Whisperer

by Jeanne Harrell

  Jeanne narrowed her eyes. She had thought of a good one. Was it good enough to trip up Mandy?

  “Ready?”

  “Any time you are, Jeanne.” She looked calm.

  “Who said, ‘A boy’s best friend is his mother’.”

  Mandy thought for a minute. “Too easy. Anthony Perkins in ‘Psycho’.”

  “Absolutely right.”

  “Okay, everyone be still. Last movie quote from Mandy.”

  Mandy took her time. She had already decided on her quote, but thought she might make the movie diva sweat a little. No one had expected her to do so well -- Of course not, they didn’t know her. She knew they expected Jeanne to mop up the floor with her. They wouldn’t think that ever again…she smiled.

  She turned to Colt and pretended to slap him. Colt was so surprised that he snapped his head back, like she had really hit him. His eyes widened. Lily and Meg looked at each other and laughed. What a kick this girl was…

  “ ‘Snap out of it!’ ” she said to him.

  Jeanne smiled broadly and then started laughing. “Oh, that was great. And you shocked the heck out of my cute grandson in the bargain…” She paused. “That was Cher in ‘Moonstruck’.”

  “Correct,” smiled Mandy. “And this is for scaring you, Colt.” She leaned over and kissed him. “I just needed a prop….” She laughed.

  Everyone was applauding and laughing. No one had ever come so close to beating Jeanne at her own game. They loved it and they loved Mandy. She was terrific! Colt’s eyes shone with pride and love. He took her hand and kissed it.

  “That was an even tie between Mom and Mandy. Good work to both of our contestants. Now for their prizes,” kidded Sandy. Lily got up and pretended to open a curtain, like Vanna on ‘Wheel of Fortune’. Sandy cut a piece of red velvet cake for Jeanne and then one for Mandy. Lily passed them out and everyone applauded. Lots of ‘Good one,’ ‘Too funny,’ and ‘Get her next time, Mandy,’ from the peanut gallery.

  Jeanne and Mandy shared a hug. Jeanne whispered to her, “Welcome to the family, sweetie.” That was the best prize Mandy could ever get. Tears sprang to her eyes.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The band had gone home, so the party started breaking up. Everyone was saying their goodbyes, packing food and drinks and then departing. While Lily and Sandy, with some help, started taking plates and things back into the house, Colt took Mandy’s hand and led her out to the barn. Lily saw them go in and raised her eyebrows at her husband. “A little tangling, maybe?” They smiled at each other.

  Mandy leaned against the side of the barn with Colt’s outstretched arms on both sides of her. She was pinned there, happily, with his lips inches from hers.

  “How about a tangle, sweetheart?” He practically purred.

  “I just know that doesn’t mean you want to put knots in my hair, does it?”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Well, then…”

  “It’s cowboy for lovemaking.”

  “That’s what I kind of thought,” she grinned.

  “Mom has you bunking at Grandma’s and I’m at Jesse’s. No place for us to be alone, but here in this lonely barn…”

  “Do you see me leaving?” she whispered.

  “No…” Colt began kissing her. They were just getting into that kiss, when Colt’s cell phone buzzed.

  “Go ahead and get it.”

  Colt got his phone out. A text from Jesse -- ‘Where the hell r u. Going to Risings Bar n Reno 2 dance. Come with us.’

  “Jesse says they’re going into Reno to dance. Want to go?” he asked her.

  “Sure…After…” Mandy looked up at him through her long lashes. Colt’s mouth went dry. He quickly sent Jesse back a text. ‘B there later. Save us a spot.’

  He took her into his arms. “Now where were we…” She pointed to her lips. Her soft, luscious lips…

  He kissed her greedily, as if he might not get another chance. She returned it with all her body leaning into their embrace. Anticipation and longing wrapped around them in layers. He pulled her into one of the barn stalls, and onto the hay overflowing everywhere. Sliding his hand up under her blouse, he found one of her breasts. She quickly took her blouse off over her head, so he could continue without obstacle. Her bra was soon discarded.

