I Knew You Were Trouble - Cassie Mae Page 0,28
Her reddish hair hangs over her shoulder in a braid. Luke’s still typing to us, obviously having not heard her approach.
He spins the screen to us again, but I don’t get the chance to read more than two words before Candace taps his shoulder and he tucks the phone away.
She signs while she speaks, “Luke, meet Pete and… Madison, right?” she asks, looking at my sister.
“Maddie.” Her smile can’t be suppressed, stretching across her face. She most likely senses that the horse intros are next.
Luke signs something to Candace, and she interprets.
“He says it’s nice to meet you,” she says, mimicking the same gestures he used. An odd zap prickles in my gut, pulling the corners of my lips up. Gotta say, I’m impressed that I’ve known her for two years and she hasn’t waved this talent in my face. Hell, if I knew another language, I’d be using it as much as I could to impress whoever was interested.
“Nice to meet you,” Maddie says, her voice higher than normal. Her eyes jut over Luke’s shoulder to the entrance of the stables, her legs shifting their weight. Anticipation ripples off her in waves and nearly knocks me off my feet.
I let out a laugh and grab her shoulders. She’s a foot shorter than me and has been since my fourteenth birthday. “Someone wants to meet the animals.”
She elbows my gut, and I pretend it hurts way more than it does, folding in half and taking a step away.
Candace lets out a laugh that sends that odd zap through me again. She turns to Luke and signs, talking out loud for us. “We’ll exercise the girls today. Have they been fed already?”
Luke signs something, and Candace nods, her fingers reaching up to play with the end of her braid. There’s not a stutter in her eye contact with him, no confusion pulling at her brow. She must know the language in and out… or she studied it a long time ago, or she studied so hard like she does with everything. The more I think about it, I’d believe it if she said she just learned yesterday.
Candace blows out a breath and faces us, dropping her braid to sign. “Hope you’re okay with some extra chores this morning.” Luke’s not even looking anymore, but she signs anyway. “The mares haven’t been fed or brushed or…”
“We get to brush them?” Maddie squeaks, and I jerk back and clean my ear out.
“Geez, Mad… take it down a notch.”
“Shut up. I’m allowed to be excited.”
Candace gives me a look, crossing her arms. “She is.”
“Already ganging up on me.”
She turns, and those jeans aren’t doing much for her backside, but I kinda like that they hang off her. And I’m checking out her ass and didn’t even realize it, so my eyes go straight to the sky and I trip over my own feet as we follow her to the stables.
The animal and hay scent grows as we step in, the temperature climbing about ten degrees already.
“This place heated?”
“Uh huh.” Candace reaches behind a stack of hay for a key hung up on the wall. “Have you guys ridden before?”
“Does the motorcycle count?” I joke, and I get a swift whack in the gut from my sister.
“No, we haven’t,” Maddie admits.
“That’s all right.” Candace leads us past a couple of empty stalls and pauses at the fourth down. “We just need to walk them, so you don’t have to ride if you aren’t comfortable.”
“What if I want to ride?” Maddie asks without missing a beat. I bolt out a laugh, and I’m surprised to hear Candace laughing along with me.
“Let me introduce you first. Maybe one of the girls will be smitten with you.” A sparkle glints in her dark brown eyes, and I start to think I didn’t eat enough, because with the zapping going on in there, maybe it’s running on empty or something.
We pass the fourth stall, and Mad’s eyes grow three times their size, her teeth gripping her bottom lip to keep from squealing, I’m sure. A light brown horse pokes its head out, rumbling its lips at Candace.
“This is Mona Lisa,” she says, patting the horse’s muzzle. I gulp, getting a good look at those chompers.
“Shit, she’s huge,” I stutter.
Candace lifts a brow. “She’s our baby.” She unlocks the door and pushes her way inside. Mad and I stay where we are. Mad’s probably sticking to her position until she gets the go ahead to pet the thing. But me?