by Sean Michael
He was given a nod and a smile, before she spoke. “Hey, Trey. You looking to get anymore horses? I just went in and rescued three. I got homes for two, but the third's a youngish one. Skinny and skittish and not broke. She'll go for dog food if I can't place her.”
“They really use horses for dog food?” He was a bit shocked. It made a difference now that he'd seen a horse up close and personal.
Trey nodded. “'bout seventy percent of horses at auction go for dog food or overseas for eating.” Trey frowned. “Is she sick? Wormy? Bow-backed?”
“She's malnourished. I wormed her. She's not been socialized and is wild as can be, but she's solid in her bones.”
“You're not going to let her get eaten by dogs, are you, Trey?”
“I don't know, Russ. You gonna spend the time out in the pasture gentling her?” The question was serious, Trey giving him a curious look.
He tilted his head, thinking about it. Those horses were big. Not giants or anything, but they were big animals and had teeth—he'd seen Pud in a foul mood. “I'd need someone to show me what to do.”
Trey sighed, ran a hand through his hair and grabbed his hat. “I reckon we'd best take a look at her, and don't you grin, Maddy—I'm not saying we'll take her.”
“You want me to come with?” Russ asked.
Trey nodded. “Yeah. Grab your shoes and come on.”
The vet-lady winked at him as she opened the back door for Trey. He blushed a little and headed for his shoes. It occurred to him as he followed them out that maybe he was putting pressure on Trey to take the horse when Trey didn't really want to. This wasn't his place and he didn't know anything about horses and he was pretty sure he couldn't afford to house and feed one. He resolved to keep his mouth shut.
Then he saw her—thin and short, chocolaty brown with a pure white star on her forehead, legs shaking as Trey and the vet looked her over. Oh God. She was beautiful. Suddenly he understood Trey's crooning over Pud and Rip and the rest of them. He bit his lip hard, hanging back, wishing like hell he had something to offer for her.
Trey's eyes met his. “Go get a bucket of sweet feed, Russ, and bring it over, will you?”
He nodded eagerly. He jogged to the barn and got the feed, bringing it to Trey.
Trey shook his head, holding her bridle. “Get a handful and offer it to her. Real slow and easy. She's scared plumb to death.”
Oh. Oh, cool. He sure hoped Trey was planning to keep her because he was falling in love. He got a big handful and held it out slowly to the horse, crooning softly like he'd heard Trey doing with the other horses. The colt made a sharp noise and her nostrils flared, neck reaching out to nibble. Her eyes were brown, really really soft and brown and looking right at him.
“Oh she's just like melted chocolate,” he murmured, staring right back.
She took a few bites, then started throwing her head a little. Trey held her bridle, murmuring. “That's it, Russ. Get her to take another bite or two and we'll let her run.”
He dipped his hand in for a fresh batch of feed, holding it out to her again. “Come on chocolaty-girl. You're looking pretty skinny.”
“Yeah. What happened, Doc?” He half-listened to a tale of an elderly man who'd been put in a home by his family, but no one thought of the animals, just leaving them. Harsh. Way harsh.
He reached out carefully, wanting to stroke her.
“Easy, Russ. We don't want her biting you.” Trey watched as she let him touch the star on her forehead for a few heartbeats before throwing her head back and stamping. “Okay, good. Good girl. Move, Russ. We'll let her go.”
He backed off until he was out of the way, watching the horse all the time. She ran hard, bucking and kicking and whinnying. She was beautiful.
Trey climbed up onto the fence. “What do you think, Russ?”
He thought maybe he was in love was what he thought.
“Honestly?” he asked.
“Yup.” Trey never took his eyes off the colt.
“I don't know anything about horses, but I think she's really pretty.”
“You think you can spare some time to work with her? Try to get her used to folks?”
He nodded. “If you can show me what to do.”
“Okay. Leave her in here for a few days, we'll see how she does.” Trey shook his head, grinned. “She's right pretty. She got a name?”
The vet shook her head. “None that I know of.”
He had to bite his lip hard not to say her name was Chocolate. It wasn't his horse, it wasn't his place.
The toe of one boot nudged his hip. “Well? She got a name?”
