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TEN
Raya
“And I will seethe two of you Monday. Or tomorrow. Who knows?” I chuckled as I pet Romeo’s cheek and looked at Molly, the mare we’d put near his stable to keep him calm while she waited out the rest of her pregnancy. They were the two horses who were currently not working at the facility but would be as soon as they were back to themselves.
Or trained to be a therapy horse in the first place, in Romeo’s case.
I was feeling a lot more relaxed now that Cole was gone. Not that he made me feel too nervous, but there was something about him that just put me on edge. He was a good guy, I could see that. Good with horses, respectful to me and the other staff even if he was arguing with pretty much everything I said. Nice enough.
But a massive headache, too.
I was glad to see him drive away and know I was going to get a couple days of peace without him around. He was nice to look at. I did appreciate the eye candy we got to have around the facility with him working for me. But, that didn’t change the fact we barely got along, and I felt it was just a matter of time before one or the other of us lost our cool and let the other person know how we really felt about the situation.
I really hoped I wasn’t the one to reach that point first. And, if I was, I didn’t want to reach it when we were in the middle of any kind of therapy. Either with the horse or with people, for that matter. It felt like a ticking time bomb, really, and I didn’t want to be around when it finally exploded.
But, this was just temporary. I knew that.
It was a few weeks out of my life to put up with someone who wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but someone who was also able to help solve my problem. After working with Romeo for the first week, I was pleased with the progress I was seeing with the horse. He was quickly picking up on the lessons, and I knew it was just a matter of time before I put him in the field.
I wasn’t sure when I would decide to bring him out and let him work with clients, but I knew he was making steps in that direction, and that’s the biggest thing I wanted. I could put up with Cole’s asshole attitude if I was able to get the results I wanted with the horse. He’d leave, and I’d still have the animal at the facility, so I could forget about him and just move on with my own life.
My phone rang.
“Hey, girl,” I said. “What’s going on, Wrenley?”
“Just calling to see if you wanted to grab a drink with me?” she asked. “I just got off a twelve-hour shift, and I really want something to help calm me down before I head home to get some sleep. Are you free?”
“Why are you working so much?” I asked. “I thought you were going to cut back on your hours.”
“I thought about it, but how can I cut back when we’re short staffed and there are people who need help?” she asked. “I would much rather push through if it means I get to help people who are in need. You know?”
I did know what she meant, and I was glad she had that kind of dedication to her work. Wrenley was one of the best nurses in the field. I truly believed that. I was proud of her for all she put into her career, and I knew she was personally responsible for saving lives. It was an honor to know her.
“True. But you have to take care of yourself here, too. You’re going to work yourself right into an early grave if you’re not careful. Then what am I going to do with myself?” I asked.
“Oh, come on, you have Harper,” she said.
“And Harper has her own life moving forward,” I replied. “Like I said, I’m happy for her and we’re definitely still hanging out and stuff, but with her guy in the mix now, I want to give her the space and time to enjoy having someone to love and love her in return.”
“Well, she’s missing out. You and I, we’re going out tonight, and I’m already looking forward to it.” Wrenley laughed. “Where do you want to go?”
“I didn’t entirely agree to coming with you,” I said, but with her laughing response, I knew it didn’t matter. She was going to talk me into going out with her no matter how long it took, but she didn’t have to try very hard. After working with the guy she’d recommended to me for the week, I was eager to get back to her and tell her how things had gone.
“You want to go to Mama Tia’s?” I asked. “That’s not too far from here, and that way we can carpool.”
“You don’t want to come back into the city?” she sounded surprised.
“Not really,” I said. “It’s been a long week, and I’m looking forward to relaxing. If we go out in the City, you know as well as I do it’s going to be an all-night affair, and we’re going to wind up going to bed when the sun comes up.”
“You say that as though there’s something wrong with it,” she said, and I laughed.
“At our age, there is! We have work to do and responsibilities and whatever. I have to break out of this partying I like to do,” I said.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
