Page 20 of Our Sweet Destiny
“Your mom’s horse. Is it an older horse?”
“Oh yeah. Hope’s getting up there, slowing down a bit.” He watched the way her eyes danced when they talked about the horse, and it almost made him wish he were a horse, too.
“Hope, that’s a nice name. Is she eating enough? Have you noticed weight loss? Is she turning her head toward her flank a lot? Getting regular exercise?”
“I almost forgot you were a vet,” he said in response to her pointed questions. “She slowed down a little this past year, but she’s a strong, healthy horse. Hope’s the horse I was riding that morning at the ravine.”The ravine.That’s when it all started. He smiled at the memory of her picking up that heavy rock and tossing it into the water. It seemed like they’d been on one hundred dates since then, though they hadn’t been on any. “My father’s entering her in the open event at the show.”
“That can be really stressful for a horse who isn’t doing well,” Jade said.
“I know. He knows that, but he said our mom would have wanted it. He doesn’t care if she wins or loses. He just…” How could he tell her that his father still talked to his dead mother? How could he not? “He said Mom would have wanted her to compete again.” He shrugged.
She smiled. “I guess he would know. I mean, he knew your mom best, after all.”
“True.” The small talk was killing him.
“Still, have you tried any massage? It can alleviate depression and also help with energy.”
“Depression?” She reminded him of his mother, the way she spoke of animals like humans. His pulse spiked, and he pushed away the desire to explore her thoughts further and see if she had more ideas that were similar to his mother’s. “It’s a horse, not a person.”
She sighed. “Funny, I didn’t take you as the kind of person who defined a line between which species had feelings and which ones didn’t.” She took a step backward.
“I didn’t mean that.”Great. Now I’ve screwed up again.
“I guess taking care of feelings isn’t your strong point.” The muscles in her thighs tensed, and she took another step backward. “I gotta go. Good luck with Hope.”
