Chapter 18
Emery
It was as though I had a perpetual countdown in my head that started at T-minus twenty-eight hours and just kept ticking away.
Demi had made a good choice to have the rehearsal and dinner two nights before the wedding.
There were a lot of last-minute things to get done today, and this way, there was no pressure to manage it all before the rehearsal.
Plus, there wasn’t a big party the night before everyone had to get up early. Even still, I felt the time crunch.
My twin sister had intended to be involved in everything today, but she was growing three fetuses simultaneously, while mothering her three other children, and she was wiped.
Mom had put her foot down and insisted Demi rest as much as possible today so that she could enjoy tomorrow.
I would have been right by Demi’s side, helping get it all done, but because she was indisposed, it fell to me.
And I was bound and determined to handle everything she needed me to.
I hit the ground running at just before eight.
Ville had tried to keep me in bed, and as tempting as he was, always, I needed to move.
The wiggle maneuver had been a feat of genius, though I had to race from the room before he untangled himself from the blankets.
I wasn’t dumb. I knew damn well it would only work once.
Ville would be ready for it in the future.
Fortunately, Nick had the coffee carafes filled already, and I poured a travel mug and grabbed a bagel which I ate dry as I headed out.
I had a list on my phone that Demi had forwarded me the day before, and methodically I checked everything off.
To the Event Barn to check on things and help Fern with the centerpieces.
As much as Demi trusted Fernie and her vision, there was a certain way Demi wanted things to look and no one understood that better than me.
Then to town to grab the dress, accessories, and the right makeup from the house.
Demi had intended to bring it with her today when she arrived, but since we’d convinced her to stay last night, it was up to me to get it.
It wasn’t as though I was the only one doing things.
Everybody had tasks to handle today, and they were.
But anything Demi herself wanted a hand in, it was now up to me to take care of.
And I did. Even when it meant missing lunch, because she called in a panic that she just had to have a certain perfume to wear.
It had been the one she wore when she and Luke had first started dating, and he loved it.
She hadn’t worn it in years, mostly because she didn’t wear anything these days.
If she’d thought of it earlier, she would have already bought some.
But she didn’t, which meant that I had to make the trek to Colorado Springs and a Sephora.
Fortunately, they had it and I was back on the road twenty minutes later.
If I sped a little, pushing the speed limit by a bit, no one could blame me.
I made it back to the ranch and delivered the perfume to Demi, who started sobbing, blamed her hormones, and hugged me tightly enough I couldn’t breathe. Breathing was overrated anyway, when it made her so happy.
I finally got her to let me go when I reminded her I needed to go bathe her horse. She let me go so quickly I almost toppled into her, but she just laughed even as she wiped her eyes and shooed me out the door.
Before Demi had retired to train horses and riders, she’d competed herself.
And though she was well versed in both Western and English, she’d shown in hunter under saddle.
Her career and name had been made with her big hunt seat mare, the one Demi had picked out when the filly had been only two years old.
Demi had trained the horse from the ground up, at first with Dad’s help and then on her own, and been a champion four times over.
Jolene was a star in her own right. Beautiful conformation, natural slow, smooth stride, and really good minded.
Demi had seen magic in her when she was just a filly, and she’d been right.
The bay was mostly a pasture pet now, at seventeen.
Demi still rode her every day, though not for as long as she used to.
But Jolene was Demi’s heart horse and she wanted the mare in her wedding photos.
Which meant getting her “show ready.” First a bath and then braiding her mane. Yes, there were other people who could do it. Plenty of hands were more than capable. But this was another thing Demi was particular about, and I was the only one who knew how to do it “right.”
Earlier in the week, Demi had pulled out Jolene's tail extension and brushed it out, so I knew it was in the tack room. I wasn’t going to put that on Jolene today.
In the morning, after the ceremony, Wy would come back to the barn and collect Jolene, and Wy could put it in then.
Not that I wouldn’t have to fix it, but still.
Right now was about getting the mare clean and her mane taken care of.
And probably cleaning and polishing the show tack too.
