Page 68 of Awaiting the Storm
When I entered the house last night, I tried to be as quiet as a mouse. I took off my boots just inside the door and softly climbed the stairs. I carefully navigated the hallway on my tiptoes, believing I had successfully managed not to wake anyone. However, when I opened my bedroom door, I found Charli in my bed. She had decided to sleep there so she would know when—or if—I came home.
“Come on, Sissy. Give us something,” Harleigh pleads.
And Charli looks at me and sticks her bottom lip out.
I sigh. “It was forty minutes well spent.”
“How well?” Harleigh asks.
“The most explosive forty minutes I’ve experienced in a very, very long time,” I mutter.
Harleigh squeals across the line.
And Charli’s eyes go wide as she says, “Oh my God, I have to text Shell.”
“No. No, you don’t,” I snap. “She’s about to start her first competition in years. You’re not texting her about this.”
I grab for the phone, but she pulls it out of my reach.
“She’ll be pissed if I don’t,” Charli insists.
“I don’t care. You can call her later.”
“Matty, will you pleeeeease charge your phone? It’d be nice to be able to reach you without having to go through Charli, Shell, or Grandma,” Harleigh pleads.
“Ugh, you guys know I hate that thing. And you do too, don’t ya, Luna?” I say as I rub Luna’s snout.
“What about your new man? Don’t you think he’d like to be able to get in contact with you?” Harleigh digs.
“Yeah, Sissy. I mean, what if he wants to send you a good-morning text and include a pic of his morning wood? You wouldn’t want him to have to go through me or Evelyn,” Charli quips.
Harleigh bursts into laughter. “Oh my God, could you imagine? Grandma would be the next one the ambulance was rolling up to Wildhaven Storm to collect,” she gasps.
“You two are ridiculous,” I huff. “Besides, Grandma would probably print it and hang it on the refrigerator.”
“That’s true,” Charli agrees.
“Just find your phone. So we can add you to the Storm sisters group chat. It’s usually about you anyway,” Harleigh demands.
“That stupid chat is one of the reasons I let the thing go dead in the first place.”
“Come on, Matty. Be a part of the team,” Charli says as she bats her puppy-dog eyes at me.
“Fine. I’ll look for it tonight.” I give in.
“Yay!” Harleigh bellows. “Okay, gotta go. My study group just walked in. Let me know how Shell does today. Love you guys.”
“Love you,” we sing in unison.
Charli ends the call and shoves the phone into her back pocket. Then she walks over to me and Luna as I secure her saddle.
“Where are you off to?” she asks.
“Just going for a quick ride. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t taken her for a good exercise run in a while, and I’m gonna be super busy this coming week.”
“What’s happening?”
“I’m rehiring our staff. I’ve contacted everyone we let go, but most of them have taken new jobs, so I’m interviewing. Boone, Daddy, Cabe, and I are moving the herd to their winter pasture since it looks like we could get early snow. I have a meeting at the bank on Thursday, and the crew is coming in to finish painting and sealing the barn.” I tick off the list. “You’re going to cover Shelby’s jumping lesson on Monday, right?”
