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Ben smiled back and placed two slices of toast on a plate for her. He got out some butter and jam, and peanut butter for himself. Toast with peanut butter was his go-to breakfast at college or home, and it gave him a strange feeling of homesickness. He brought the plates to the table and set out the toppings, sitting down to eat. |
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She smiled thankfully, sitting down. "I can do dishes" |
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Ben nodded. "Thanks." He finished his food and headed out to feed the horses. Now that Brock and Jeremy were gone, he figured he should probably feed the geldings and foals as well as the mares. He'd forgotten to ask Emma how to do that, so he'd feed the girls first and check on Cash, then go back and ask her. He began measuring out grain and pouring it into the horses' feed buckets. |
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Emma cleaned the whole house before going out and lunging her horse |
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Ben finished feeding the mares and walked out to where Emma was exercising her horse. He leaned on the arena fence and watched. She really had a wonderful way with animals. He snapped out of his thoughts, remembering what he'd come for. He would have to wait until she was done lunging, though, so he didn't get in the way. So Ben stayed leaning against the fence, watching Emma in what he hoped wasn't a creepy way. |
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Emma continued, riding eventually |
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Ben decided the boys were probably hungry, so he called Emma's name to get her attention. He made his way over to her and asked, "So, uh, what do you feed the geldings and foals? I want to make sure I give them what they're used to." He didn't mention Jeremy or Brock, knowing that would be a bad idea. |
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She nodded and showed him what they each ate, only a small fraction of the mix changing. She finished with a small smile. "That's about it. Hey, thanks for everything" |
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Ben nodded along with her instructions, tucking it in his mind so he hopefully would remember it. He smiled at her at her thanks, inclining his head. "I mean, it is my job." Then, realizing that sounded insensitive, quickly added, "That's not what I meant. Just that..." He couldn't think of the right words, and got frustrated with himself. "Agh, never mind." He hurried to feed the other horses and avoided Emma as much as possible after that. She probably thought he was just there to do what people told him to do, and just for the money. Ben groaned to himself. 'Great, now she thinks you don't care about her. Not that you do. Well, you do, but not like that. Right?' Now Ben's mind was spinning so much that he couldn't do anything without messing it up. So he went to Cash's pen and stood at the fence, looking at the colt but not actually seeing him. He was too busy trying to sort out his emotions to see anything clearly right now. |
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Emma busied herself with grooming all the horses that were dirty until the sun dipped below the horizon. She hurried to the house to make them dinner, worrying about the time |
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Afternoon Storms, then Clearing
