Santa's Daughter (1st bk of Santa Series) (Completed)

Chapter 17 (Edited)

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"There you are! I've been looking all over for you, a female voice said.

I turned towards the voice to see that it was Madison, who had called for me."Mornin'," I called out while she came towards me.

"I should've known that you would still be in the dog barn," Madison said, nodding her head in greeting.

I shrugged my shoulder. "Ya, you should know where I would have been. Now, what's up?"

"Well, Barn 12 is the last barn that needs to be done. Everyone else has been finished what they need to do. Your mother wants you to add more food than usual for Bello. She wants to get that done."

I nodded my head. "And then we can leave to go to the auction."

Madison nodded her head before going towards the house. She turned to look over her shoulder, smirking. "I'll get you a bar or something to eat."

"Thanks." I turned towards Barn 12 and jogged towards it, knowing that I was going to have to get everything done. I shook my head and sighed, while I walked into the barn to see that John was picking out stalls.

John stopped and looked at me. A grin was on his face, as if he was happy to see me. "You're late." There was a teasing edge in his voice, letting me know that he was glad that I was here.

I faked a hurt gasp, "upset" that he didn't say hello or good morning to me. "Well, good morning to you, then," I said, teasingly, making John laugh and shake his head at me. "What needs to be done, since you have been doing my work?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone needs to be fed and water," he replied. He nodded towards the left side. "Bello's stall and then that side needs to be picked. I can start on that side if you start with the feeding and waters." He made a face. "I don't want to do Bello's stall. He almost bit me when I went to check on him."

I bit back a laugh and nodded. "Pussy," I said before I started to walk towards the feed room, smirking.

John snorted and rolled his eyes at me. "Well, it's better for you to do it, Miss 'I can communicate with horses through my brain'."

I bit back a laugh and shook my head. "Well, it's better to do that than be a Pussy," I replied before disappearing into the feed room to start on the feeding. I couldn't help but hum while I worked, wondering why John wanted to do the stalls for me. However, I wasn't going to ask, knowing that he would just say that he was worried about the future.

I was, also, but I knew that whatever happened, I would have my friends and family with me. A small blush appeared on my cheeks while I finished with the feed buckets, adding a little extra to Bello's. John was on my mind, and I knew that I couldn't do anything to not keep him from there.

"Hey, Mary?" John asked.

"Ya?"

"What will you do if you have to leave this place?"

I frowned, knowing what he meant. I couldn't help but sigh and shake my head, while I grabbed some of the feed buckets. "I don't think I can ever leave this place," I replied, truthfully, going out of the feed room. "I know who my father is. However, I have some important things to do than going up there."

"Oh?" John asked. "Now, what would keep you here?"

'You,' I said, silently. I cleared my throat while I started to put the buckets by their stalls, making sure that they were out of the way. "The horses, my friends, family, and just the fact that I love seeing the change in a horse are the reasons that keep me here." I started dumping the food into the buckets that were attached to the stalls, wanting to make sure that both me and the horse was safe.