But first, I had to collect the mare from her pasture and bring her into the barn. I stopped in at Barn 3 to grab a halter and lead rope, and Wy caught me as I was exiting the tack room.
“I can fetch whoever you need,” she offered, smile wide.
I waved that away. “No thanks. Jolene is easy to catch.”
Wy’s grin widened, because Demi had trained the mare with a trigger phrase. But she still ambled toward me. “I’ll go with you.”
I gave her a look. I might not ride regularly anymore—I was just too busy with work—but I still knew my way around a horse. There was a doctor in front of my name, but the last name should still speak for itself.
Wy arched an eyebrow as though she knew exactly where my mind had gone. “You want to deal with the double locks yourself?”
It took a second and my mind caught up. Rowdy must be in the same pasture, or one in between. The gelding that my brother Crew had been suckered into rescuing, lived up to his name. And he was a world-class escape artist. Wherever he was needed to be double secured, otherwise he was getting out.
We made small talk as we walked out to where we needed to be.
Wy mentioned how much she was looking forward to the wedding tomorrow.
Apparently the last wedding she’d been invited to, she could only bring either her wife or their boyfriend, but not both.
Naturally, she hadn’t gone at all, and now half her family wasn’t speaking to her.
It seemed they were fine with the queer, but couldn’t accept the polyamory.
All the pastures on the ranch were spacious, but some were bigger than others. Jolene was in the second largest, the biggest one being reserved for the broodmares and their foals. But that didn’t matter because sound carried and there was always a surefire way to get Jolene to come.
“Go ahead,” Wy said, eyes glittering and with a wave of her hand. I scowled back, because she was definitely there for the show, no matter what she said about the chains and locks.
I sucked in a big breath, and then at the top of my lungs, I belted out the first line of the chorus to the song the horse was named after, complete with the correct cadence. That part was important. It didn’t matter if you were off key as long as you got the rhythm right.
I was not off key.
Wy chuckled as she blew out a breath. “Dammit. I forgot you could sing.”
I smirked in her general direction, but kept my gaze fixed on the far side of the pasture where Jolene had broken off from the herd and was cantering toward us. Even after all these years, she still had that long, slow three-beat gait Demi had taught me to see.
And because it was me, who’d been there almost as much as Demi in her formative years, Jolene walked right into my waiting handle, dipping her head just enough so that I could slip the halter on. She nuzzled my palm and then gave me a hard nudge when she realized I didn’t have a treat.
“Sorry, girl. Come to the barn and I’ll get you something.”
She absolutely side-eyed me and snorted, as though she knew exactly what I’d said. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could understand English.
Jolene liked baths, so she went easily enough into the wash bay and didn’t even fight when I clipped her into the crossties. I made sure to give her several treats and let her cronch her way through them before I started. By the time I started her bath, Jolene was loose lipped and perky eared.
There was something therapeutic about bathing a horse.
Even though I had to keep my wits about me, and pay attention to legs that could kick a hole through my chest, I was able to let my mind wander as I brushed away dirt, soaked her coat, scrubbed her down, and rinsed her clean.
Her mane and tail took longer, and I let the conditioner sit while I squeegeed off her coat, which was my favorite part.
Watching the water slough off in sheets was fun.
After I dried and detangled her tail, I braided it down and then wrapped it up.
She was going to be in her stall for the night, and there was no doubt she’d managed to roll and get shavings on her, but a quick brush in the morning would take care of that.
I just needed to keep dirt, feces, and debris out of her tail.
When that was done, I cleaned up her bridle path then got the supplies I needed to get her mane competition show ready.
I was on the stool, braiding her mane, when my concentration stuttered.
It took me a second to realize Isley had joined me, standing a little too close.
I blinked then smiled down at him, loving that for a change, I had inches on him.
Usually it was the other way around. Like the rest of my brothers, he’d gotten Dad’s height and was taller than me.
“Whatcha doin?” Isely asked, voice low. He rubbed a hand along Jolene’s face, getting under the halter.