Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

I nstead of heading straight back to his cabin, where Henry desperately wanted to get so that he could think through all the things that he and Angel had done and talked about in the last two days, he swung by Shad’s house instead.

Shad Roundy was one of the master farriers at Lone Star, and he was an excellent horseman. He could read horses better than anyone Henry had ever seen, except maybe Bard and his own daddy. And he was a real team leader.

Henry wasn’t sure why Shad had a bee in his bonnet over Berniece, and he still felt like he should stop by and say something. All the master farriers at Lone Star had their own cabins, so Shad lived alone. If he was married, his family would have been able to live there with him, the way Ford’s did. But Shad wasn’t married, and as far as Henry knew, he wasn’t even seeing anyone.

“I wonder if he would ask Angel out if he could,” Henry muttered to himself, instant jealousy and darkness spreading through him. He did not want Angel to lift the no-dating rule because he absolutely did not want anyone else to ask her out. He’d never heard a rumor or whisper of anyone liking her in a romantic way. But he’d never let on as much either.

He stopped by the back passenger door and grabbed the bag of chocolate-covered pretzels out of the tote his momma had sent. No, he didn’t have any at home, and yes, they were his favorite treat. But he had to take something to break the ice between him and Shad. Up the steps he went, where he rapped on the door.

Shad was the morning master farrier, which meant he got done at three o’clock and was always home for dinner, so Henry wasn’t surprised to hear him yell, “Come in,” a moment later.

Henry went right in and grinned at the man who sat on the couch wearing reading glasses as he held the Bible in his lap. So he was probably in a good mood—or at least a calm frame of mind.

Henry held up the bag of chocolate-covered pretzels. “My momma sent you a gift,” he said, because he was not going to claim credit for the pretzels when they were his mother’s.

Shad set aside his scriptures and got to his feet as he removed his reading glasses. “Wow,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s amazing.” He moved over and took the pretzels from him. “How are your parents?”

“They’re great,” Henry said. “Yeah, they’re doing just great.” He put his hands in his back pockets and waited for Shad to take the pretzels into the kitchen. He set them on the counter next to the fridge and turned to face him. With about fifteen feet separating them, Henry decided he better just go for it.

“I wanted to talk about Berniece,” he said.

Shad’s expression hardened instantly. “Yeah, Levi said something to me.”

Henry nodded. “Yeah, he sure did. And he’s not happy, and you’re not happy, and Bard has a rule that we don’t go to bed angry.”

“Yeah, I know about Bard’s rules.” Shad folded his arms as he leaned back against the counter.

“And I know Levi’s probably not going to say anything more to you about it. And I’ve been really thinking about it. And I really think that I’ve been prompted to come here and say something. So here I am.”

“She’s an old horse,” Shad said.

“She still deserves good shoes.”

“Berniece takes a size that’s hard to get,” Shad said.

“Then let Levi order in bulk,” Henry said. “I’ll take Berniece. You don’t even have to manage her anymore. I’ll do it.”

Shad considered him, not quite angry but not happy either.

“I’ll get her the shoes she needs,” Henry said. “But that horse needs to be re-shod every two weeks. Her hooves grow fast. She gets abscesses, Shad. Levi has to dig the nails out, which causes pain. It goes against everything we do here at Lone Star. You have to see that.”

Shad nodded once, his jaw tight.

“I know you’ve got a lot going on with the new horses we’ve gotten in and all the boarding that’s coming up in March. They filled us up real full, and I can take on Berniece, because I know it’s a problem for you and Levi. And if it’s me and Levi, then it won’t be a problem.”

Shad said nothing, but Henry, with his mouth that never seemed to stop running, kept going. “I’m meeting with Bard this week anyway about Gilligan’s shoes, and I can talk to him about Berniece then.”

“You’re meeting with Bard about Gilligan? Why?”

Henry didn’t want to go above Shad. But he didn’t have to run everything past Shad. The master farrier above him was Clay, and Henry should run everything about every horse past him….

