Chapter 59
“Okay, sure. I’d love to,” he said, much to the twins delight. He noticed—or was it his imagination—that Scott’s smile deepened at Dan’s acceptance of the invitation.
As they all got up to leave, Greta called out, “Whoa there, Kyle—you, too, Erick. You’re going to stay here and help Adalin with the clean-up. You won’t be any help in the barn. You’ll only be in the way. I suspect what you’re really up to is trying out Scott’s new horseshoe pit.”
Kyle and Erick looked at each other and grinned sheepishly.
“Busted,” Kyle said.
But the two men good-naturedly began to help with clearing away the dishes and leftovers.
The rest trouped out to the barn. When they got there the twins began arguing about who would go first in the wash rack.
“Shadow takes too long. He’s white and has all those poop stains, “ Sarah complained. “I need to do Sugar first cuz it takes longer to braid her mane than it does to do western bands, and if you go first I’ll be here forever!”
“But it takes forever to wash him, and I have to band after,” Susan said, pouting.
“Tell ya what,” Rachel said to the girls, “we’ll let Sugar go first. We have to clip Shadow’s ears and whiskers anyway. Sugar won’t take that long for her bath. Then Sarah can braid Sugar while Shadow gets his. Then we’ll all help you band Shadow.”
That satisfied the girls. Holly and Susan took Shadow and cross tied him in the aisle. Rachel and Sarah took Sugar to the wash rack.
As the clippers began to buzz and Dan heard the hose being turned on, Scott asked, “Want to help muck their stalls so they have a nice clean bed to sleep in?”
Dan nodded enthusiastically. He was happy to help. It made him feel he was part of what was going on.
Scott and Dan mucked and re-bedded the stalls with fresh wood shavings. By the time they were done, Shadow was in the wash rack and Sugar in the aisle being dried with a blow dryer.
Dan then helped Scott hook up Scott’s truck to the horse trailer, carry saddles, bridles, and other equipment out of the barn, and store them in the trailer’s tack room. They filled hay bags and hung them in the trailer box so the horses would have something to munch on the trip to the show. Dan carried a bale of hay and put it in the truck bed for feeding between classes.
Dan was filled with happiness as the two men worked side by side. This was what had been missing in his encounters over the summer. Now he realized they’d revolved around the sexual aspects of the relationship. What he and Scott were sharing as they worked was life. But the realization was bittersweet. His relationship with Scott could only go so far.
When they were done, Scott said, “Come with me.” They walked around the corner of the barn and along the side of the indoor arena. “Do you ride?”
“Some,” Dan admitted.
“Good.”
At the back of the arena was a small pasture. In it were two horses grazing peacefully. They picked up their heads as the men approached.
Dan looked at Scott.
“They’re the other part of my surprise. I’m thinking of getting these two so the family can go on trail rides together. I was told they were solid trail horses. Of course I’d like you to come out and check them over before I buy them.”
“Sure, I’d be glad to,” Dan said.
“The buckskin there is Poco, and the grey is Rosie. Maybe when you come, you and I can take ‘em for a ride to check them out?”
Dan smiled. “I’d like that.”
“We know Shadow and Sugar are safe for the girls on the trail. If we get these two, all four of us can go. That was the first thing they said when I told them we might get Poco and Rosie—We can’t’ wait for Dr. Dan to go for a ride with us.”
They went back into the barn and watched as the girls, with Rachel and Holly’s help, banded and braided. When this had been accomplished, they braided the horses’ tails and put them in tail bags. Then each horse was given a hood and a sheet.
“To keep them clean for the show,” Dan was informed by Sarah.
Shadow’s outfit was Zebra striped. Sugar’s had white daisies on a blue background. The horses were put in their stalls and clean lavender halters and lead ropes were hung on the doors. Just as all was accomplished, Adalin arrived and asked the girls to help her bring their show outfits out to the trailer.