Back Talking & BackHanding

Horse Shoes

Sean POV

Working with horses is a lot of work but it's worth it. And it's fun to hang out with Rick. He's a funny guy. I felt bad that he was living in that big house with only farm animals for company. 50, farm animals for company, that is, but they couldn't talk to him. He had a lot on his mind and I'm glad he was able to get it off by talking to me.

Turns out, we have a lot in common and our dads seem exactly the same. They raised us the same and I'm assuming that's why we have so much in common. Except for the fact that he was raised on a ranch and I was raised in a house city. And that our homes were about 600 miles away but still.

When I finished my share of work, I said my goodbyes to Rick and headed back to the cabin. I was beyond beat. It was a hot day and there was a lot of work that I'd done. Not even really feeling like eating, I heated up a small bowl of Abelina's pasta and ate it. After I washed up and put on pjs and crawled in bed, I plugged my ear phones in and dozed off to music.

It was the third day and that meant time to go back to the cabin and back to Ari. Oh, Ari. How would she react when I got back? Would she be happy? Sad? Angry? I didn't know. I could only expect she'd be angry and not talk to me. And if she was I would just have to accept that fact and deal with it until she wasn't mad.

I knew it would take all day for me to get back if I wanted to take breaks so I quickly ate something and gathered my things. Them I remembered that Abelina had made an extra bowl of pasta for Ari that was still in the fridge. I held it in my arms carefully and locked up the cabin before leaving. The day seemed cooler than normal and there was a good breeze blowing in from the beach. The beach was a good ways away but I still felt the wind it made.

It was when I reached the sand, meaning I was halfway there, that I decided to take a break. I sat down on a large bolder, one that I normally sit on when I take breaks. My stomach had a small cramp that would go away soon enough and my breathing was a little faster than normal. Nothing unusual if you were a human or animal.

I fell asleep and didn't even realize. After an hour I'd say I woke up and headed on my way again. It wasn't too late, maybe the evening, around 3:00. which was good. Meaning I'd be 'home' by sundown. And I was. The sun was just going over the side of the ocean when I reached the cabin. I opened the cabin door and stepped inside. "Ari?" I called.

She didn't need to not be mad at me. I just wanted to make sure she was there. "I'm here," she said. Ari walked into the 'living room' where I was and she looked at me. She looked sad. I sighed. That's what I didn't want. I didn't expect her to be happy but I didn't want her to be sad. I really didn't want her to be angry because then she started to say things that made me mad and then I would hurt her.

I was hoping she'd be numb or something but no, she was sad. Sadly. "You went to the town?" She asked softly. "Yea," I closed the door behind me and she followed as I walked into the kitchen. I placed the glass bowl of pasta down on the counter and put my backpack on a stool. "Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was low. Her arms were crossed in front of her. She was looking down and she didn't sound too happy that I didn't tell her where she was going.

"I didn't think you cared." I shrugged simply. "And I didn't wanna wake you." She swallowed. "Well next time..." I raised my eyebrow. Who was she to tell me what to do? But I kept that comment to myself. "Can you please tell me?" Okay, good. It came out as a question instead of an order. "Okay," I responded.

"Um, I brought you something." I pushed the bowl over to her. "What is it?" She asked taking the foil off. "Some type of French Pasta." Ari looked at me funny. "Where the hell did you get French pasta?" She asked. "This girl." I said. Ari's eyes narrowed and I could swear I saw a flash of jealousy in them. "She's too old for me, don't worry." I joked. She went to roll her eyes but stopped.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She put her hand on her hip playfully. "I think you know what it means." I smirked. I watched Ari heat up a small bowl of the pasta. I was sitting on a stool, thinking about how I was going to apologize. Ari walked around with such elegance and grace and she was so beautiful that it distracted me from what I was supposed to be doing.

For some reason I couldn't bring myself to get up and go to the other room where I could think straight. Maybe it was because I liked staring at her. Anyways, Ari caught me staring and her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Yes?" She asked, snapping me out of my fantasies. I blinked quickly and shook my head. "Was I staring?" I asked. "Sorry," I say looking away.

Even though I wasn't looking at her, I still felt like she looked at me for a while after I looked away. Like she was thinking about something that involved me. I ignored it though. When Ari's pasta was done, she joined me at the counter and when she took a bite of it, she looked like she loved it. I couldn't really tell if she was eating the way she was because it was that good or because I hadn't fed her in a week.

"Did you eat while I was gone?" I ask as she finishes her bowl. "No," she says wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Why?" I asked. She shrugged. I hated when she did that. But did nothing about it. "I just...didn't want to..." she said. "Why not?" I asked. "Got a little distracted wondering where you went, and when you were coming back."