by Jodi Payne
"Yeah, Boss?” Ray's voice sounded tinny and odd over the radio.
"Bring Jed ‘n’ Henry on in, too. Hear?"
"Will do, Boss. Just about out there now."
Aubrey glanced over as Haley put the radio back on his belt. “Thanks, Boss."
"How come y'only call me ‘Boss’ when things is goin’ wrong, son?” Haley sounded sore, but his eyes were laughing. Aubrey couldn't help but laugh a little, too.
* * * *
It took about forty-five minutes for the vet to arrive. Amy was the best in the county, though, and she knew the horses in Haley's stables well. While they waited, Aubrey walked Guinevere through the barn and around the barn and through it again, all the while talking and soothing. By the time Amy arrived, he'd run out of things to say.
"You have a lovely singing voice,” she teased, approaching him and Guin with caution.
Aubrey chuckled softly. He liked singing, and he reckoned he was pretty good at it at that, though it didn't seem modest to say so. “Not hardly, but she don't know the difference."
"No really, you should quit your day job.” Amy slid a hand over his shoulder affectionately.
"I will if you quit yours."
"Done,” she smiled. “We can run off to Vegas together and get married."
"You'd like that."
"I would.” Amy winked. “But you don't need a beard.” She reached for Guin slowly and the mare leaned her nose into Amy's palm. “Oh, poor little girl. What's the matter, beautiful?"
"Think it's colic,” Aubrey told her. “I sent Ray out to have a look around the pasture, but he didn't see any debris she might have gotten into, so...” Aubrey didn't need to tell her what he thought, she was already five steps ahead of his diagnosis, no doubt, but he was worried about Guin and it made him feel better to say something helpful.
"Okay.” Amy lifted up Guin's lip and pushed a finger into her gums. “Color is ... well, fair. Let's lube her up, shall we?"
"I love it when you talk dirty."
"I was just trying to make you feel better. Looks like someone got a piece o’ you last night.” Amy wiggled her eyebrows at him and then turned to head back to her truck.
Aubrey took Guin into the barn. When Amy returned, Ray was with her, carrying her kit for her. He set it down on a bench. “Thanks, darlin',” Amy said to Ray. “You want to hang out for a minute? We may need you."
"Pleasure, Miss Adams."
"Ray, you can call me ‘Amy'."
"I know."
"His mamma raised him polite,” Aubrey said sarcastically. Everyone knew Ray had it bad for Amy. Everyone, that was, except for the vet herself.
Amy was digging in her kit and came up with a bottle of mineral oil and a long tube. Aubrey wrinkled his nose sympathetically and took his place in front of Guinevere, holding tight to her lead. “There's a girl,” he said softly, running his hand soothingly along the mare's jaw. “Hold tight, sweetheart, and let Amy do her business."
A few minutes later they were done, and Amy carefully removed the tubing from Guin's nose. The mare snorted and sneezed once it was out, but otherwise she seemed to fare well. “What a sweet patient,” Amy said in that same quiet, soothing tone that Aubrey used. “More walking for you, I'm afraid. We'll give her an hour or so and then see."
Aubrey nodded and was going to say something, but the hands Haley had found for him interrupted.
"How's she doing, Doc?” Jed asked, and he and Henry fell in with the group.
Amy smiled. “We'll see, she's pretty unhappy just now."
Jed nodded and Henry asked, “What's next, Aubrey? All the horses are in."
Amy interrupted. “Next you check everyone's feed and you scrub their water buckets and figure out where Miss Guinevere got her colic. We don't want another horse falling ill."
Henry looked at Aubrey and Aubrey nodded. “Y'all heard the lady,” he said, and watched as the pair of them hurried off to clean up.
Amy felt along Guinevere's side and then went back to her kit. “I'm gonna check everyone out while we wait; see if anyone else is acting sick. Ray, you're with me."
Ray practically jumped to follow her. “Yes, ma'am."
Aubrey had to grin at the way Amy held herself when she was working. She had a job to do, she got paid highly to do it, and she'd hand out orders if she needed to. Hell of a woman. No wonder Ray had it bad for her.
Chapter Six
An hour didn't do it.
