Chapter 7
Hours later, Pedro sensed someone behind him, and he turned from studying the board he stood before and saw Myrna standing there.
“You okay?” he asked when he saw she looked exhausted.
“Yeah, I was wondering how much longer are you going to work?”
“Why?” He was confused as to why she would ask him that.
“Because I rode to work with you, it’s raining, I don’t want to get wet, and it’s going on six.”
He felt his eyes widen as he looked at the watch on his wrist and looked back at her in shock.
“I’m so sorry, I hadn’t realized how late it was getting.”
“That’s okay, I was cleaning the tack, but I’m ready to go home.”
Pedro hustled around to empty his coffee cup, shut off the pot, and dumped the dregs from the bottom.
He didn’t see Myrna’s wince at how thick it had been.
Then he rinsed it, and left it in the sink.
In less than three minutes he was ready to go.
They walked the length of the barn, and Pedro frowned when she handed him something.
“What’s this?”
“A rain poncho, Shay and Faith said they’re for our use, we just have to bring them back tomorrow.”
He nodded as he put on his own, then helped her into hers.
They looked at each other with a grin, then he pulled his keys, aimed it at the truck, unlocked the doors, and Myrna laughed when it started.
They grabbed each other’s hand as they ran through the downpour and made it to the truck.
She didn’t know if it made her happy or not that he held her door, waiting for her, instead of getting in out of the rain.
When he did enter, he had to wait until the steamy windows cleared.
In ten minutes, they were parked as close as he could get to the door of their bunktel, and she reached over to grip his hand before he got out.
“What?”
“I can get myself out of the truck. If you want to be a gentleman, you can do it when it’s not raining cats and dogs outside.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, there’s no reason for you to get even wetter by helping me. Trust me, if you want to open my door you can, but not when it’s raining like this.”
He nodded and they opened both doors, hopped out, and ran toward the front door.
Thankfully, there was a small entrance area and they were able to remove their dripping ponchos, shoes, and jackets.
Both were in their socks as they padded to their own rooms, calling out they’d meet in the kitchen after they cleaned up.
Thirty minutes later, Myrna was standing before the refrigerator when Pedro joined her. “What do you want for supper?” She looked at him, shut the door, and turned to him. “From your expression, you have something to say.”
“I don’t want you to think you have to wait on me. First breakfast, then lunch, now dinner. Let me take care of dinner for us.” He laid his hands gently on her shoulders and moved her aside. “Do you like chicken?”
“I do. The only thing I don’t eat is seafood.”
“Any particular reason? Are you allergic?”
“No, I just can’t get past the smell.” She shuddered and made a small gagging sound, and had to take several deep breaths to control it.
“Duly noted.” He grinned. “You can set the table. It’ll be about an hour before it’s ready.”
Myrna did as asked, and then went into her room and started taking care of the clothes that she had put on the bed when Laurie had picked her up earlier, after making her purchases.
She had just finished putting her spare bathroom supplies beneath the bathroom sink when Pedro called out to her.
As she started toward the kitchen, the smells hit her in the face.
“Wow, this smells wonderful. What is it?”
“Thank you, it doesn’t really have a name. I can tell you that there is chicken, cauliflower rice, cheeses, and it’s all mixed together with vegetables. I made it one night when I didn’t have much food in the house. It was the night before I went grocery shopping.”
“Ah, I remember those nights. You become creative on those nights.” They shared a laugh, and she became shocked when he pulled out her chair for her.
They settled in and didn’t talk as they ate.
They both had seconds, and Myrna gently moved her plate away after she cleaned it, sighing in contentment.
“We need to have this at least once a month.”
“Thank you,” he said as he did the same, and settled back with his glass of wine. They sat in comfortable and companionable silence for several minutes.
“What did you do today?” he asked her.
“Helped Shay muck out the stalls, got to know the horses. I know tack, but not racehorse tack, and Shay told me all the different things. I also cleaned the tack room, and the tack. I’m hoping it won’t be raining tomorrow and we can race the horses.”
“Yeah, sometimes horses can race in the rain, but Faith pointed out to me that this is the first time since she started working here permanently that it’s rained.
