Country Girls Do It Better... Book 1 Of The Healing Through Horses Trilogy

Chapter 20

       I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I didn't know what I could possibly say to make her feel better. To ease the pain that she must feel. I didn't know what it felt like for your parents to divorce, but before Dad had saw fit to explain to me what had actually happened to Mom, for all I knew, she had left us. She had just driven away one day and never came back. It was a real slap in the face when I found out what had actually happend.
       Delilah pulled me out of my reverie by sniffing. She wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve before speaking. "My mom's always on the phone with lawyers and attorneys, and she hates my dad. They can't possibly go one day with out yelling at each other. I just feel so hopeless, and I don't know what to do. I'm scared." She looked up at me through her long lashes, and her eyes showed so much pain. They were red around the edges and her face was blotchy, as if she had rubbed it in the hay.
     Who knew that a girl who seemed to have everything under control was really messed up?
     "I'm afraid that they will sell Boomerang because they can't afford her as well as the lawyers. I love Boomerang." Something flashed behind her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it disappeared.
     Again, my mouth bested my brain and I said the first thing that popped into my head. "I can keep Boomerang here and you don't have to worry about where to keep her. How does that sound?"
      Her face brightened up slightly, almost immediately. "You would do that? Oh thank you!" she threw her arms around my neck, clenching me in a bear hug so tight that I lost my breath. I immediately tensed at the physical contact.
      I hated physical contact.
      Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled back to check it, as her face fell again. "It's my mom. I have to get home. Thank you, and good job with Boomerang." She got up, brushed her clothes off, and descended down the ladder. I heard her light footfalls as they left the barn.
      I sighed and swung down by way of the rafters. It was always more fun that way because I felt like Tarzan. Or Jane. Wait, Jane didn't do that, did she?
      Oh who cares?
      I walked past the horse stalls as I left, and noticed Boomerang standing there, munching on a flake of hay.
      I wondered how much of our conversation Hunter had heard.       
      I walked outside, squinting my eyes against the sun. Hunter was back in  the arena, disassembling the barrels and lining them up against the fence. I climbed up the rungs and sat on the top before clearing my throat.
       Hunter whirled around, but grinned as soon as he saw me, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth. A warm, fuzzy feeling tingled in my stomach, and I looked down at the ground, smiling.
       He put up the last barrel an came jogging over, before skidding to a stop in front of me. "How's Delilah?" He asked, a look of concern evident on his face.
       My brown eyes met with his blue ones, and my heart skipped a beat. Shoving the feeling down, I spoke, "She's okay. How much of our conversation did you hear?" I raised an eyebrow at him, and he copied me.
      "Who says I heard anything?" He crossed his arms playfully. 
      "Well, Boomerangs in her stall, and we were sitting right above you. You had to have heard something." My voice trailed off as I swung m legs against the fence.
      "Maybe Casper brought her in. How do you know I even left the arena?" He vaulted up on the fence next to me, bumping me with his shoulder. I scooted over a few inches, enlarging the space between us. 
     "Because Casper's a ghost, and Dad isn't around to bring her in." I looked him directly in the eyes, immediately wishing I hadn't. He stared back at me intensely, His blue orbs searching mine.
    He started leaning in, and I didn't stop him. Though I very well should have. He raised a hand up to my cheek, and I felt my face burning. Sparks flew where he was touching me.
     Just as his lips almost touched mine, we heard a loud chorus of moooo's coming from behind us.
     I whipped my head around at the sound, and gasped at what I saw.
    About 30 head of cows were stampeding through the yard, trampling the grass and eating every flower they could find. I let out a little squeal, and Hunter jumped off the fence.
    "Crap." He said, under his breath.
    His brain must have been slightly muddled because he started running at the cows and yelling, waving his arms above his head and looking like a peacock who got into the weed. A few of them lifted their heads and moo'd, while others completely ignored him.
    I giggled at his stupidity, before running to the barn to get a bridle. I waded slowly through the cows, trying desperately not to startle them. But Hunter was making it extrememly hard, what with his waving arms and his shouting.
     I jumped to the side as a little heifer came streaking through the herd, just about running me over. I took off running, though, when the heifer's very big mama charged through the herd after her baby.
     Finally, I got to the safety of the barn. I sprinted into the tack room and grabbed Ozzy's bridle off the hook, not wasting any time.
     I quietly made my way out to the pasture whistling for my horse, when I saw Hunter standing back from the herd, scratching the top of his head.
     I heard the sound of hoofbeats rapidly approaching and I turned my head to see Ozzy barreling in towards the gate.
     I opened it and she trotted out, head held high, eyeing the cows warily. She lowered her head and let me put her bridle on. As soon as I swung up onto her back, she started to prance. She always got excited around cows.
    I used leg cues and turned her toward the outside edge of the herd, planning to round them up and take them back to the closest pasture until I can go out and check the pasture they came from.
    "Hup! Hup! Let's go cows! Come on!" They started slowly moving the direction I was pointing,
    Hunter moved out of the way, still scratching his head. He walked up to me and Ozzy, his faced tinged pink. "Well that was fun..."His voice trailed off and he looked down at the ground. I chuckled at him, reaching down and ruffling his hair.
      "You really need to stop making this a habit." I looked down at him as he kicked a clod of dirt under Ozzy's belly.
     "Making what a habit?" He asked, his voice coming out muffled and quiet.
    "Being shown up by a girl." And with that, I kicked Ozzy into a lope and rode away. I heard him yell something from behind me, but I didn't care enough to find out what he said.
