by Caryl McAdoo
“Fifteen years now, I was ten.”
“You ever been tempted to renounce God?”
“Heavens no, never, I love Him. I really do. I don’t know how people get along without Him in their everyday lives.”
“So do I, and I love you. I can’t imagine a day without you.”
She closed her eyes. How could he say that? “Please, Asa, don’t go there, not yet.”
“Fine, if you’re not ready to hear it. But I guarantee, you will not run me off in the next twenty-six days.” He grinned and opened his car door. “Want to see if we can tame my wayward buckage?”
Money. Yes. She could do filthy lucre. Lots easier than training a horse and that came like second nature. She waited for him to open her door. Now that would never get old. Would him being a gentleman be enough though? Bless God, she still couldn’t even believe what she’d gotten herself into; crazy, pure unadulterated lunacy.
Pulling out his bank statements and all his other records, he sat at his desk, then offered her his place and retreated to the guest chair. His finances weren’t in as bad a shape as he made out, except for his student loans. At his current rate, he’d be an old man before those were paid off, but…
“What about your salary? I mean if they take you on full time?”
“Wasn’t mentioned.”
“Did they put a dollar amount on the parsonage?”
“No. Haven’t got that far yet.”
Drumming the desk with repeated finger rolls, she looked up and pointed at him. “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s play like we do get married next month.”
“I like this game, go on.”
“Hypothetically speaking only, we do the deed, and you move all your stuff into my room. The church could rent out the parsonage, save the utilities. If they’d agree, you put that money on top of your current payments to your student loans. Then –”
“Hold it right there. How big is your room?”
“Big enough, why?”
“I don’t know. Guess I thought we’d live here.”
“I can’t leave Daddy. He can’t take care of himself.”
“What about Aunt Iris?”
“No, they do real good for a while, then the ‘little sis wants to boss big brother’ thing gets on his nerves big time. Plus, there’s the ranch chores. The cows need feeding, and just like I have all those new horses coming in tomorrow. I couldn’t train any here. Driving back and forth every day would be a big waste of time and gasoline.”
“What about a mobile home? Could we afford one?”
“I don’t know. All depends. What do you have against my room?”
He smiled. “How big is your closet?”
Oh, yeah, she forgot his extensive wardrobe. Crammed would be the nice word to call her closet. No way would she have room for all his clothes. She couldn’t give up half her space. “Adding a room to the house would be cheaper than a trailer. More convenient, too.”
“Sure, a master suite. And then we could turn your room into a nursery.”
Bless God, a baby. But could she handle one? An image of being big and pregnant, trying to swing into the saddle danced across her mental movie screen and tickled her funny bone. Not so funny though when she thought about it. “A baby right away? Is that what you want?”
His face split into the biggest smile. “Absolutely, I’d love it. Wouldn’t you? You want children, don’t you?”
“I… I… Not with Daddy only getting worse and me training horses for a living.” She immediately regretted the sarcasm, but it didn’t seem to faze him. “I can’t see it right away.”
“But you want children.”
“Someday, sure, but I just don’t think right away sounds so thrilling. I mean we’re considering this totally weird let’s-marry-a-stranger deal, rushing everything to the altar for Daddy’s sake. I just don’t think we ought to rush babies, too.” He’d done it, skipped right past the I dos and room additions all the way to starting a family. “Maybe you’re just all caught up in our hypothetical game.”
Books covered one wall of the church office. She read the spines, trying to rationalize all the questions running through her mind, give him time to digest what she’d just fed him. Finally, he stabbed the silence. “Maybe, but the Word says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“My heart wants children. I thought all women did. Are you thinking of taking birth control?”
“I don’t know, Asa. I haven’t actually thought about it to tell the truth, but babies’ care falls to the mother, and I’m just too busy. I…” She didn’t have the answer he wanted, so she changed the subject, a trick she’d picked up from her mother. “Got a yellow pad?”
