CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Smoke from the barbecue grill rose up the
outdoor chimney and out into the sky. Flavorful aromas from the
cooking meat filled everyone’s noses and made their mouths water.
Sandy had cooked steaks, hot dogs, chicken, brisket and kabobs.
There was enough food to feed much of the town, not just the four
people over for dinner. Roasted corn, salad, beans and cornbread
rounded out the meal.
Jeanne Johnson was an interesting person, all
right. Lily noted that she took care of herself, kept her figure
trim and had her hair done regularly. She was perky and feisty, and
her eyes shone with love every time she looked at her son and
grandson. Her eyes on Lily were questioning.
Throughout dinner, Jeanne had told Lily all
about the Johnson family, including Sandy’s brother in Reno and his
sister in Winnemucca. They were married with several children each
and had ranches of their own, so visits home to Naples were always
filled with fun and large dramatic family gatherings. Sandy was the
eldest and had inherited the family home when his father died.
Sandy was to be caretaker of the ranch and carry on the family
business. He had built Jeanne a nice log home a few miles away,
still on Johnson property because she didn’t want to live in the
main ranch house after her husband died.
Jeanne also told Lily about the Cable family
when they had lived in Naples. She too had been in Sammy Cable’s
school class.
“It is so exciting to learn more about my
heritage, Mrs. Johnson. My dad may have lived here, but my mother
was from San Francisco. I wonder why Dad never told me about their
life here in Naples.”
“Please, my dear, call me Jeanne. I really
would like to know why he suggested you move here and never told
you the other half of the story. Hmm...I think a story’s in there.”
Jeanne winked at Lily.
“You know, Mom,” began Sandy, “Perhaps it’s
none of our business.”
Lily caught the stop meddling look he
shot his mother.
Sandy waved a hand. “Anyone up for dessert?
Mom brought one of her fabulous red velvet cakes.”
Jesse had eaten quite a bit and had given the
dogs a few kabobs under the table. “I’m ready!” The dogs perked up
their heads. More food?
“I don’t think I could eat another bite.
Maybe I can take a slice home,” said Lily. She couldn’t remember
when she had last eaten such a big meal.
After dessert, Jeanne and Jesse went into the
family room to work on his puzzle, while Sandy and Lily did
cleanup. This was nice: A family eating and conversing together…
Lily didn’t even have a cat to talk to at mealtimes. Maybe she was
lonelier than she thought.
Sandy glanced at Lily and wondered what she
was thinking. It had been wonderful to have her join them. He found
out more things about her: She was a good conversationalist, loved
animals, books, movies, and loved food. Her metabolism must help
her out or she jogged; her figure was too good for her to eat
dinners like this all the time.
She had a love for the works of Jane Austen.
Sandy promised he would read Pride and Prejudice, her
favorite. She had called him Mr. Darcy once and his mother had
smiled at her. He definitely needed to find out what that was
about.
“Sandy,” began his mother. “Would you mind if
Jesse came home with me tonight? I promised to help him with his
homework.”
“His homework?” asked Lily.
“He has a poem due Monday and I know his
teacher would be very disappointed if he didn’t finish what he had
started.” Jeanne winked at her.
Smiling, Sandy nodded. “Jesse, go get your
stuff for a night at Grandma’s. That okay?”
Jesse was already running down the hallway to
his bedroom. “Sure,” he called over his shoulder.
When Lily went to freshen up in the bathroom,
Sandy cornered his mother.
“What are you doing, Mom? Lily’s not staying
the night. For Pete’s sake, we just met!”
“I know that, darlin’, but you will get to
know her a bit better if little Jesse is not underfoot. Right?
You’ll have plenty of time for her to get to know him. You two need
a little private time,” The big smile on her face seemed to be
growing.
“I always worry when you start smiling or
smirking.”
Just then Lily came around a corner. “What
are you smiling about, Jeanne?” Lily glanced from Jeanne to
Sandy.
“Just that I am thrilled to have met you,
Lily dear. I hope to see much more of you in the future. After all,
you do work occasionally at my friend Millie’s candy store. I am
sure we will meet again.”
“Bye, Miss Cable,” sang Jesse. “Thanks for
coming to ride horses with us. Wasn’t it fun?” Lily gave him a big
hug and looked longingly at him.
“Bye, Mom, thanks again,” said Sandy as
Jeanne took Jesse out to her car. As they took off, Lily and Sandy
looked at each other. With her black hair, she was nearly swallowed
in the darkness. Sandy opened his mouth to say something and
CRACK!
