“I smell leather now, too,” she said, breathing deeply.
Val squeezed her hand.
“That is the saddle leather,” he said. “Each animal has a saddle sitting on a wooden perch at the back of their stall. However, four of the stalls are currently empty.”
Cecily frowned and looked up at her husband with curiosity.
“Why?” she asked.
Val shrugged.
“There really is no need for twelve horses,” he said. “Eight is quite a few, but Father enjoyed riding a different horse each time he came to ride.”
Cecily nodded, smiling with understanding.
“I believe your father had the right idea,” she said.
Val smiled fondly as he thought about his father.
“That can be said of him for many things,” he said. Then, before things became too sad for his wife, they reached the stall where the mother horse and her foal were resting.
“The baby is as white as its mother,” he said. “They are both sleeping.”
Cecily gently tugged him away from the stall.
“I do not want to disturb them,” she whispered. “Can you tell me about the other horses?”
Val agreed. He told her that there were two of each of black-, brown- and chestnut-colored horses. There was one other white one, apart from the mother and the foal. That was the one in front of which Val stopped gently.
“I like all these horses,” he said. “But Sunshine is my favourite horse of all.”
Cecily looked at him eagerly.
“Is that the one that just gave birth?” she asked.
Val took Cecily’s hand, lifting it into the air in front of them.
“No,” he said. “That is Daisy. Named so because she is solid white. Sunshine is the other white horse, and she is standing right here, ready to greet us. She has a yellow tint to her mane, so I thought it appropriate to give her that name.”
Cecily understood then why Val was raising her arm. She relaxed and allowed Val to place her hand on the animal’s nose. She gasped softly and grinned more brightly than he had seen as yet as she stroked the horse’s silky white fur.
“Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “Am I making her uncomfortable?”
As though to answer Cecily, Sunshine gently nuzzled his wife’s hand. The animal laid the side of her face into Cecily’s palm, which made his wife giggle.
“Not at all,” he said with a chuckle. “In fact, I believe she really likes you.”
Cecily stroked the animal’s face for a moment before slowly sliding her hand down to Sunshine’s mane. The horse gave an encouraging sniff, shuddering with delight as his wife stroked the silky hair ever so gently.
“Oh, I know that she must be beautiful,” she said.
As she spoke, Sunshine slowly moved her nose toward Cecily’s face. Val tensed, worried that the animal would startle his wife. But Cecily simply laughed again, returning the horse’s nuzzle and softly kissing the top of her nose.
I am certainly witnessing true beauty,he thought to himself as he watched his wife’s interaction with the mare. He knew that he could watch Cecily with Sunshine forever. In truth, he could watch her do anything forever. An idea that had only been a whisper as they walked became a full plan right then.
“Yes,” he said, his tone teasing and genuinely carefree for the first time in ages. “I am now certain that she likes you, perhaps even more than me.”
Cecily looked at him and blush, but she giggled once more.
