Chapter Eight - Blaire
CHAPTER EIGHT
Blaire
“That’s what you’re wearing?” Reese scans me from head to toe, likely judging my bare legs and thin strappy sandals. The short black dress I’m wearing might look like a little cocktail dress but it’s actually athleisure and has shorts under it. But he doesn’t need to know that.
“Good morning to you, too,” I say with a smile. “And I’ve performed a double in six-inch heels in an outdoor theatre in the middle of July. I’d just worry about yourself.”
“Preformed a double? What does that even mean?” He shakes his head in confusion. “You know what, never mind. We’ve got to get to work. We’re already running late.” He waves his hand at me to follow him.
He asked me to meet him outside the horse stalls at the crack of dawn, but didn’t bother to tell me the horse stalls have changed locations since I was last here. So if I’m a little late, who’s fault is it? I decide to keep this comment to myself.
Reese unlocks a giant wooden sliding door and ushers me in. I’ve been in horse stalls, but none as big as this one. The morning sun softly lights the long corridor as sleepy horses move slowly, some peaking their heads out to look at us. There must be close to twenty stalls and only some of the horses seem to be awake. It’s surprisingly calm and peaceful.
“Are we riding them?” I ask hopefully. It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden a horse, but since being back in Solace Springs I’ve had an itch to do it again.
“I’ll be doing some riding this morning.” He tosses a pair of work gloves at me. “You’ll be cleaning out the stalls.”
I catch the gloves involuntarily.
“Don’t you have an entire staff for that?” I eye him suspiciously. “I respect hard work, but I don’t like being hazed.”
“It’s the weekend.” He shrugs. “Usually Kaylee works with me on Saturdays while Colt and Briggs take Sunday. You want me to wake her up and tell her Hollywood is above cleaning some stalls?”
I roll my eyes. “Obviously, not.”
“An eye roll, Hollywood? Even Kaylee has grown out of that one.”
He opens up a stall and brushes his hand along the mane of a yawning black stallion. I giggle when the yawn turns into a sneeze and Reese narrowly avoids getting sprayed.
“Glad you find that so funny,” he looks back at me with a cocked eyebrow. “You see this stall? You’re going to literally be shoveling shit and you need real shoes. One fumble and you’ve either got shit on your foot or a broken toe.”
“I’m fine,” I say stubbornly, even though I know he’s right.
He takes a deep breath and pats the horse, who is now looking at me curiously. He closes the stall door and turns to me, his arms crossed.
“I tried asking nicely and that’s obviously not working. Now are you going to make me hold you down and shove some damn boots on you, or can you just admit that maybe you didn’t dress right for working on a ranch?” He says, frustration lining his voice.
“Jeez, fine!” I throw my hands up in exasperation.
He nods and leads me to a room full of equipment. Everything is tidy and in place. He throws open a closet and throws a pair of worn boots at the ground near me and then rustles in a drawer and a pair of socks comes flying out after.
“Let me know if those fit.” He says gruffly.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the charming brother?” I glare at him accusingly.
“There’s nothing charming about someone putting themselves in danger for no apparent reason,” he bites back.
I cock my head. That seems a little dramatic.
“Is there something you’d like to say to me, Reese?” I pull a huge white sock up my calf.
“Nope,” he says, tapping his boot on the floor. “Just trying to make sense of why your grandma thought it was a great idea to just thrust you into our lives when you don’t even own one damn sensible pair of shoes.”
“Well, I’m sorry for being such a burden to you. You think I know why I’m here? Hell, I debated never even coming back here and letting go of the very last thing she left me on this earth.”
“Of course, you shouldn’t have done that.” His voice is strained and loud, but not quite a yell. He paces around the room, clearly trying to think about what he wants to say. “Damn it. Let’s just get through the morning, okay? Do the damn boots fit?”
I huff in frustration as sit on a wooden stool and pull the other sock on, followed by a boot. I stand up and test it out. They’re a little big, but they will do just fine.
“Yep,” I say and get to work putting the other one without looking at him.
“Good,” his voice is quiet now, almost sheepish.
I walk back towards the stall, and he opens it again .