He didn't play coy, just nodded. “Chocolate.”
“Works for me.” Trey watched for a second, then yawned. “Come on, Doc, we got another calf last night and I'm only working a half day.”
“You want me to get a stall ready for her?”
Trey shook his head. “We'll move Pud into the main stables, leave this one here for a day or three and slowly introduce her in. We don't want anyone fighting.”
“I'd better get to work then.” He stopped a moment and gave Trey a smile. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He got a tired smile. “You gonna be okay today?”
“I'll do my best.” He was a little nervous knowing he wouldn't have Trey to rely on if he ran into something he wasn't sure of, but worse came to worse he could always wake the man. He was going to do his level best not to.
“Cool. I'm going to run Doc down to the pasture and I'll move Pud before I bunk down.”
“Okay. Get some sleep.” He gave Trey another smile, spared another glance for Chocolate and then headed for the goats.
* * * *
Trey tossed a box of dingdongs into the basket, feeling damned good after his nap. Winning three out of four at pool didn't hurt either.
“So, what do you cook besides burgers? You cook out?” The kid didn't look devastated about losing pool, either. Lew and the guys had gotten a chuckle out of the newbie and the kid had taken it well. Hell, LouAnn'd given him a free coke.
“Cook out?”
He chuckled. Yankees were the oddest damned things. “You know—charcoal, meat, fire, outside? Cooking out?”
“Oh! Barbeque—yeah, I can do that. Burgers, hotdogs, steak, chicken—my father taught me when I was twelve and it was my job ever since. He likes to sit back, relax and back seat drive the cooking.”
“Barbeque is done in the oven, but I'll forgive you for not knowing.” He grinned and grabbed some tortillas and some white bread. “You got three dinners. Start planning.”
Mmm—brown and serves...
Russ split off from him, coming back with different items: steak, ground meat, macaroni, a couple of different cheeses and chicken. Oreos went in next, along with fixings for something sweet.
“Mmm ... Oreos. Oh! Milk! Eggs, too. And I reckon we're fixin’ to be out of salsa.” He grabbed some fajita meat and a brisket. They could eat on that two days and lunches. “You eat potato salad?”
Russ nodded. “Yeah. I might not put salsa on absolutely everything, but I'm not a picky eater for all that.”
“I don't put salsa on everything ... Besides, salsa's good, puts hair on your chest.” He blushed a little, but grinned. He hadn't had this must fun at the grocery in ages. “I reckon we should get some lunch meat or tuna for sandwiches and some popcorn. It's cheap and goes with movies.”
“Cool, I'm easy.” Russ colored a bit. “I've got to stop saying that.”
Trey chuckled. “Oh, hell. I'm the only one hearing it and I promise not to hold it against you one bit. Did we need toilet paper?”
“If you're not sure then yes we do. Better safe than sorry where that's concerned.” Russ gave him one of those sweet half shy smiles and popped a gallon of chocolate chip ice cream into the cart.
“Oooh, chocolate chip. Nice. Peach for me. And a pie for Sunday dessert—cobbler or cherry pie?” They argued playfully over who was fixing what when and whether cool whip or whipped cream in a
can was better.
The kid grabbed a flat of sodas. “You got a preference for something other than coke?”
“All the same to me, Russ. How're we doing on coffee?” He got a little bottle of ginger ale. He found a little glass before bed settled his belly right up.
“That's even more essential than t.p.—so we'd better stock up if you have to ask.” Russ looked good, easy and relaxed, having fun.
“You got a point. Hey, let's see if they have any dominos while we're here.” Between them they wandered the store, picking up odds and ends. Playing house.
That's what they were doing. Trey couldn't decide whether that felt good or scary or just plain weird.
“You want me to chip in for my half?” Russ asked when they got to the cash registers.
“We'll figure it up at home. Let you get a little spending money saved.” He knew how hard it was at first, knew just from looking how close to the bone Russ'd been living.
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”
He nodded. You got what you gave, always, and Russ was a good housemate. Not a good cowboy, yet. But a good housemate.
“You think they've got somewhere here that's got soft-serve?” Russ asked him. “I've got a sudden craving.”