"Amy says Guinevere's gums are pale, Boss, and she needs to go in.” Aubrey stood on Haley's porch, hands shoved into his pockets.
"In,” Haley said thoughtfully. It wasn't a question.
"Amy wants to take her up to Davies."
Haley shook his head. “Damn mares are always costin’ me money,” he complained, but Aubrey knew the money wasn't an issue. Haley was as worried as Aubrey was about Guin, that was just Haley's way. “What'r'ya standin’ here for?"
Aubrey nodded and took the steps off of Haley's porch two at a time. “Gonna send Ray up with her."
"That'll make his day,” Haley said dryly.
"Might at that,” Aubrey called over his shoulder as he hurried back up to the barn.
It didn't take long to hitch the trailer to Amy's truck. Guinevere put up a hell of a fight while they were loading her, but Aubrey had been stepped on, kicked, thrown, and bitten so many times since he started out in this barn that he hardly even noticed. They did finally get the mare on board, and Ray held the driver's side door open for Amy.
"Thank you, darlin',” Amy said, getting into the truck. “I'll call y'all as soon as I know something,” she promised, and then Ray was in and they were off.
"Christ,” Aubrey swore and made his way back into the barn. He was worried about his girl Guinevere. She threw sturdy foals, for one thing, but she was also a good ride; easy on her feet, forgiving, and smart. He kept his faith in Amy, though, and tried to turn his mind from things he couldn't help to things he could do something about.
"This barn is a goddamn sty,” he shouted at Jed and Henry who were taking a break for lunch. Aubrey figured he'd join them.
"Heard the barn manager's had a rough week.” Jed grinned and bit into a sandwich.
Aubrey shook his head and sat on a tack box. “Ain't that the truth?"
Henry squinted at him. “What're you havin’ for lunch?"
"Humble pie, friend,” Aubrey leaned over backward and laid his head on the box. “Humble fucking pie."
"Can't be that bad,” Jed said. There was a sly tone to his voice.
Aubrey opened one eye. “What do you know about it?"
"Rumor has it you took someone home last night."
Ah, there it was. Aubrey sighed; he'd known it had to come up sometime, goddamn small town. “Maybe."
"Ty saw you dropping a young kid off in town this morning."
"Don't nobody ever mind their own business around here?"
Henry laughed. “You're kiddin', right?"
"Bunch of clucking hens is what you cowboys are."
Jed and Henry chuckled into their sandwiches. Aubrey thought about taking a quick catnap, but he knew better and sat up again to keep from drifting off. Henry offered him his second sandwich, and Aubrey took it gratefully, adding the market to the long list of things he needed to do on Sunday.
* * * *
It was near seven o'clock before Aubrey, Jed, and Henry had the barn cleaned up. They'd checked all the new feed, which seemed just fine, and it turned out there was nothing in the barn that Aubrey could point to as the cause of Guinevere's colic. Ray had said that the pasture was clean, too; no wet grass, no debris, so Aubrey had to chalk it up to overeating or maybe the heat. Hardly mattered at this point, he just wanted to hear from Amy.
"Call it a night, boys,” Aubrey said, and Jed and Henry each gave him a clap on the shoulder and headed out of the barn. Jed had a wife and three kids to go home to after all, and Henry had his girl and that stupid mutt of his, so it seemed only right to send them on home for sup
per.
Aubrey, on the other hand, had spent the last half an hour rounding up tack that needed repair and cleaning, and decided he'd get a jump on it tonight. The rest he'd work on after lunch tomorrow.
He picked up a bridle and sat down on the tack box with his leather kit, but he hadn't gotten ten minutes into fixing the throat lash when the barn phone rang. He jumped to his feet and snatched the receiver off the wall.
"Jacek here,” he said, feeling his heart leap into his throat. It had to be Amy.
"Hey darlin'.” Amy's voice came cool and easy over the line.
"Tell me you have good news, sweetheart."
"You know I do,” she said, teasing. “We got here in the nick of time, though. They took a couple of films, located a nasty twist, and took Guin in for surgery straight away."
"And she's okay?"
"She pissed off, but yeah, she's okay."
"That's my girl!” Aubrey felt his grin grow wide.
"She'll be here a day or two and then you can come back and get her. Ray and I are headed back now."