“Sure.” He nodded to her right. “Second drawer.”
“So how much closet space do you need?”
“Much as I can get. I’ve got both closets in the parsonage’s master full now, but they’re small.”
“You’ve got two closets full of clothes?”
“Plus my off season in the spare room, I’ve been switching them around the colder it gets.”
She flipped her hand toward the office door. “Go measure the biggest one.”
“Why, what are you doing?”
“Designing our hypothetical room addition.”
He jumped to his feet. “Cool, I like this game, The ‘our’ sounds real good.”
She laughed at him then shook her head. Were all men just big kids?
Turned out not as bad as she thought. He measured both, and combined; they weren’t as big as her walk-in, so if they had two walk-ins, it could work. She went to drawing it all out. He pulled up a chair and helped over her shoulder. Fun way to spend an afternoon, then even a better time once the faithful showed for evening services.
Yes, she admitted on several occasions, she and the pastor were seeing each other. Past that, she kept her own counsel about her promise and didn’t mention him working with her either. Attendance looked better than half of that morning’s crowd.
No wonder. Asa was doing a series on Israel’s kings.
Bless God, the man knew his Bible and how to engage a congregation, too. She loved the way he encouraged interaction throughout the lesson. A person could be a part of his teaching instead of a spectator or listener only, interject things the Lord had shown them. The cherry on top, the final question and answer time proved lively.
New Hope would be crazy not to scoop him up for their permanent pastor. Any church would be lucky—she meant blessed, no such thing as luck he’d said—to have him. What did full-time pastors make anyway? It’d have to be a nice raise over what they paid for interim, wouldn’t it? And if they’d go for renting the parsonage out and Asa could get his student loans paid off…
Maybe he wouldn’t have to wait so long to start a family.
She was going to need… What was she doing?
When had she sailed past the madness?
TEN
How could she not kiss him goodnight? It had been a fun day. With his promise of an extra early start and a sweet prayer together, she sent him on his way. That night, after she finally got into bed, she flirted with the possibility of actually marrying the man. What would it be like to not have to say goodbye at the end of every day?
Was Asa Davidson her new best friend? Seemed like it, she definitely enjoyed his company. Would he think her a bad bed partner? Her mother and Aunt Iris claimed as much with all her tossing, turning, and kicking. Would it be strange sleeping with someone? That question and more swirled as she finally drifted off.
She jerked upright, startled, and patted the bed next to her. The newborn’s whimper faded; he wasn’t there. It had only been a dream. No husband, no baby in a bassinet. Bless God, except it seemed so real. Him in bed with her, whew. She flopped back down, gathered her extra pillow, and snuggled her face into it.
Too soon, Roscoe crowed about the new day, except still the mi
ddle of the night. Oh, that nasty-mouthed rooster. Just once, she’d love for him to let her sleep past four. She should get a new, quieter one and cook Roscoe for dinner. She smiled. Though she often threatened, she would never really want to eat him. Even if Aunt Iris claimed old roosters tasted best.
Asa showed early as promised, bragged on her and her cooking, did the dishes while she saw to her daddy, then got after chores with vim and vigor. If he kept this up, she’d have to marry him. What a blessing to have his help and strength. She sure could get used to it, but then would he really want to keep the ranch operational? Sounded like it wasn’t really in his plans. Perhaps she should have another, more detailed discussion about the future.
A bit before the sun reached full-on to the barn’s row of skylights, he hefted a square bale, carried it to the end of the hall, and peeled off half the sheaths. While she hayed her side, he filled the stalls’ racks on his, then looked around. “What’s next?”
“You hungry?”
“I could eat; is there anything else we need to do before the new trainees get here?”
“Thought we might grab a bite before the new gang arrives. I think we’re in good shape.”
Like the driver practiced sadism, he arrived just before she reached the front porch. Oh well. “Will you check on Daddy, Asa, see if he wants a snack? Then you can come help.”