“Dairy Queen's on our way home.” Trey grinned and nodded at Lynn Horsley who was checking their groceries out along with eyeing Russ’ ass. “Evenin’ Lynn.”
“Evening, Trey. So who's the young stud?”
Russ went about three shades of red.
He chuckled. “Russ Johnson. He's my new right hand. Russ, this here's Miss Lynn. Her daddy owns a spread down the road from us.”
“Hello, Miss Lynn.” Russ held out his hand. “Good to meet you.”
Lynn, who for all her bleached blonde frizzy hair was a pretty girl and a sweetheart, just beamed and took Russ’ hand and shook hard. “Pleased. Where you from, Russ? Not ‘round here.”
“No, ma'am, I'm a Yankee.”
Trey chuckled as Lynn grinned. “Well, reckon we'll forgive you. Maybe. If you're nice.”
Russ laughed. “I can be nice.”
“Nice is good. My daddy says nice boys are hard to find.” Oh, good Lord, that was a shark's look, wasn't it? And there was Russ looking like he knew he was dinner.
“Marty said to make sure I told you hey next time I saw you. He'll be home in two weeks. You ought to come see him.” He hid his grin, kid couldn't say he'd never done nothing for him.
“Oh, now, maybe I will.” Lynn gave them both a bright smile. “Maybe I'll see you there, Russ.”
Russ ducked his head. “Yeah. “
He paid the bill, then headed out to the truck, whistling. “So, Dairy Queen, then home?”
“Yeah, my treat at DQ.” Russ loaded his bags into the back of the truck and climbed in.
“Cool.” He started up the truck, singing into to the song that came up. “Don't worry about Lynn. She's harmless. Friendly too.”
Russ gave him a grin and a wink. “I told you I attract women.”
“Damned straight.” He blinked, then managed to keep the truck between the lines as they started laughing hard.
Russ treated him to a double dip, grinning at him all the way home as he sang along to the radio. They pulled in, unloading the bags and working together, sure and easy.
“You think we should check on Chocolate?” Russ asked, voice casual.
“Surely. Did she eat any more for you this evening?” The kid was lost. Made him feel good, seeing that interest, the caring.
“Yeah, a couple of handfuls. She almost let me touch her again, too.” Russ gave him a grin, face just lit right up.
“You work at it, she'll come around. She's just scared and doesn't know to trust us.” He grabbed an apple and tossed it over. “She'll love it, you can feed it to her a bit at the time.”
“Cool. You coming with me?”
“Surely.” He got himself a coke from the fridge. “You want one or you gonna wait?”
“I'll wait.” Russ was practically bouncing in place, eager to get out to the filly.
Trey chuckled and got moving. No reason to make the kid wait. Hell, he remembered his first colt—Red Rover. Momma thought she'd never get his feet flat on the ground again. He damned near slept in the barn all summer, watching that little paint grow.
Russ’ face was all lit up and eager. “You think she likes me?”
“I reckon. Doc says she wouldn't have nothing to do with anybody and she's eating from you.” The poor critter would fall in love with anyone who fed her, but he wasn't telling that. Truth be told? He wanted the colt to take to Russ.
They got out to the yard and Russ got a bucket full of feed. “It's okay I'm still giving her the good stuff, right?”
“I reckon we'll give her that for at least a month, let her build some weight.” Trey climbed up onto the fence, watching the moths and fireflies flutter around the lights.
Russ went into the yard and started calling softly to the colt. “Chocolate. Come on, sweet girl. Got something for you.”
Trey was still and quiet, just sort of waiting and watching, not really expecting much. It didn't take long before that long face appeared, white star blazing, sniffing and coming towards Russ. Well, he'd be damned. Excellent.
Russ’ face looked like to light up the night sky he was beaming so hard. The filly stepped right on up, nose snuffling against Russ’ hand, eating steady. She wasn't relaxed, but she was still, hungry enough to trust. Russ just kept on crooning to her, calling her sweet and love and telling her how good she was, how pretty.
It was ... Well, he wouldn't admit it to a soul, but it was damned fine, to see how happy Russ was, to hear that voice soft and sweet. And good lord and butter he'd be a monkey's uncle if the filly didn't let Russ stroke her nose, just a little before backing off again.
