Country Love

vii

 I'm shampooing Chadder's mane when I feel someone hug me from behind, thinking it's Brad, I exclaim, "Go away Brad!"

That's when I hear a raspy chuckle in that melodious voice I so adore, "It's me, Chad. Good to see you taking such good care of Chad."

I reply, "Brianna really likes Chad, that's why she's taking care of Chad."

A beat passes and Chad says nothing, I say, "Chad?" and at the same time he asks me, "Why are you talking in third person?"

"Because you were."

"What? No I wasn't."

I am about to protest before he says, "Oh! I was talking about Chadder."

My face heats and I say, "In my defence-"

"Forget that," he says, pulling a colourful piece of paper out from his pocket, "I got you these."

I shriek in excitement when I see what he's showing me. They're VIP tickets to Kerri Smith's show. I squeal into Chad's ear while hugging him and he grins at me, those sapphire eyes of his alight with satisfaction.

"Chaddy.. these are perfect! Thank you so much! But uh- why are there three? Is Chantelle coming with us?"

"No, she's going back to London tomorrow, Randy's coming with us, he's a real fan. He loves Kerri Smith even more than you do."
Intimidated by this accusation, I say, "That's not possible. Randy's too busy at the manure store to even appreciate Kerri Smith, and besides, what hardships has he faced in life that he can even begin to relate to Kerri?"

He puts on a sober expression and says, "What? No? He used to date Kerri, they're an on and off thing. All those songs are about him."

I'm shocked, Randy? My idol sings about a fifty year old man with a goatee? He works in a manure store! But then again, so do I, and I am pretty great.

I ask, "So... who's the Yugoslav?"

"Teodora. She's in her thirties, like Kerri, so she's not into me but if she was..."

I don't want to hear what's next so I cut Chad off and say, "I'll wear my best plaid shirt!"

He looks pleased and says, "Great. Make sure to leave the top five buttons unbuttoned, Kerri really likes that, you know. I have to boil Bradley's chickpeas for him, I'll catch up with you later."

I reply, "Okay, but it only has six buttons so..."

"The more revealing the better, I don't make the rules, Kerri Smith does." he flashes me a toothy grin.

"Sure," I tell him, "make sure to underboil Bradley's chickpeas!"

"I will!" he tells me as he exits the stables.

Brad peers from his stall, and shoots me a glare. My heartbeat quickens, I hadn't realised that Brad had heard everything. Now he'll know to boil his chickpeas when Chad gives them to him. I look away and resume washing Horse Chad.

                                                                          🐴

I put on my best plaid shirt, as I had promised Chad and leave the top five buttons unbuttoned as he kindly advised me to do. I bound down the stairs to find Chad waiting for me.

"Chaddy!" I exclaim, "How do I look?"

He gives me a once over, his gaze lingering over the unbuttoned part of my shirt. "Great," he nods in approval, "Kerri will be very pleased to see that you left those buttons that way."