When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,8
be unloved, Muffy and I had made a habit of coming out at least once a day to talk to her and tell her what a good horse she was.
She’d been scared of me at first, but I’d won her over with sugar cubes and apples. Now she seemed eager to visit with me whenever she saw me walking across the yard. I’m sure the treats helped. Margi said the mare would soon be well enough to saddle, and after I recovered from delivering the baby, she’d teach me to ride.
Joe didn’t approve of any of it. He didn’t trust Margi and didn’t think I should have granted her free access to my farm, something I’d struggled with too at first, but he’d told me his opinion in a reasonable tone, and it hadn’t been an order or unreasonable demand. A far cry from how he would have handled it nearly two years ago when we’d first been together.
The other horse, a gelding, stayed back, eyeing me with caution. He’d only been on the farm a couple of weeks, but he was taking longer to come around than Buttercup had.
I held the other apple out to him. “You want a treat, Ninja?”
He eyed the fruit but didn’t come closer, not that I was surprised. He only came to get the apple when I left it on a fence post. Over the last few days he’d allowed me to run my hand over his neck while he ate, which I considered progress.
Tonight he came to get the apple right away and eyed me as though waiting for me to pet him. I stroked his neck as he crunched the fruit, and murmured to him softly like Margi had taught me. He let me touch him for nearly ten seconds before he skittered away.
Buttercup edged over and let me know she wanted more attention, so I loved on her for another few minutes, then told her goodnight. Madison, a horse-obsessed teenager who helped Margi, would be out later to bring them into the barn and get them settled in for the night.
I went inside and dropped a slice of bread into the toaster, but I was still feeling restless. I wasn’t sure what to do about Ashley and Mikey, although when I really thought about it, there wasn’t anything to be done. Mike looked terrible, which only confirmed that they likely were sick. The family illness would also explain the state of the house. I needed to accept his explanation and hope he’d be willing to reschedule. Even if I had to badger him into it.
While I waited on the toaster, I opened the cabinet to get out the peanut butter, then started pulling out cans and boxes of macaroni and cheese, and before I knew it, all the cabinets were completely empty and the counter and kitchen table were covered in food, dishes, glasses, and a whole host of other things.
I was deep in thought, trying to decide how I wanted to rearrange everything, when I heard a knock at the door.
“Rose, I’m here with dinner,” Neely Kate called out.
I walked over to the doorway, bracing my lower back with my hand. “Joe asked you to come.”
“He did,” she admitted as she walked through the living room toward me. She was wearing jeans and a pink shirt that gave her complexion a soft glow. Her long blonde hair was hanging loose in waves. “But to be fair, I’d planned on comin’ over to see you anyway. I figured I’d bring you something for dinner since Joe said you’d likely be eating peanut butter toast again.”
“Well, he’s wrong,” I said in mock indignation. “I put the bread in the toaster about a half hour ago, then completely forgot about it.”
“What have you been doin’?” she asked. “You been out with the horses again?” She made it to the edge of the kitchen and stopped in her tracks. For a moment I saw it from her eyes—it looked like a tag sale on someone’s front lawn. “What in the heck happened in here?”
“I’m nestin’,” I said, making a face, as though that said it all.
“Nestin’ or takin’ out your frustrations on your poor cupboards?”
I shrugged. “I’ve always thought the nestin’ thing was just somethin’ people said, but lately I’ve felt this overwhelmin’ urge to organize everything in this house.”
“Well, let me feed you, and then I’ll help you put it all back together.” Since the kitchen table was covered, and it was such