When Love's Gone Country - By Merri Hiatt Page 0,26
help unstiffen our muscles.”
Jeremy shrugged. “I don’t hurt nowhere.”
“Anywhere,” Meg corrected.
“That’s what I said. I don’t hurt nowhere.”
“She meant you should use the word anywhere instead of nowhere,” Bobby said.
“That grammar thing, again?”
“Yep, that grammar thing again.”
“I don’t know why it’s so hard to figure out. I learnt a lot last year in Mrs. Crabapple’s class.”
“Learned a lot,” Meg said.
“What’s the difference between learnt and learned?”
“A t and an ed,” Court said.
“You’re not helping,” Meg said, throwing a frown in her friend’s direction.
“But you knew what I meant. Ain’t that what communication is supposed to be all about, sayin’ something so someone else can understand it?” Jeremy asked.
Brad grinned. “He’s got you there. What say you, teacher?”
“You’re right, I did understand what you meant, but I wouldn’t have had to guess or figure it out if you had used the right word to begin with. Good communication shows that you respect the person you’re talking with.”
“You mean talking to,” Jeremy said.
“Actually, I meant talking with. You can’t have a conversation by yourself, you need two people, so I used the word with. And, if communication is a two-way street, no one is actually talking to or at someone, it’s a mutual exchange of information.”
“Court has conversations with herself all the time,” Jacob entered the conversation.
“Why are you singling me out? We all do it. It’s like my internal self talking to my external self.”
“She said talking to, not talking with,” Jeremy pounced on the word usage.
Meg sighed. “It can be very confusing. That’s why there are agreed upon ways to use words correctly, to eliminate confusion and misunderstandings.”
“I learnt today that I have muscles in places I never knew I had ‘em,” Alex said with a laugh.
“You guys are so incredibly not helpful!” Meg limped toward the bathroom. “I’m taking a hot bath. If I learnt anything today, it was that I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“How are you feeling, honey?” Alex asked Purity.
“I’m good. I think they took it easy on me, being pregnant and all.”
Frank and Emma came through the doorway. “How ya’ll feeling tonight?” Frank asked.
“Sore.”
“Tired.”
“Achy.”
“Sounds about right,” Emma said, a smile softening her words. “We brought you some things you might find useful.”
“What?” Jeremy asked, jumping up from his chair and running over to see what was in the bags they were carrying.
“Epsom salt, Icy Hot, cold and hot patches, flexible wraps for your knees and a bunch of other stuff. If you need anything we didn’t think of, just let us know,” Frank said.
“It gets better,” Emma said. “I know it doesn’t seem like it will, but it does.”
“And tomorrow’s the hoedown, you’re goin’ to love that. It’ll give you a chance to get to know some of the folks ‘round here, listen to great music and dance,” Frank said.
“I’ve never heard of a hoedown,” Jeremy said. “Is there food?”
“You betcha!” Emma said.
“When is it?”
“Tomorrow night at seven. We’ll have it in the big, red barn at the west end of the ranch.”
“I ain’t seen no big, red barn.”
“The ranch is big. You’ve only seen half of it. Wait until you get to see where the cattle roam free. It’s beautiful territory.”
“I thought all the cows were in the paddock.”
“Oh no, we have several areas where we keep the cows. You’ll see them all.”
“We need more time. How are we ever gonna see everything in two weeks?”
“The Peterman’s have it all figured out, I’m sure,” Bobby said. “Thanks for the healing aids. I think Meg would appreciate that Epsom salt right about now.”
“I put some lavender bath oil in there, too. The soul needs tending, too,” Emma said with a wink.
Bobby found Meg running bath water and gathering her pajamas and robe. “How you feeling?”
Meg sighed. “Do you think everyone’s having fun?”
“Yeah, of course they are.”
“I don’t know. Maybe this was a big mistake.”
“Come here.” Bobby wrapped his arms around Meg and she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I hurt everywhere. Even my toes hurt.”
“Emma and Frank brought over some pain relievers and items to help the bumps, strains and bruises.”
“Bless them.”
“They told us there’s a hoedown tomorrow night.”
“A hoedown?” Meg slipped away slightly from Bobby’s arms so she could see his face. “Really?”
“Really.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“I thought that might perk you up.”
Meg smiled. “It did. You do. Thank you for always being here for me when I need you.”
“There’s no place else I’d want to be.”
Meg lifted herself up on her tiptoes so she could give Bobby a kiss. “There’s room