He grinned. “Sure, be pleased to.”
She returned his smile. “Thanks, partner.”
“Hey, lady, where you want me?”
She nodded toward the barn. “Pull around to the north side. We’ll unload them there.”
By the time the second colt trotted into his new home, Asa showed, but seemed almost as green as the horses. Bless his heart, he looked totally uncomfortable unloading the skittish young animals. No doubt they sensed his apprehension and acted all the worse for him.
Guess she could put him on the tractor and pray he had a light touch. Could be a bad move, but she needed to trust him on it sooner or later. Not until the driver left though. “Hey, Asa, can you fill the water trough? Hose is in that blue barrel there.”
“Absolutely, boss.”
The last one, maybe the best looking but for sure the rankest of the bunch, scampered down the ramp, snorted twice, pawed the dirt then went to establishing himself in his new herd.
She signed the delivery ticket, then waved the driver off and turned to her new man, “Come on, let’s get them some hay. You can drive.”
“Drive the tractor?”
“Sure, it’s allowed.”
Asa’s gut tightened. “What if I mess it up? Can’t we move the round bales without it?”
“Sure, we could. They only weigh a thousand pounds each. How much can you lift?” He made a face. Maybe she put too much confidence in him. “Come on, silly. It’s a piece of cake.”
“Yeah, right. Why don’t we go bake a cake instead?” He’d never driven a tractor, what was she thinking?
“Don’t worry, you’re not going to break anything.”
Her standing on the step right beside him proved a huge distraction, especially with the old Massey Ferguson barely crawling along in low range and first gear, where she wanted him to keep it. Didn’t have much to do but notice how cute she was in cowgirl mode. Without any difficulty, he stabbed the hay fork into the big bale of hay, a no brainer. Creeping to the corral with the load went without mishap.
Now lifting the half-ton bale over the top rail and dropping it into the metal hay ring tensed him up some, but nothing like having to get out in the middle of the wild beasts and help Faith cut out her first victim. She waved the colt toward the open corridor that led to the round pen, but once he realized he’d been separated and whinnied to his friends, Asa closed the gate.
“Now what? Can we eat?”
She laughed. “I suppose we can go get a bite before we start on him. I’m hungry enough. Come on.”
“Me, too. I’m past ready.”
Everything inside him, every muscle and cell went ‘whew’ and appreciated the break more than she could possibly know. With everything in him, he hated the idea of her getting up on that wild horse. Couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt. “How do you start? Just go in there and hop up on him then ride him like a buckin’ rodeo bronc? Do you fall off a lot? How do you ever get a saddle on him?”
She hung the rope on the corral gatepost and walked beside him toward the house. “Naw, nothing like that. After I convince him I’m his matriarch, then one of us needs to ride him. Want to go first?”
“No, ma’am. But I don’t want you to either. Can’t we hire someone?”
She snickered. “We are the hired ones, goofy. Remember, two hundred each? Let’s get us some grub, and let him stew awhile. He’s not going anywhere.”
It wasn’t worth it. Hey, a thousand dollars each wouldn’t be enough. The thought of climbing onto that wild bronco almost spoiled his lunch. Uh, dinner; but man-oh-man, her day-old roast tasted awesome; never had a piece of beef like it and told her so, two or four times. Eating more than he should, he tried to stretch the meal out as much as he dared, but too soon, she wanted to get back to it.
First she loaded Asa down with saddle, blanket and bridle which he deposited on the top rail. All she carried was a very long canvas rope thing, a halter and a long whip. “What are those for?”
“We’ll start with the lunge line and whip, send him away; he doesn’t understand he’s going in circles while I’m standing still. The halter’s for once he joins up.”
No matter, he didn’t understand any of it. Guess he’d get schooled himself. For a good fifteen minutes, she either threw the lunge line right behind the horse or popped the ground with the whip and kept the colt trotting in circles. Then all of a sudden, she stopped and turned her back to him.