  His lips trailed little kisses from her face, down her throat and to her breasts. She tugged at his jeans’ zipper and managed to get it down. She slid her hands down his chest and into his pants.

  “More?” she asked.

  “More.”

  Her jeans were gone now too, and he slid his hands down into her pants.

  “More?” he smiled.

  “More,” she smiled back.

  He moved her gingerly onto her back in the stall.

  “Any pitchforks in here?”

  He laughed. “Not so far.”

  Sensation poured over her body – soft and sweet and pure and lovely.

  She wanted him as if they had never made love before. He shivered as she stroked him and kissed him at the same time. He took her then. Pleasure turned into demand, as they bent and swayed together. And there in the barn, with horses all around, they again found the love that would bind them. It’s never just one thing, but good tangling is crucial.

  Colt closed his eyes as his body calmed down. Under him, Mandy blew little puffs of air on his face. “You need to calm down, mister. You certainly do get excited…” She put her hands on either side of his face and sweetly kissed him. He kissed her back.

  “ ‘I’m going to give you a thousand of these before I’m through,’ ” Colt sat up and smiled at her. He helped her sit up, when it hit her.

  “Kevin Costner in ‘Open Range’, right?” She clapped her hands. “Oh, that was perfect…you’re getting pretty good at this.”

  Colt gave her a sexy gaze, “Yes, but I need lots more practice.”

  “I think that can be arranged.” She started kissing him again, demanding more.

  His cell phone buzzed with another text. He read, ‘Cut out the tangling and get over here.’

  He looked at her and laughed. “Jesse guessed at our current activity and has insisted we join them. Want to go?”

  “Yes, definitely. We can and will pick this up later. Let’s go ‘cut a rug’, as Jeanne and Sam would say.”

  They got dressed and left the barn. Mandy glanced back at it and knew that going in there again would never be the same for her. She grinned at the thought and took Colt’s hand. She laughed and plucked hay out of his hair. When they went in to borrow Sandy’s truck, Lily laughed and plucked more hay out of his shirt. Colt actually blushed when she did that… And it’s hard driving to town when your girlfriend won’t keep her hands to herself…Mmmm….lovely…

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Next morning, Colt yawned as he and Jesse were astride their big Palomino horses. They had ridden out to check on the herd and count how many more calves needed inoculation and branding. He looked at Jesse in the midst of his yawn, and Jesse laughed at him.

  “You need to get in at a decent hour, if you want to ride herd with me.”

  “Shit, you were the one who insisted we come out. I would have been happy to stay in the barn with Mandy.”

  “That would have worn you out more than dancing,” he grinned.

  “Possibly…but more enjoyable.” Colt laughed. “We went in to borrow Dad’s truck and Mom actually picked some hay out of my shirt. Talk about embarrassing.”

  Jesse laughed hard at that one. Then he got serious. “Mom’s been after me about Audrey.”

  “What about Audrey?”

  “If I’m going to marry her or not.”

  “Are you guys living together at your place?”

  “Not quite, but close.”

  “Has Jason said anything to you about her?” Pause.

  “Yes, he asked about my intentions.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I told him my intentions are honorable. But I’m just nervous
about getting married. It’s so permanent.”

  “Yeah. Mom and Dad would be pissed if you decided to divorce.”

  “So I want to be sure.”

  “Jeez, Jesse. How can you not be?” Jesse looked over at him.

  “Do you want to be with anyone else?”

  “Hell, no, but what would you say if Mandy’s father asked you the same question?”

  “That’s not going to happen because her father is dead, but I can go along with the premise.”

  “And…”

  Colt stopped for a moment and thought it over. He got down off his horse to check one of the hooves, straightened his saddle and got back on. Jesse knew he was thinking it over. His horse flicked a few flies off.

  “I would say ‘when and where’.” Colt looked over at his brother. Jesse’s mouth dropped open.

  “Really?”