“The horses need to be brought out of the stall before you can clean. I know how much exercise each one needs in the morning, otherwise I would split the riding with you.” He actually sounds apologetic as he places the halter on the black stallion.
“It’s fine, Reese. I can handle it.” I shoot back at him.
“I know you can.” He nods. For a moment I wonder if that’s his way of offering a truce. But he turns back to the stalls and spends a few more minutes explaining what to do.
I just obediently nod my head the whole time. Because he’s right. He didn’t ask for me to be here. The least I can do is not make his life any harder.
We go about the morning like this. He moves a horse out and I move in, shoveling shit and pee-soaked hay into a wheelbarrow. My workout dress is not so glamorous anymore and I’ve dropped the metal shovel about ten times, so Reese was absolutely right about having a broken toe if I hadn’t been wearing boots. Of course, I’m not going to tell him that. Behaving is one thing, but inflating his ego is another.
When we get to a stall with a white and grey spotted horse, Reese hands her lead over to me.
“Blaire, meet Daisy.” Reese nods toward the horse. “Your Gram convinced us to take her in. Another farm was closing down, and it’s not so easy for an older horse to find another life somewhere.”
“Oh,” my voice is shallow and strained.
He laughs to himself as he scratches Daisy’s nose. “She used to come to Daisy’s stall and catch her up on all the gossip. We called the two of them the Granny’s Breakfast Club as we went on working all around them. I swear Daisy looked forward to it. ”
I’m surprised by the tear that fall from my eye without any warning. I brush it away before Reese can notice it.
“But she doesn’t like to move around so much in the morning,” he continues. “So if you just walk around with her a bit, then I’ll clean the stall,” he nods. “You two can get acquainted.”
I only nod, fearing I’ll start crying if I try to say something. I lead Daisy away and once we’re alone in the pen, I balance myself on the fence so I can look her in the eye.
“You loved my Gram, too?” I whisper to her as I brush my hand along her nose. “I’m really sorry I didn’t get to meet you sooner.”
Her ears twitch as she looks at me curiously.
“Do you miss her?” I ask, my voice coming out strained.
Daisy puffs out some air.
“Yeah, me too.” I nod.
I take a deep breath and take in the fresh morning air. I’ve felt a lot of shame over how I visited Gram less and less as I got older. If Reese hadn’t volunteered that information about Daisy, I would never have known. I should already know these things.
But the fact is, I don’t. And this might be my only chance to ever get to know them.
I hear footsteps and both Daisy and I look to see Reese heading our way. He hops up on the fence next to me and runs his hand along Daisy’s nose.
“I’m sorry,” he says after a moment. “I think I’m jealous.”
“Jealous?” I look at him skeptically. He doesn’t meet my eyes and instead looks off at the horizon.
“Yeah,” he nods solemnly. “You have a way to say goodbye to your grandma. She’s given you such a gift, and I saw the outfit as you not taking it seriously. I know it’s not though, it’s just you being you.”
I sigh as understanding wraps around me. He’s jealous that I have a way to say bye to Gram when he and his siblings never got to say bye to their parents.
“You’re right,” I say quietly. “I’m not taking it seriously. I think I’m too ashamed to admit what I’ve missed out on. I hate that I never even knew Daisy existed.”
“Well, you’re here now, aren’t you? That counts for something.”
I think about bringing up his parents. I want to say how sorry I am, but I wouldn’t even know how to start. And he never responded to my texts, so I think it’s safe to say it’s not something he wants to open up to me about.
“Thanks, Reese.” I say instead.
I think about how quickly our morning together devolved into chaos, and suddenly I can’t help it when I start to giggle.
“What in the hell are you laughing about?” He looks up at me like I’ve lost my damn mind, but a smile dances at the edge of his eyes.
“No one has ever spoken to me like that in my life.” My laughter grows deeper. “Did you really threaten to hold me down and put the boots on me yourself?”
He laughs and gets down, offering his hand. “Yeah, well, get used to it, Hollywood. You were acting like a stubborn little princess.”
“I’ve played like five princesses in movies, so…” I take his hand and jump down.
“Well, you’ve got about five more stalls to shovel shit from, Princess.”