"You tell Ray he can sleep in tomorrow."
Aubrey heard Amy pass on the message.
"Aubrey, honey, Ray says you're ... what was it? Oh. Ray says you're a peach.” Amy laughed. Aubrey did, too.
"Night then, Amy."
"Night, darlin'. Get some rest, you looked like hell today."
When Aubrey hung up the phone he was still grinning. He reached up and lifted his hat off his head, and held it over his heart before whispering a soft prayer of thanks to whoever was listening, then lifted his head and sent up a cowboy-style Hallelujah.
"Yeeeehaw!” he shouted with all the strength he could muster and tossed his hat high into the air.
* * * *
Aubrey stayed at the barn until turn-out time and then headed home. It was no small task turning out the stables alone; it was late by the time he'd gotten everyone settled and he was tired. He made himself a microwave dinner he found in the freezer and turned on the TV, but almost as soon as he'd finished eating, he fell asleep.
He woke up, though, in the middle of the night. It was two, maybe three o'clock and he stumbled to the bathroom to piss. Coming back to an empty bed made him suddenly feel lonely, or maybe not so much lonely as just alone, and he lay there staring at the ceiling for a while. His fingers wandered lazily over his stomach and eventually found his cock. More out of restless boredom than anything else, he fondled himself, his rough hands touching his soft prick in a knowing way, squeezing and stroking to bring it to life. It felt okay, but he only managed to get half-hard before he lost interest and after a while he grunted and pulled his hand away, rolling over on his side. He stared out the window instead of at the ceiling, not really able to pin down how he was feeling or hang it on anything specific.
It was probably this thing with Chet. Aubrey had been single before. He'd been single for a long damn time in fact, before Chet turned up. But Aubrey had never felt as alone as he did right now. Chet was charming and outgoing and he had lots of friends. He talked big and drank bigger. He was the best damn roper Aubrey'd ever seen and Aubrey sure took notice of his ass in the saddle. Chet had been the driving force in their relationship. He'd quickly moved into Aubrey's little house, and into his bed, but he never really moved into Aubrey's heart. Not the way Aubrey thought he should have. He was a horny son of a bitch, though, asking Aubrey for sex or just plain seducing him a couple of times a day. Aubrey preferred to be on top and Chet loved getting fucked. He was usually a pushy bottom and he was even better at sex than roping so Aubrey wasn't one to complain even though he rarely wanted it as often as Chet seemed to.
Evidently Chet had figured that out because he'd started coaxing other men into their bed long before Aubrey had caught him at it.
So Aubrey felt like an idiot. That was what all the drinking had been about. He felt small and used, and he knew he'd just let it happen. It was his own damn fault, he should have been more of what Chet wanted him to be, and he wasn't a man that felt those things gracefully.
Aubrey sighed and closed his eyes. Wasn't bad enough he had one man on his mind, but now he had two. Kelly's friendly smile popped up behind his eyelids and Aubrey caught himself smiling back. The kid had gone out of his way for Aubrey, and Aubrey figured that meant he wasn't as into himself as Chet was. Aubrey didn't think he'd thanked Kelly properly for getting his stupid ass home the night before; imagine if he'd woken up on that goddamn sidewalk and missed another morning's work? Haley'd have sent him packing for sure.
Well, with any luck he'd run into the kid again and he could show Kelly that he had some manners.
He sighed again, and flopped onto his belly, and his tired body finally won out over his busy mind.
Chapter Seven
Between the tack that needed fixing and the day of chores he'd missed because of Guin being sick, Aubrey worked every minute of the hot summer days that followed. He got a whole lot done, but there was always a whole lot more to do, and that wasn't going to get any better if he kept on working alone. They'd brought Guin back home two nights ago and she was already restless and wanting turn out, but she needed supervision for a while yet, too. Finally admitting that as much as he liked having the barn to himself, he really did have to get some help, Aubrey stopped putting it off and asked Roy to head into town and post a notice.
That night, Stan insisted that he come downtown. Aubrey agreed, but made it clear that while he'd go and have a steak, he wasn't going to drink, a condition which lasted all of about an hour. A couple of whiskeys later Aubrey was playing pool with Elliot Tipton, and winning, too, when a familiar face dropped some money on the rail.