She’s not sure about the track, once we know what it will do, and how it drains, we can train in the rain in the future.
However, not in this type of rain. A mist would be fine, or a light rain, but not in a downpour like this.
It wouldn’t be safe for the horse or rider. ”
“That’s what Shay said.”
Pedro nodded, then rose to start taking care of the dishes.
As he did that, Myrna realized there were enough leftovers to make up two dishes, and she would make sure they took them with them the next day for lunch.
Once the kitchen was cleaned and the dishwasher running, Pedro started toward the living room, but went for his laptop instead.
He sat at the table with another glass of wine, and looked at Myrna.
“I’m going to do some research on some of the horses I read about today. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I had Laurie pick me up a couple of books, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to snuggle in the corner of the couch with another glass of wine, and read.”
“By all means,” he said, and watched her go. He didn’t get into his work until he saw her snuggle in the corner, just like she said she would, then he started his research. He had wanted to see the lineage of Ball Buster. He jerked when Myrna cleared her throat.
“I’m heading to bed, it’s almost eleven.”
“Shit,” he said as he shut everything down, and realized he hadn’t touched his wine, and downed it in a couple of swallows. He rinsed the glass, looked at her, and said good night, then he headed to his room.
The next morning, Myrna was again up and cooking breakfast before he came out to the kitchen. He only smirked and shook his head as he gathered his cup of coffee, and set the table.
“What’s for breakfast today?”
“Omelets.”
“Perfect,” he said, and got them juice and started making toast. They ate in silence, and when they left for work, the kitchen was clean, and there was something in the crockpot, he had no idea, but he let it go for now.
He made a mental note to sit Myrna down and divide up the household chores.
As they walked out the door, they grabbed the ponchos from the day before, and paused to breathe in the fresh crisp morning air.
“I love this time of morning, and after a spring rain, it makes it even more special.”
“I agree,” he said as he helped open her door of the truck. “Though, I wouldn’t say that yesterday’s torrential downpour was a spring rain.” He grinned as he shut her door, then went over to the driver’s side and climbed in. He laughed when she wrinkled her nose at him.
At the barn, Pedro headed to the office, while Myrna went to start mucking out the stalls.
She was the only one there, since it was only six in the morning, and had three stalls already done by the time Shay arrived.
He jumped in to help, and by eight, all of them were done.
Together, they walked to the office and looked between Faith and Pedro.
“What’s up?” Pedro asked.
“Are we running today? How’s the track?”
“Good,” Faith said. “Yeah, we’re racing. Can you saddle up the first three and bring them out?”
“Yes.” He turned on his heel, and explained to Myrna as they walked away, “Champ is first, Diablo is second, and Buster has to be saddled and out at the fence.” He shook his head with a smirk.
“Don’t ask, I can’t answer, but he won’t race until he’s seen Champ and Diablo run. He also has to be third.”
“Do you think he sees them as his direct competition, and has to watch them to see what he needs to do in order to either keep up with them, or beat them?”
Shay stopped and looked at her. He cocked his head to the side and nodded.
“Yeah, I can see that, because he doesn’t do it with the other horses.
Just Champ and Diablo.” They continued to the stalls, and as Shay got Champ ready, Myrna worked with Diablo, then tied his reins to the hook at the door leading to the track, then she went to get Buster ready.
By the time Shay returned from somewhere, they were ready to take all three of them to the track.
Shay explained where to stage them, and the purpose of it, and Myrna nodded. “Quick question.”
“What’s that?”
“Can I watch them race?”
“Yes,” Pedro said as he came up behind them with Faith.
“This isn’t a paid race, it’s practice. When it comes closer to entering them into any races, then we’ll have to play it by ear.
” He looked at Faith, and when she nodded, he turned back to Myrna.
“There’s no need to rush, we have plenty of time. ”
“We’re only training for the quarter mile right now,” Faith said. “The track is a mile and a half, but Pedro will be standing at the quarter mile mark so he can get an accurate read on the timer.”
“Oh,” she said as she looked at what Pedro carried. The clipboard, a stopwatch around his neck, and a second gun at his hip.