“Yes. Yes of course,” she said, and waved a hand around. “I just forgot…you know…how lovely stables are.”
He laughed again, the sound soft and buttery smooth and it touched something deep within her. Something she’d denied herself for a long time. Wrong timing. She’d lost a sister. He’d lost an old love.
“Any time you need another job, you can help clean out the stalls,” he said, and elbowed her gently as he walked past. He rubbed each horse’s nose and spoke their name.
“This is my man, José,” he said, and stopped at the last stall, his voice filled with pride. “He loves apples.”
Dena rubbed the horse’s soft velvet nose. She held out a piece of apple. “You’re a beautiful boy, so handsome.”
“He’s a great horse, a one-man horse, aren’t you boy? Criollos are great on rough terrain, narrow trails,” he said, patted the horse’s neck, and then smiled. “We’d better go.”
Dena followed him to the tack room. José whinnied and gave a toss of his head.
“Later, boy, we’ll ride later. He likes you,” Zeke said. “We don’t get many women in here.” He held his lips pressed tight. Then he hoisted up a saddle along with bridle, blanket and pad, and strode to the alley between the stalls. “I’ll put you on Nancy. She’s the smoky color, in the second stall.”
“Can I help?”
“Nope, I got it.” He went into Nancy’s stall with a currycomb and skimmed it over her body. “Okay, girl,” he said. “Are you ready for some fun?”
Mesmerized by Zeke’s gentleness, Dena was about to answer and felt her face heat up when she realized he spoke to the horse. In the next stall a horse acted up. She followed and watched as he touched the horse right between the eyes and whispered, and the horse calmed.
“This is Susie Q,” he said. “Susie sold her to me a few years ago. She came back home last year—” He pressed his lips tight again for a second, and then he swallowed hard. “She’d changed. She’d get drunk and visit the stables at midnight. I had to get a restraining order.”
“I’m sorry.” Her heart went out to him. He gave a curt nod and his mouth twisted into a tight grimace. He led Nancy outside, placed a box step for her to climb up then mounted his horse. She noticed the rifle he placed across his thighs and shivered. After Stanton’s arrival, she’d almost forgotten she’d been shot at. Did Zeke expect more trouble, or did he always carry a rifle? He eased alongside her as they rode, and it seemed to Dena the further they were from the house, the calmer she felt.
“Your place is gorgeous from up here.” A spot of blue shimmered in the distance. “Is that Lake Cahuilla? I saw a sign when I drove in yesterday.”
“Nope, that’s Lake Three C’s, man made. Cahuilla is natural and larger, a few miles east, and named after the American Indian tribe who first lived here. It’s state land.”
“Oh.” She looked back to him. “Can you swim in your lake?”
“The chemicals might turn your skin green.” He laughed. “Seriously, I wouldn’t. It has a well, and we recycle the water for irrigation.”
“That’s a good idea.” Rows of citrus trees extended until they merged into one huge green expanse. She sniffed the air. “I don’t really smell a citrus smell.”
“It’s strongest when the trees are in blossom. We’re getting close to harvest time.”
“Oh, it’s so quiet I swear I can hear the insects conversing—”
“Yeah. There’s a stillness that’s hard to explain.”
She frowned. “Those mountains are sheer rock, absolutely no vegetation. Is it volcanic rock?”
“Much of the area was once under water. The lake dried up in the 1600s. I’ll show you the water level, there’s a mark on the rocks at the base of the mountains not far from home.”
Thoughts of a home filled her. She hadn’t had one of her own as an adult. There’d been an apartment shared with an ex-husband, and now a small condominium that she barely lived in because work and night classes had become her priority.
Dena smiled and they both lapsed into silence as they rode side by side.
“We’re close to my property border,” Zeke said a few minutes later. “Want to keep going?”
“Yes.” She turned away from the concern in his eyes. She hated lying to him. Would he continue on if she told the truth? She trusted him, felt comfortable with him.