Lily anxiously jumped. “What in the world was
that?”
“That’s called thunder in Nevada, Lily. When
it starts, it really starts. We’d better get ready for a storm.
They happen suddenly and stop just as suddenly.”
They ran around closing windows. Lily hurried
outside to roll up the windows of her car. When Sandy was satisfied
that the house was ready for a storm, he called his mother. She and
Jesse had made it safely to her house and were also getting
ready.
The thunder had warned of the lightning that
was coming. A sudden flash of light brightened the landscape as
lightning sparked in the distance. The rain came quickly and fell
hard. “It doesn’t rain like this in San Francisco, I bet,” Sandy
teased as he moved quickly through the house.
CRACK! There went the thunder again sounding
like a plane had just hit Mach 1. The howling wind crept up and
screamed around corners of the house.
“We’d better get out to the barn and check
the horses. I want to make sure Anna is all right,” Sandy yelled
over his shoulder to Lily as he ran out the back door. Rain pellets
beat at them as they made their way. Hail mixed in with water hurt
when it hit their bodies and the wind made staying upright
difficult.
“Cover your eyes, Lily!” Sandy grabbed her,
shielding her with his jacket. Maybe only twenty steps to the barn,
but they were already soaking wet.
Once inside, Sandy closed the big door
sheltering them from the wind and rain that continued a relentless
staccato rhythm on the roof. He went over to inspect his horse.
“Damn! It really rains here, doesn’t it?”
Lily was wet through and shivered. She tried to wring out her
blouse and jacket. “It doesn’t seem to make much difference in my
degree of wetness, does it?” she laughed.
Sandy looked her over and smiled. She was
beautiful even when wet. She didn’t seem to mind and, for some
reason, that pleased him.
“How’s Anna doing?”
“She’s definitely in labor. Of course, in the
middle of a sudden storm, she goes into labor. Doc Walker won’t be
able to get here in time, so we’re on our own,” Sandy paused for
her reaction.
Lily gulped. “…A… horse delivery?” She shook
out her hair. “Never saw that on Animal Planet. Okay, okay,
whew… Everyone just breathe.” She took a few calming breaths,
looked Sandy squarely in the eyes and said, “What can I do to
help?”
That was exactly what Sandy was hoping she
would say. Her tally of points was getting higher.
“We’ll just watch her for a while and see how
it goes. If she needs any help, here’s what we’ll do.” He explained
the procedure to Lily so matter-of-factly that she felt capable of
doing the task at hand. It was important… This was Sandy’s favorite
horse.
He decided Lily would definitely be helpful
in any adverse situation. Even one in which she lacked experience.
She was forthright, smart, and willing to do what needed to be
done. Much had been done with less.
Over a period of several hours, the mare had
become increasingly restless. The rain finally stopped, so the
incessant pounding on the roof had ceased. Sandy moved the other
horses to another side of the barn. Anna needed to be alone and
moved about, switching her tail and looking at her sides. When she
began sweating all over her body, Sandy announced the birth would
happen soon. Lily moved when Sandy gave her instruction and stayed
out of the way when he didn’t.
The horse started pawing at the ground and
got up and down several times. She was trying to position the foal.
He checked to see where in the birth canal the foal was and got
quickly out of the way. Suddenly, a fluid was ejected from Anna’s
behind. Sandy explained this fluid would help to lubricate the
birth canal. The horse was probably four hours into the birth
process by now and Lily was fascinated. Her eyes watched the horse
steadily and she didn’t cringe with each new development.
Anna’s abdominal muscles started contracting.
She positioned herself to strain to push out the foal and then a
miracle happened! Anna began pushing and to their amazement, the
foal’s shoulder came out. This seemed to be the hardest part, since
the horse rested a few minutes and easily pushed out the rest of
the foal.
Lily blinked away tears. The small horse
struggled to stand up and the umbilical cord broke. Sandy took
straw to wipe him down. The mare waited about ten minutes and then
pushed out the placenta. Sandy checked to make sure it was all
there because leaving in even part of it was considered dangerous
for the horse.
“We’ll need to watch Anna for a few days. Her
discharge color could indicate an infection.” When Sandy looked at
Lily, she had tears streaming down her cheeks. “Are you all
right?”
“Oh, sure. Don’t worry about me,” she gasped.
“How are the horse and the baby?” Sandy reached over and gave her a
tissue he found in his soggy jacket.
“I think they’re doing better than you are.
What’s the matter?”
“What did she have? A boy or girl?” Lily
continued crying.
“It’s a boy. A colt we call them,” Sandy