Page 49 of Stables Spurs Suits
“No fire, not yet, but you set these up, and we’ll be ready if there is. Floods too. And I included tornadoes but wasn’t sure about some of the info I found for those. I’ll keep looking into that part.”
“Don’t want the cows to go the way of Dorothy, do we?” he chuckles and takes the stack from me, setting it down on an old wine barrel table and putting an old metal bucket that’s being used to hold cow brushes on top to keep the pages from blowing away.
“I’ll check it out later and let you know if I have any questions. Did you inform the board?”
“Yes. I sent them the same pack before coming here.”
“Good. Let me know if you hear anything from them.”
“Will do. Was there anything else you needed?” I ask, bouncing a little on my toes as I look over my shoulder toward the horse stables.
Connor laughs.
“You can go play with Atlas now,” he says, and my cheeks instantly burn.
“I’m not…”
“You’re going to take a few horses up the trail today, right?” he asks and I realize he means horse play notplayplay, though I guess you could call that horse play too.
“Yeah, we haven’t been able to for the last few days. They needed reshoeing, and Atlas was busy teaching Skye how to file the wild ones’ hooves.”
“How did the kid do?”
“Pretty good. He got one horse to stay still long enough to get them done. Atlas says they’ll get used to him helping them out and will start lining up for their turn. I’ll believe it when I see it. Well, if you need anything, just give me a ring. I’ll have my phone on silent, but it will vibrate. Or send a text. Text is good too.”
“Have fun,” he calls after me as I jog back to the stables, to Loki, and to Atlas.
When I get there, I find Atlas standing with Loki at the back of the stables where they open to the horse paddocks, brushing his mane and talking to him. I have to laugh.
“So you do talk to deaf horses, then?” I say, taking off my hat and hanging it on the hooks by the door. Atlas turns and smiles that big, wide grin that he does whenever he sees me now. I have to say I much prefer it to the frown he used to get when I walkedinto a room. Before he knew the real me, he thought I was just a suit pretending to want to be here.
“I’ve always talked to him, I just like giving you a hard time about it,” he laughs, and I nudge him in the side. Loki stomps excitedly, and Atlas drops the brush.
“Settle down,” he tells him, and I laugh.
“I know, I know. Deaf horse,” he chuckles.
“He’s just excited to see me. Can you blame him?” I ask.
“He’s not the only one,” he says, wrapping one arm over my shoulder and pulling me to him, before kissing the top of my head. Loki stomps again.
“I know, I know, you want to show him, don’t you?” I say, and I slip free from Atlas’s hold and climb through the railing surrounding the horse paddocks.
“Are you sure about this?” Atlas asks, but I don’t reply. I’ve told him twenty or more times since I first mentioned my work with Loki that he’s ready for a saddle, and now that we actually have time to take him for a ride through the new trail, I don’t want his nervousness about it to spook him or me.
“Just like we practiced,” I tell Loki as I grab the saddle from the railing. Atlas’s horse Thor is already saddled and waiting, tied to the railing a few feet down, happily eating some fresh grass. I chuckle as I realize we’re taking Loki and Thor out together, but then I refocus on what I’m doing, because if I mess this up, Loki will have to stay here, and I really want to take him out.
The saddle is heavy, and I make a gruntinghumphnoise when I heave it up onto Loki’s back, but just like the last few times we’ve practiced, he stands tall, proud at his accomplishment.
“That’s a good boy,” I say as I move to fix it in place. I’m careful to do it in the exact same order as the times before, theway he remembers it, to ease any nerves he might have, but I get it all on and set up faster than ever and turn to Atlas.
“See, perfect, right? He’s ready.”
Atlas folds his arms over his chest with a sort of half smile on his lips.
“You still have to get on him and stay on him while traveling him through a new trail.”
“It’s not totally new to him, though,” I say, and Atlas frowns.