     I dismounted and went to shut the gate, Ozzy following behind me as usual. I could see Dad in the distance. He was cantering in from the back pastures, most likely following the cows. I swung easily back onto Ozzy and went out to meet him.
     Hunter jumped out of the way again as I came barreling towards him. Knowing he was fine, I didn't look back and kept running. Ozzy gradually picked up speed until she was full-out running. I sat deep and she slowed do a walk, as we came closer to Dad. He stopped his big dun in front of me.
      "Did you get the cows?" Were the first words out of his mouth.
      "Yup. Hunter and I rounded them up and put them in the north pasture. We didn't have horses in there, so I thought it would be a good place. How did they get out?"
     Dad's face hardened. "There was a break in the fence. Didn't we tell Hunter to go check that a few days ago?"
     I sighed and pursed my lips. "Yeah, we did. And I sent him out, so he should've checked it. I don't know what else he would've been doing." My mind, set  to default, immediately suspected the worst.
     "Now don't go thinking the worst about him. He could've checked it and one of our bulls could have easily gone through it." It was almost as if Dad had read my mind.
     I stayed silent and studied the ground between Ozzy's ears. I watched them flick back and forth, hearing every unusual sound. There was a sense of peace knowing that she could hear things that I couldn't. She could protect me better than I could protect myself. She could protect me, and I could protect her.
      Could Hunter do that?
      I was snapped out of my thinking when Dad asked me a question.
      "You don't like Hunter, do you?" he gave me a pointed look.
      I started fiddling with Ozzy's mane. "Well, I wouldn't say that..." My voice trailed off, and I couldn't give him a straight answer. I didn't know the answer myself.  I felt weird whenever I was around him.
     He made me feel nervous and scared. I always felt like I was going to throw up or something. My brain would go on strike, and I would have a jumble of muddled thoughts filling my mind. I tried not to form sentences around him other than sarcastic comments, because anything else would not make any sense.
     But he also made me feel the opposite of that.
     He made me feel safe and protected. He made it seem like there was nothing in this world that could possibly be wrong.
    When I was with him, I forgot all about my mom's addiction. I forgot all about her overdose. All I could ever think about were the flecks of green in his blue eyes, and the little dimple on his right cheek. All I could think about was his infuriating persistence to hold the door for me. I secretly loved when he did that, but he hoped he would never find out.
     I secretly loved the way his arms felt around my waist, and the way he stared so intently into my eyes when I talked.
     I secretly loved the way he turned my stomach into mush whenever he talks in his adorable southern accent. Which was, unfortunately, all the time.
    I secretly loved these things, but there was no way that I secretly  or otherwise loved him.
    Heck no. Never in a trillion years would I fall for him. At least, not if I could help it.
    We were almost to the barn now, and I could see Hunter pushing a wheel barrow full of manure out of the barn. "It's not that I don't like him. I just... I'm not used to having someone other than us around all the time. It's just different, is all. I'll get over it."
    Dad looked at me knowingly, a smirk on his face. "Are you sure that's all it is?" He tone had so many hidden meanings behind it, and they made me uncomfortable.
    "Yes, that's all. Race you back to the barn!" And with that, I was gone.
    I could barely hear when dad yelled after me, "Oh no you don't!"
    Even with all his big talk there was no way his old dun could beat Ozzy. She was younger, and a lot more fit. We left Dad in a cloud of dust.
    I pulled Ozzy up at the barn door, and dismounted. I leaned against her side, and crossed my arms over my chest.
    Dad trotted up and stopped in front of me. "Good job. Now you get to mount back up, and go check the fence. Oh, and bring Hunter with you." he smirked at me and rode into the barn.
    I glared at his retreating back before swinging up on Ozzy again. I turned towards where Hunter was heading back from the manure pile. "Saddle up. We have to go look at the fence and see if we can figure out where the cows got out."
    He grinned at me and sidled away.
    While I was waiting for him, I layed down on Ozzy's neck and breathed in her scent. Her scent was my favorite thing in the world, and there wasn't anything better.
    Ozzy dropped her head and started eating, making me lose my balance and have to sit up quickly so as not to fall off.
     After a few moments, I put my head back down. It had been a long day and I started dozing off, right then and there.
     I don't know how much more time passed, but I soon heard hoof beats approaching on the gravel. I groggily pulled my head up and turned it to look at Hunter. He had a stupid grin on his face like he usually does.
     "Ready to go?" He asked.
     "Yeahmdfj." I meant to say "yeah," but it came out more like a muffled sneeze.
     "Have you been drinking again?" Hunter raised his eyebrow at me playfully, teasing me.
     "Haha. Very funny." I reached across and gently slapped him on the arm.
     He chuckled and pushed back. "So, you ready for the dance?" He threw me a sidelong glance.
     "Yeah, I guess so, but you know I haven't got a dress yet."
     "And you knew that I said my mom would take care of it."
     "But Hunter, the dance is tomorrow. Can she get one ready that soon?" I was skeptical.
     For some reason, I was sort of looking forward to the dance. Which is weird because I wasn't really on board at first. But now I was actually concerned that I wouldn't have a dress.
     "Are you doubting my mother's skill? Yes, she can have a dress done that soon. Besides, It's your fault that she has to, because you didn't get one sooner."
     "I hardly had time. You asked late." I shot back.
     "You had a week." He said, in desperation.
     "But I also have a life!"
     "I do too!"
     "You work for my dad!"
     "Well, at least I get paid!"
     I glared at him pointedly. "I do too!"
     He grinned at me and looked away. "Sure ya do."
     This boy was driving me crazy.
   

A/N: Hey guys!! It's a Saturday, so y'all know what that means! Another update!! Woohoo! I'm excited about this, and I hope you guys are too! What is happening to Kate?? 
 Does she actually like Hunter? 
Does he actually like her? 
I mean, they almost kissed so.... haha. Well, It's late, so i better get to bed. But night y'all! Enjoy this update!