Saddle up

Chapter Fifteen

I was already seven stalls in when Chase finally made it to work.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?!", He bellowed loud enough that his voice echoed through the empty barn.

Chase had a way of just putting people in a better mood by just being. It was welcome, especially today.

"Hey Chase.", I smiled in response.

He had a serious look on his face now as he entered the stall I was in and grabbed my shovel from me so that I'd have to stop and listen to him.

"Hey look, I didn't have the chance to apologize to you about last week yet, and texting an apology just didn't feel right, so, here I am ...I'm really sorry I put you through that. I hope you don't totally hate my guts over it, because that would make work suuuuuper awkward..." Chase looked down at his boots apologetically.

"Chase, it's totally fine. It's over and done with now. No sense in dwelling on it.", I smiled reassuringly at him.

"Ok, cool. I'm glad we're ok. Have you talked to Brant yet today?", Chase asked, handing my shovel back to me and heading to the next stall to start working himself. "Because my God, he would not SHUT UP about you all this week."

"Yeah, I saw him this morning before I started, it's all good"

"Cool, Cool. Yeah, I mean if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's crushing on ya pretty hard...I can't blame him, though!"

I chuckled and kept working. We finished up about half the stalls when Brant pulled into the Barn on his quad, stopping in front of the stall that I was in.

"Hey Jess, could you help me out back with feeding again?", Brant asked, a little nicer than he usually asks anyone for anything.

"You know, I actually have to pee real quick, maybe ask Chase?" I said, desperately trying to avoid alone time with Brant.

"That's ok, I can wait...", Brant quickly responded.

Chase peaked through the bars of the stall across from me and winked.

"Fine, I'll be right out", I sighed, out of excuses. While I was in the bathroom I tried to think of responses to certain questions that I KNEW he'd ask. He wants to know why I'm being so cold towards him....what would I tell him? 'How bout the truth?' My subconscious whispered. If I tell him the truth, he'll hate me. 'Maybe you deserve that' I sighed at myself again in the mirror before leaving the bathroom.

Brant was still waiting patiently for me on the quad. He motioned for me to hop on the back, this time purposely leaving more than enough room to squeeze onto the seat with him. I climbed on and instead of grabbing him around the waist, I held the back bars as we started moving forward. We came out the back end of the barn and around the side to the pasture where the horses peacefully grazed. They all came running when we started throwing the hay and filling grain buckets. I tried to keep my distance from Brant as best I could to avoid conversation, but he kept asking me to bring him things or having me hold the hose for him, anything to keep me close. I noticed him watching me when he thought I wasn't looking. I could tell he was confused by my behavior and I felt horrible about it. Once we finished he drove me back over to the barn so that I could finish up stalls with Chase.

Around noon I decided to take my lunch break, Chase came with me and all three of us sat at the picnic table where Brant and I first spoke the day I got my job. I was thankful to have Chase there with me so that Brant would avoid any deep conversation. Chase had no clue about Brant and I after all, although I knew he suspected something was going on. I checked my phone while Brant and Chase chatted about some game that was on tv the night before.