To Asa’s amazement, the animal turned and walked right up to her with his head hanging low. She cooed, but didn’t look at the horse and slipped the halter over his nose. A long end went over his head behind both ears then buckled up near his eye, high on his cheek. Faith clipped the end of the lunge line to the halter under the horse’s chin.
Absolutely amazed with the way she handled the whole thing and the animal’s response, he gave her a soft whoop. Didn’t want to startle the beast. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he first thought. “Wow, that was great. I can hardly believe my eyes.”
She smiled. “He just decided he wants to be part of my herd.” She gathered the lunge line in big circles then strolled to where he’d draped the saddle over the top rail. The colt followed right on her heels.
“What’s next?”
“I’ll saddle him up, then we’ll take us a little ride.”
He wanted to tell her no, but the colt almost seemed like a big puppy dog now, tame as any of her other horses. “Is he going to buck?”
“Hope not, but we won’t know until I get aboard. Unless you want to go first?” She smiled. Was she testing him? Had it all come down to this moment? She’d said if she didn’t run him off. Would she show him the door if he chickened out? “Okay, I’ll do it.”
She shook her head and giggled. “No, it doesn’t really work like that. He joined up with me. You’d have to start all over. Watch me work a couple then you can try one if you want.”
Whew, he passed that one. And she was testing him, but when his time came, sounded like he still would have to bust a bronc to keep her. Or probably more likely, get busted.
First, she let the horse smell the blanket then placed that on his back. Same with the saddle, and he didn’t protest. With her head right down there inches from his hooves, she reached under his belly for the strap. The beast could stomp her, but he just stood there and let her cinch up the fluffy strap, looked like lamb’s wool.
Next, she buckled on a leather Y chest piece. That the horse trusted her so much after such a short time wasn’t hard for Asa to understand. He trusted her, too, with his money, with his future, and with his heart. Watching her tame
the animal made his mind up. There’d be no turning back. There’d be no running off.
He would win her heart or die trying.
With the steel bit in front of his mouth, the horse flared its nostrils then actually licked it. Instead of biting her, he let her slip it in, and she quickly looped the leather behind his ears, had him rigged and ready. She unhooked the lunge line then looked at Asa and winked. His heart somersaulted. His breath caught.
She put her left boot into the stirrup, bounced once, then swung into the saddle. Here came the show. Nothing. The horse just stood there like she sat on his back regular. Pulling the left rein turned his head some, and for a bit, she kept turning him in circles. Her boot heels gently touched his flank. The colt hopped once then bolted.
Faith whooped. Asa climbed up two rungs. Maybe he could catch her, but at the last minute, she turned the animal which slowed him into a trot. She smiled as the colt settled down. Asa filled his desperate lungs then exhaled slowly. Praise God she didn’t get bucked off. After maybe five minutes of trotting one way then turning and trotting the other, she stopped him right in front of Asa. “He’ll do.”
After she unsaddled the colt, Asa snapped a lead rope on him then brushed him out, perfectly comfortable doing it, too. He surprised even himself.
“When you’re done, put him in the empty stall and reward him with half a scoop of the sweet feed.”
“What makes it sweet?”
“Molasses; they all love it. I’ll get the second one going.”
Indeed, she did it all over again. The next one joined up in half the time. “Watch his mouth. He’ll start licking and chewing when he’s ready to be friends.”
That one didn’t even do the little crow hop. While Asa brushed him out, she moved the first one back to the corral. Finished, he put number two in the stall for his sweet feed reward for being a good boy. Of course, one of them left a steaming gift Asa had to tend, but hey, it was only natural fertilizer.
Maybe he should get a greenhouse going. That was more his speed, and he loved fresh tomatoes. Might work to build it attached to the new master suite. The idea of constructing a bedroom that would be his and hers to share moved through him like lightning striking a prairie, electrifying. He grinned, watching her run the third horse around the pen.