His rebellious streak immediately bumped against such an idea. He swallowed, trying to get his pride to go down, trying to get the words he wanted to retort to retreat. When they finally did, he said, “Yes, sir. I’ll talk to Clay before I go in. Angel wants to be there too.”

Shad’s eyebrows went up. “Angel wants to be there?”

“Yeah,” Henry said, barely managing not to stutter over the word. “I talked to her a little bit about Gilligan when we were in Three Rivers this weekend. She said she’d like to be in the meeting with me. It’s something new that we haven’t done here at Lone Star before, and since she’s in charge now, she wants to be there.”

Shad once again didn’t say anything, and Henry would have killed to be able to get inside the man’s mind and know what he was thinking about him and Angel. Maybe nothing.

“How was she this weekend?” Shad finally asked.

Henry didn’t know what to say, because he didn’t know how Shad thought Angel should be. He wasn’t sure what persona Angel had been putting forth to him, and how Shad had perceived it. He didn’t want to say anything bad about Angel or make her feel weak or inferior if his words got back to her. She was their boss, after all, and she wouldn’t like him talking about her to Shad in the slightest.

“She….” He stopped and considered his words. “Is very busy here,” he finally said. “And it’s a lot for her to carry sometimes. At least I think so. I don’t know her that well; that’s just the gist I got.”

Shad nodded. “She works too hard, and that’s gonna catch up to her.”

Just because Henry agreed didn’t mean he had to keep talking about Angel.

“I’ll talk to her about passing off some of what she does,” Shad said. “She doesn’t have many friends, so if you can help too, I’m sure it’ll help.”

“Okay,” Henry said, and he thought his voice sounded semi-normal.

Shad sighed and pinned Henry with his steady gaze. “I know we all just want what’s best for that horse.”

Henry nodded quickly. “And if there’s anything I can do to get it, then I’m willing to do it.”

Shad came toward Henry and stuck out his hand. Henry took it as Shad said, “You’re a good man, Henry. I want you to take Berniece. Talk to Clay and Bard about her. See what we can come up with.”

Happiness surged through Henry that he had been able to say what he needed to say without saying too much, without throwing Angel under the bus, and without making Shad feel like he wasn’t good enough.

“You’re a good man too, Shad. I really enjoy working with you.” They shook hands, and Henry left the cabin.

When he finally got back to his house and took in the tote, he called, “Levi, my momma sent food!”

“Oh boy,” Levi yelled from down the hall. He came out a moment later drying his hands with a towel Henry’s momma had once sent home with him too. “I knew your momma would send food, and I was just praying I would be well enough to eat it.”

He wore a huge grin on his face, and he didn’t seem like he’d been sick at all. “Well, Bard sent over a cleaner, and they wiped everything down with antiseptic. So hopefully you won’t get sick at all. No one else has, and I think it was really a twenty-four-hour bug.”

Henry put the tote on the counter and started pulling out bowls of soup and packages of crackers and plastic containers. Levi picked one up and said, “Oh my word. Is this the spinach Alfredo lasagna?”

Henry laughed. “Yep, that’s her special spinach Alfredo lasagna.”

Levi grinned and hugged the container to his chest. “I love your momma so much.”

Henry laughed again, because he loved his momma too, and he was so glad that she’d sent food for him and Angel.

And as Levi prayed over their dinner, Henry added a small prayer for Angel, that she’d learn how to let go of some of the responsibilities in her life. Then, she wouldn’t have to carry such a heavy load.

He also prayed for himself, selfishly asking the Lord to make it possible for him and Angel to find discreet, meaningful ways to be together and get to know one another better. Dating things, if it be Thy will. Right here on the ranch, where no one knows about them.

And with those prayers spoken in his heart and mind, and Levi’s big voice saying, “We’re so grateful for Henry’s momma and this food,” Henry closed out his prayer with an “Amen.”

Now he just had to pay attention to Angel and make sure she didn’t spiral down as far as she had a couple of days ago.