“Give her a bit of apple, there. She'll fall plumb in love.” As if she wasn't already.
“Oh, right!” Russ pulled the apple bits out of his pocket and held his hand out again. “Come on, Chocolate-girl. I've got something special for you, yes I do.”
The filly sniffed, stepping right on up, ears twitching. Oh, yeah. Somebody was interested. Russ let her have half the apple before he started to stroke the trembling nose in between bites. The kid was actually quivering about as much as Chocolate was—just vibrating with excitement.
It made him feel good—damned good, to see both of them, learning each other. Damn. Just ... damn.
Chocolate let Russ pet her a bit more and then took off, running around the yard.
Russ climbed up onto the fence next to him, all smiles and happiness. “She's something else, isn't she?”
“She is. She's going to be just fine, I think.” He grinned, patting Russ’ back. “Just fine.”
Russ beamed at him, eyes moving to search the filly out in the moonlight.
“If you open the stable door and lay some hay out, along with some water, she might just bed down in there and rest.” He slapped a mosquito. “She'll be fine out, but you could try it.”
“Cool!” Russ hurried make the stable ready for Chocolate. He could hear Russ’ voice, though not the words, the kid still talking to the horse if the tone was any indication.
He hopped down, wandering a little, looking and listening to the quiet of a good ranch, happy critters.
Russ came out of the stable and joined him, all smiles. “Thanks, Trey.”
“For what? The work there was yours. She's a beauty.” He tilted his head toward the house. “You ready to come in?”
Russ took one last look at the horse and nodded. “Thanks for taking her in even though you're already run off your feet.”
“You'll just have to stay and raise her.” He smiled over, winked. “Come on, kid. You can have the shower first tonight.”
Russ was blushing and grinning and kept looking away. “I'll try not to use all the hot water.”
“Sounds like a fair deal.” He turned the lights out, lockin
g the door behind them. “I'll do the morning chores tomorrow, if you want. Let you sleep in and I'll take Sunday.”
“I don't mind doing morning chores.” Russ gave him a wry grin. “Truth is I want to check on her first thing.”
Trey chuckled and nodded, mischief getting him. “In that case, want to see if there's a late night movie on?”
Russ laughed. “You know what? I'm going to take you up on that.”
“Cool. I'll grab us each a coke. You start flipping.”
“It's a deal. Hey—how about some of that popcorn, too?”
“I can manage that.” He grinned, whistling as he wandered into the kitchen. Yeah, happy. Real happy. Trey popped the popcorn in the microwave and hunted up a bowl. Amazing what the right company could do for a man.
* * * *
True to his word, Russ did morning chores both Saturday and Sunday. Much to his delight, he also discovered that Sundays were for essential work only and he was able to spend a good chunk of the day out in the yard with Chocolate. She was coming right up to him now as soon as she saw him, letting him pet her so-soft nose for a moment before backing up a step or two and snorting. He liked to think of it as her ‘where the hell is my food?’ snort. So he'd fed her lots of the good feed and another apple, some carrots and even a single sugar cube, which had her trying to find more, nose tickling against him. His laughter made her snort and shake her head as if she was laughing with him.
Sunday evening came and he put more hay down in her stall before giving her a last bought of loving, crooning and stroking softly. He was falling in love, there was no doubt about it. All right, maybe falling was the wrong tense—he seemed to have already completely fallen.
Heck, he hadn't even seen Trey for three quarters of the day he'd been so wrapped up in the horse.
There was a strange pickup parked by the house, with two coolers in the bed, one of the old, beat up trucks gone, along with the ancient bass boat. He wandered into the house, calling out cautiously. “Trey? You home?”
A soft snore answered him, Trey turning over on the sofa, tangled in the quilt. The house smelled fabulous, the meat in the oven still cooking.
He let Trey sleep, going to check on the food. Hopefully it was something that could take its time. Everything looked fine in the oven so he made up his mother's quick and easy cheesecake which didn't need cooking, just a half hour or so to set in the fridge. Then he started to set the table, held up by the thought that they might be more than just two for dinner if whoever owned the pick-up was coming back.