I said with a smirk. It wasn’t like I went out of my way with Hamlet, but I enjoyed having him around. Especially when he followed me to the silo and kept me company—and sometimes got in the way by lying in front of the entrance. If Phoebe showed up, they generally waddled off to get in trouble together. One time on the way back for lunch, I saw them digging around the corn and bean crops and had to shoo them away.
“Animals can usually sense those with kind hearts,” Marta replied with a wink, then stood up and began gathering our empty plates to carry to the sink.
“Kerry told me that Mercy was in an accident?” I asked George in a hesitant tone. I was curious, but I wasn’t sure if the details would bum me out.
“That’s what we were told.” He cringed. “They collided with another jockey and went down, almost got trampled by the other horses in the race.”
“Damn, sounds terrible,” I replied, picturing the mayhem it must’ve caused on the track. And then the recovery time for Mercy—and of course for the jockey, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t put completely out of commission like the horse. Thankfully, Mercy was nursed back to health and taken in instead of euthanized. “What’s his nature like?”
“He’s very sweet once you get him to trust you. But it doesn’t take long. For me it was just a couple of days of treats and extra groomin’ in spots he liked,” he said with a smile. “Who doesn’t enjoy getting rubbed a little longer under the chin or behind the ears?”
As if to make his point, he reached down to Hamlet and did exactly that. For his part, the pig immediately rolled on his side, welcoming the special attention. I grinned and shook my head.
I’d definitely like some extra attention paid in certain areas, that’s for sure. If Kerry were around, I might’ve made that joke—or maybe not. His reaction might’ve been too much to handle with all the tension between us.
George grew serious. “But if there’s ever a commotion with the other animals, Mercy gets a bit skittish.”
“Maybe it reminds him of the accident?” I pondered.
George nodded. “It’s possible.”
“Just like humans,” Marta said, staring toward the window, where I’d noted Dr. Barnes’s car parked again as I stepped inside for lunch. So maybe Marta was thinking of Ainsley and her anxiety issues. Thankfully, the scrutiny wasn’t on me. By now either or both of them might’ve noticed me getting lost in my own head from time to time, but neither ever called me on it.
After I finished my lunch, I found myself wandering yet again over to the paddock to watch Ainsley with Dr. Barnes. This time Ainsley was finished grooming Piper and was already affixing the saddle, if that was the sequence they normally took. Maybe each action built on the previous one to get Ainsley and Piper to trust each other.
Then suddenly Kerry and Sienna were walking toward the fence together, both anxiously glancing in Ainsley’s direction.
Kerry settled beside me, and I felt the heat from his shoulder and smelled that earthy scent, which made it hard to concentrate, honestly. But this was how it had been between us lately, one or the other standing a bit too close, almost on purpose, until the tension became suffocating, at least on my end.
And that night last week… After our talk on the porch, I could’ve sworn I heard his soft moans as he rubbed one out on the other side of the bathroom door. My hand had reached for the handle, wanting to barge in on him and take over with my hand or mouth, or…fuck, whatever he wanted to offer me. Instead, I’d cut the lights and went back to bed, tossing and turning until morning.
“Did we miss it?” Kerry asked absently, staring across the paddock.
Sienna’s eyes were trained on the horse as she stood on the other side of him. “I don’t think so.”
I glanced curiously at them, wondering what the hoopla was all about, and I nearly asked, when Ainsley looked back at them and waved animatedly. Then, with Dr. Barnes’s help, her foot latched into the stirrup, and she launched herself into the saddle while grasping the reins. I could just make out Dr. Barnes’s soothing voice, encouraging her not to wiggle too much and scare the horse. Ainsley’s face had split into the biggest smile, like she was filled to the brim with