days now, not weeks. I didn’t want to ruin the vibe, so I kissed him again before rounding up my clothes and heading to my room to change.
After we freshened up and grabbed some coffee, we went to the barn, only to have Maisy flick her tail impatiently at us.
“Sorry, girl. I was busy loving up a cute boy. You understand, don’tcha?” he said with such affection, my heart skipped a beat. My cheeks felt on fire, but he ignored my reaction and just got to work.
I nearly wrestled him to the ground and took his mouth again.
And it was undeniably bittersweet working the farm, just Kerry and me.
When Sienna got home a couple of hours later with Ainsley in tow, Ainsley chattered on about her sleepover with Grandma while Sienna had trouble making eye contact, which was an obvious clue that she’d spent the night with Brad. And I wasn’t complaining because I would’ve stayed in bed with Kerry all day long if I had the chance. Guilt could not worm its way inside me this time, and it seemed Kerry wasn’t allowing it to either because the shadows normally present beneath his eyes had vanished for the day.
I would treasure the night I spent with Kerry forever. That much was true.
Even two days later, Kerry and I could not stop our stupid grins as we passed by each other on the porch. “You look good leading Mercy around the paddock,” he said.
“Thanks, it feels awesome.” I watched him a second as he met George by the tractor to have some words. I wanted to burn all this into my memory, especially Kerry.
I had completed another session with Dr. Barnes, and that too felt heavy, since I only had one left before I made my way back East again. Had I been here longer, I might’ve asked her to help me lead up to actually riding Mercy. But that would require overcoming more of my fears. And if I knew Dr. Barnes, she would never consider rushing the process. I appreciated that about her. I was getting so much from slowing way down and just enjoying my time with Mercy. Besides, who knew if he was ready to ride again after the traumatic accident he’d been through.
That was the thing I’d learned about mercy—the word, not the horse. Though they definitely went hand in hand. It took patience and compassion to get over the toughest hurdles in your life and finally let someone in. So in a way he was my salvation, and maybe I was a little bit his too.
It was just me and Marta when I stepped inside to have lunch, and I quietly ate my sandwich while she set the oven timer and whipped up chocolate-chip cookies from scratch.
I was surprised I hadn’t gained twenty pounds from her cooking.
After lunch I was going to finish painting the large counter that would serve as a checkout area in the silo. And I was busy making a special sign for the front door, that was now painted with a pop of sunflower yellow—Sienna’s idea.
So I thought the sign above it would only be fitting. Firefly Goods.
“You’ve been working hard, Mr. Julian,” Marta said as she placed down the pot holders and started unloading the dishwasher.
“I could say the same about you.” I rarely caught her sitting down or taking a break.
She smiled sheepishly, busying herself with the glasses and cupboards. “My husband was an officer in the Navy,” she said, not meeting my eyes, and I sat up straighter since she seldom mentioned him outside of explaining that he died a decade ago of a sudden heart attack. “He served in the second Iraq war. It changed him.”
“I’m sorry.” My heart felt fragile from hearing the emotion in her voice. “I would’ve liked to have met him.”
She nodded, her forehead wrinkling. “He was like you. He would have bad dreams about the war…sometimes in broad daylight.”
I tensed, wondering how long she’d been wanting to say this to me and what made her finally approach the topic. Maybe because she knew our time was coming to an end.
“Apparently a lot of us do,” I responded, again thinking of the soldiers I’d encountered at the VA. “How did he handle it?”
“He would see somebody about it.” Her gaze swung to the door. “He would’ve also liked working with the horses…if that’d been an option back then.”
I dipped my head. “I feel very lucky.”
She squeezed my shoulder as she passed by