"I'm in,” the kid said, and smiled at Aubrey. Aubrey would have known that smile even in the pitch black with three more whiskeys in him.
"You're gonna be playin’ me,” Elliot said with a snicker. But he was drunker than Aubrey and he hadn't sunk a ball since the break.
"I wouldn't be so sure o’ that,” Aubrey replied, still looking at Kelly, admiring the way that the kid's hair fell in his eyes. His fingers twitched around his cue stick and he was glad it wasn't his shot.
While Elliot lined up his next move, Kelly found himself a cue and started to polish it up. “Nice to see you again, Aubrey."
Aubrey had things he wanted to say, but he didn't want to say them here in front of everyone, so he just nodded a greeting to Kelly. Elliot looked up from the table. “You two know each other?"
Aubrey was still working out an answer to that question when Kelly spoke up for him. “We've met."
Elliot took his shot and he managed to sink a ball this time, but it was a stripe and Elliot was playing solids. The next game was going to be Aubrey's and Aubrey considered throwing this one just to get out of it.
"Kelly is boarding with me,” Elliot informed him.
"Good. So I can count on him to get you home.” Aubrey circled the table, working out his next move. “You're skunked, El."
Elliot laughed. “I am a bit. ‘S nice. But I don't need no chaperone, Aubrey."
Aubrey glanced up at Elliot. “I think maybe you do."
He could feel Kelly's eyes lock on him. “You heard the man, Aubrey, he doesn't need a chaperone. He can get himself home."
Fuck. Aubrey might be thick about some things but he wasn't born yesterday. He didn't need any more light to read between those lines. Aubrey swallowed and looked back down at the table. The shots were limited, but he found one he liked well enough and lined it up, choosing to ignore Kelly's not so subtle offer.
"If you say so,” he said, and made his shot. He neatly sank one and then another stripe. The eight ball was the only shot he had left. “Want a pity shot, El?"
"Fuck off, man,” Elliot drawled and took a swig from his bottle of beer.
Aubrey laughed. “Corner pocket.” He'd set up the shot well and he took it, sinking the eight ball neatly.
"Good game, Elliot.” Aubrey stuck out his hand and Elliot took it, g
iving him a firm grip in return despite the alcohol. A good man could always give you a good handshake. Elliot tried to stand up using their grip as leverage and staggered two steps away.
"I'm good. I'm good,” Elliot said, and stumbled over to the bar.
Stan leaned around his back and looked at Aubrey. “I got him,” Stan mouthed in an over exaggerated way, pointing at Elliot's back, and with that went Aubrey's last excuse.
"Looks like it's just you and me.” Kelly's voice was thick behind Aubrey's back. Aubrey swallowed again and turned around.
"Friendly game?"
Kelly stepped closer. “I have a wager in mind."
The kid was predictable. Although, now that Aubrey got a closer look, Kelly really didn't seem like a kid, he just looked like one. And he had green eyes. Green like the upper pastures in the spring. Grass green. Aubrey felt his breath catch and he cleared his throat. “Oh?"
"Yeah. I win, and you give me that job you posted."
Aubrey stared at him, because that wasn't what he'd expected to hear at all. “Are ... are you qualified?” he stammered.
"How qualified do I have to be to muck stalls, clean tack, and scrub water buckets?"
"And hold the horses for the farrier and round ‘em up in the pasture and keep track of their feed and know when they're sick..."
"Oh, come on, Aubrey, that's your job."
Mostly it was, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Aubrey wanted the kid, but not as an employee. “Forget it."
"Look, I need the work."
Aubrey snorted. “You look like you're doing okay to me."
"No, I really need the work. I haven't paid Elliot a cent for the room and Jenny's been feeding me. You see what I'm sayin'?"
Aubrey looked hard at Kelly. Jenny's cooking, and not the beer, was the real reason for Elliot's belly. She was a damn good cook. But he knew what the kid was getting at, he'd been there more than once. He'd throw the game if he had to, but it didn't matter if Kelly won or not, he'd give the kid the job anyway. Pride is pride.
"Okay. You want a shot at it, let's knock some balls around."
Kelly grinned widely. “I like that image."