  “Absolutely. I love Mandy and would do anything for her. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I don’t think it takes that long to know… And I do… She’s the one.” He exhaled slowly. “Yep, absolutely.”

  Jesse was astonished at his answer and said so. “I’m impressed, brother, and incredibly happy for you. Does she feel the same way?”

  “Yep.” He grinned. “But back to you and Audrey. What would it take for you to make up your mind? And what does Audrey say? Doesn’t she want to get married?”

  “Audrey’s wonderful. I probably don’t deserve her. She doesn’t say anything about marriage, but I know she wants to. I could kick myself for not being able to give her what she wants, at least not right this minute.” Jesse looked thoughtful. “But I want to get to the place where I can ask her to marry me. How about you and Mandy?”

  “I was thinking of asking her when we got back to Donner Lake. Some time before a nice, cozy fire wrapped up in a blanket. I wanted to talk to Mom and Dad about it first, make sure they have no objections.”

  “I can answer that. They adore her. After she nearly creamed Jeanne in the movie quote contest, Lily can’t stop talking about her.”

  “Good, but I’m still going to talk to them about her.”

  They heard a whistle from a half-mile out and saw their father and Jason riding toward them. When they were close enough to speak to one another, Sandy said, “What the hell are you guys doing out here?”

  Jason added, “We’ve been waiting for you to come back with the calf count. How long does it take to count a couple of cows?”

  Jesse looked sheepishly at Colt. Busted. Sandy and Jason laughed.

  “We’ve been here a time or two ourselves, haven’t we, Jason?”

  “Yep, talking about the state of the world or women, right?”

  Sandy grinned at him. “My money’s on women.”

  “Well, okay, Dad, I’ve got you here. What do you think about Mandy?”

  “Son, she’s wonderful. Round her up, like I wish we could do with the cattle sometime today. And Jesse, that goes for you too.” He turned his Appaloosa around and rode off.

  Jason winked at them both, turned his horse and galloped after him.

  “I guess that’s my answer,” said Colt.

  “Mine too. Everyone’s tired of waiting for me…”

  Colt smiled at his brother, turned his horse and said over his shoulder, “How about a double wedding, Jesse?” He laughed at Jesse’s surprised face and wide-eyed expression, before galloping off towards the house.

  Jesse sat there a minute thinking. Not a bad idea…

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Back in Soda Springs, Colt was hard at work. The camp had one more horse for him to train and she was tough… A particularly mean, older mustang that apparently hadn’t made any friends with humans. She was surly and bit at anyone getting close. The camp administrator was on the verge of shipping the horse out, when Colt returned from Nevada and said he wanted to look at her first.

  He watched the horse run wildly around the corral – all other horses had been transferred to other corrals. Walking in, the horse saw him and came over to bite him. Colt raised his arms up with one hand holding on to a coiled rope, which kept the horse away. She fled and ran around the corral again. He crouched down into a submissive position to get a good look at the horse. When he did, the horse stopped running, but stayed away. In fact, when she slowed down, the horse seemed lame – she had a reluctant gait, like walking on eggshells. While she was standing still, he observed the hooves with a widened white line, called ‘seedy toe’. She could have laminitis.

  Colt left the corral and called the vet to come have a look. He guessed that the horse had been overfed on grain, a common cause and the vet would need to look for abscesses. The farrier would need to be called in as well, to do some corrective trimming and possibly make a therapeutic shoe. He knew that it could be a chronic condition, and if extreme, the horse might have to be put down. He sincerely hoped it wouldn’t come to that and went to look for the camp administrator in his office.

  Finding him, Colt proceeded to explain the horse’s problems and what needed to be done. The man was sympathetic.

  “Thanks, Colt. You saved us a ton of trouble. I’d like the vet to see him first and then we’ll go from there. Can you stick around another week to talk to the vet about possible training? I don’t know what your schedule is, but if you can tackle this one last horse, I’d be grateful.”

  Colt knew his schedule was clear for a few weeks, so he said he’d stick around and see what he could do. He also didn’t want to leave Mandy. He wanted to get things straight with her, before he made any other work plans.

