast as they could down the creaky ladder, and Anne-Marie reminded herself that she should probably invest in a new one, for safety’s sake. Of course, she could make that argument for pretty much everything on the ranch.
When they stepped outside the barn, they saw the horses had remained in place, completely unmoved. A gust of wind shot past, ruffling their tails and manes, and still they stood, munching lazily on the grass.
“I swear, a tornado could hit and they wouldn’t care so long as there was grass flying in the air in front of them!” Anne-Marie huffed, grabbing a halter and making short work of guiding the animals back inside.
Kaled worked silently as he helped her bring all the horses in. As they closed the door on Sunshine’s gate, the rain began pounding on the roof they had just patched.
“Let’s hope that makeshift job does the trick,” Kaled said, keeping a watchful eye on the ceiling lest any wayward drops come pouring through.
They both watched for a few minutes until they were sure the job would hold. Strong gusts of wind pummeled the side of the barn, and the building whistled, making the horses uneasy. Kaled reached into his jean pocket.
“Thought these might come in handy at some point,” he said, pulling out a handful of sugar cubes.
Anne-Marie laughed. “No wonder they all like you so much. You’ve been bribing them since day one!”
Kaled’s grin was sheepish as he approached a stall and offered a cube to a pair of grabby horse lips belonging to Sunshine. The cube was sucked out of his hand in an instant, and the mare instantly quieted down as she munched away.
“Everyone likes a nice treat now and then. I just happen to give a few more of them,” he said, grinning wider.
Anne-Marie placed her hands on her hips in a mock scold. “I’m going to have to keep my eye on you, mister. We don’t need obesity to become an issue on this ranch.”
Kaled put his hands up in a placating gesture, laughing. “I would never let it get that far, I swear!”
Anne-Marie only glared at him in response, though there was no fire behind her stare—not of the angry sort, anyway. She watched as he went to each stall, giving every horse a sugar cube, speaking to them in that calming way he had, until the energy of the space had calmed even as the wind continued to howl.
Kaled checked in on Aloha and Phoenix last, giving the foal her first taste of sugar. Anne-Marie stepped over to watch. Phoenix sniffed at the cube before taking a bite and nuzzling Kaled like an old friend.
“Be careful. You might have just made a lifelong friend,” Anne-Marie joked.
Kaled glanced up at her with a warm smile. He seemed more contented in that moment than she had ever seen him, and up to that point he had been surprisingly easygoing. First impressions could be very deceiving, she realized.
Seeing that all the horses were cared for and comfortable, Kaled and Anne-Marie headed to the barn door and peeked out. Waves of rain lashed against the ground as the wind blew droplets in every direction. The ranch house wasn’t all that far away, but in that weather, it might as well have been a mile.
“What do we do?” Kaled asked, looking down at Anne-Marie.
She gazed up at him, reaching down and taking his hand in hers. He laced his fingers with hers without hesitation and grinned, his eyes mischievous.
“Run,” she said, and the two of them bolted out into the rain, laughing as they were instantly soaked.
Kaled saw a puddle as they approached the house, and he purposely jumped into it, thoroughly drenching Anne-Marie.
“Hey!” she laughed, kicking the water in his direction.
They were both bent over with laughter, still holding hands, as they finally made it to the front porch and found shelter from the rain.
“Like puddle water would have made a difference,” Anne-Marie said, tugging at her shirt and wringing it out.
“What’s wrong with a little bit of dirt?” he asked, chuckling. He glanced down and saw the Stetson on the porch, still dry. It must have fallen off at some point in the day, between chores, a horse giving birth and roof patching, but he dusted it off and placed it on his slick, wet hair.
“Ma’am,” he said, his drawl even more pronounced as he tilted the hat to her.
Anne-Marie laughed. “You really are getting better at that,” she said.
“Thank you very much,” he said with an Elvis-like twang, and Anne-Marie chuckled as her gaze turned outward.
All around them, water poured onto the earth, the trees soaking it in, absorbing the droplets with a gentle, peaceful sound. They were perfectly insulated, and the world
around them rejoiced in the nourishment of a good watering.
Anne-Marie sighed. “Well, I suppose that ends our chores for the day.”
“You sound way too disappointed about that,” Kaled said, turning toward the house. “Now how do we get inside without making a complete mess of the place?”
Anne-Marie stared at him for a moment, and he watched her with a careful expression. Suddenly, she began unbuttoning her plaid shirt, and she watched as he visibly swallowed. When she reached the last button and pulled the shirt off, revealing a white undershirt beneath, she grinned at him, knowing where his thoughts had been.