  Glancing at the time, he knew she’d be getting through soon and it was his turn to cook. Oops… better buy groceries first…

  In Mandy’s office, her client Jimmy had been having a rough time. His parents had come to visit, and afterwards, as Mandy had predicted, his behavior changed for the worse. His language became obscene and he refused to bathe. One night when she was gone to Naples, he had tried to run away from the camp. Since the camp’s location was far from main roads, Jimmy was easily spotted and picked up in Soda Springs. They had to keep him in isolation for a few days because he was picking fights on anybody and everybody. In other words, he was out of control.

  Out of isolation now, Mandy was probing gently into the root causes of his affliction. He had been diagnosed with a mental disorder and was receiving medication for that. Today, in her office, was one of his better days.

  “How are you today, Jimmy? Feeling better than yesterday?”

  “A little bit. Could we go for a walk?” Mandy hesitated.

  “Let’s wait on that, until you’re cleared by your doctor. He will be here tomorrow, so maybe we can take one then. Will that be all right?”

  Jimmy shifted nervously in his chair and nodded.

  “What would you like to talk about today?”

  “I don’t like being here.”

  “We’ve talked about this before, Jimmy. Why do you think you’re here?”

  “My behavior.”

  “What’s wrong with your behavior?”

  “It isn’t acceptable.”

  “Wow. It’s good that you recognize that yourself. What can you do to make it acceptable?”

  “I guess I could shower and brush my teeth.”

  “Good. Did you do that today?”

  “Yes.”

  Mandy started to say something else, when Jimmy suddenly turned to her.

  “You want to know what I feel like?” When she nodded, he continued. “Sometimes I feel like one of those wild mustangs that the trainer is always working with. I want to run and run, until I fall down. I want to run far away where no one can find me. Is that too much to ask?” His plaintive expression made her sad.

  “No,” was all she could say.

  “Could we please go for a walk?” he asked. Mandy didn’t hesitate this time.

  “Sure. I think it would be okay. How about around the building a few times?”

  “Great.” He beamed like
she had made his day. It sure didn’t take much. This kid was really suffering. Walking around, he became happier, especially when he was closer to the horses. Mandy didn’t see Colt anywhere, but made a mental note to ask for permission to put Jimmy on a horse soon. She had read studies where horses used in therapy sessions could be successful. Horses seemed to have a healing effect on children, in particular. They can give a person immediate feedback about their actions and body language through ‘mirroring’. A horse mirrors if a person is upset or nervous. Learning to read a horse’s behavior can help with your own.

  Mandy decided to talk to the camp administrator as soon as possible. After returning Jimmy to the recreation area, she checked in his office and discovered he was gone for the day. She left a note for him and then went home. She and Colt would be riding later, before dinner.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The temperature fell that night, so Colt made a roaring blaze in his fireplace to keep them warm. After dinner, they had decided to snuggle up on his sofa and watch a good movie. Of course…

  “So what are we watching tonight?” Colt brought in a soft blanket to wrap them up. He was looking forward to it. Doing anything with his girl was wonderful.

  “For our viewing pleasure, I got an old black and white – one of my favorites. This one is ‘It Happened One Night’, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. It won the Best Picture Oscar in 1934 and was directed by Frank Capra, a great American director.” She put in the DVD and settled on the sofa curled up in his arms, with the blanket on them both.

  “Can you take any more trivia?” she asked.

  “If I must…” Colt rolled his eyes.

  “I heard that Claudette Colbert had it in her contract that she could only be filmed on her left side. Apparently, she felt that was her ‘good side’.” Mandy laughed. “I can only imagine how difficult that made the cinematographer’s job.”

  Colt knew from experience that she could go on like this for hours. She was a movie encyclopedia. Sometimes he felt like playing along, but tonight, he had something else on his mind. About halfway through the movie, when Clark and Claudette knew they were falling for each other, Colt muted the film. With that wonderful old black and white movie flashing in the background, his scene began.