The Stable Boy (3 page)

“I will be right out,” he said.

“Okay, I will be on the porch.”

Five minutes later he came out on the porch. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I thought you were still going to be a few minutes.”

“That is okay. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” he said. He opened the driver side door of my truck. I climbed in, placing the stack of papers between us.

“What is it that you do with these papers?”

“I transcribe them for the two doctors in town. You know Doctor Russell and his son?”

“Yes, he was or still is my doctor if I need one.”

“Mine, too, he has been since we moved here. He is a wonderful person.”

“I agree,” he said. “I can’t believe you can actually read his handwriting, though.”

“Yes,” I laughed. “I think all doctor’s have to have horrible handwriting just to pass medical school.”

“He wrote me a prescription one time for an ear infection and poor Mr. Talbot, down at the pharmacy, had to call him in order to figure it out what it was, because it was written so bad.”

“Oh my God, that is pretty bad. He must have been in a rush or having a bad day that day.”

“I don’t know, but that was definitely the highlight of my day that day.”

I giggled as we pulled up to the office. “I will be right out.”

“Okay,” he said.

I went into the office with my files in hand. Doctor Russell was looking out the window.

“Hi, doc,” I said. “Here is last week’s work. I have come to get the ones for this week.”

“Hi, Claire,” he said. “How are you this afternoon?”

“I am good,” I said.

“Good to hear,” he said. “Is that Joshua in your truck?”

“Yes, it is. He is now working for me as of yesterday.”

“I thought he was working for the Everett’s.”

“He was, but Bob did not have enough for him to do, so he sent him to my farm, because he knew I no longer had any help.”

“Well that is good then. He is a hard worker and will have your farm in tip top shape in no time.”

“I can tell it is what he loves to do.”

“Yes, it is,” he said handing me the new set of files. “Here is this week’s work and here is your pay.”

“Thank you. I will see you next week. Have a wonderful week.”

“Thank you, Claire. You do so as well and tell Joshua I said hello.”

“I will do that.” I left the office and climbed back in the truck. “Doctor Russell says hello.”

Joshua smile and waved at the doctor, who was still looking out the window. The doctor waved back. We drove to the general store. Getting out of the truck, we were being stared at. I went to town once a week for a supply of groceries, but was never stared at before. Josh opted to push the cart while I put things in it. We first went to the pasta isle, where I grabbed two boxes of elbow pasta. Putting them in the cart, I placed my hand on the edge of the cart and started to pull it, forgetting that Josh was pushing it.

“Sorry,” I said looking back at him. “I have gotten so used to doing this by myself.”

“It’
s okay. I understand,” he said with a smile.

“Do you need any thing down this isle?”

“No, most of the things I need are down the spices isle.”

“Okay, let’s head there next. I need a few things there, too.”

“Lead the way,” he said. We walked two isles over to the spices. Alison was in the isle shopping.

“Hey you two,” she said with a big smile.

“Hi,” I said. “Getting stuff for Saturday?”

“Oh yes,” she said. “I am going to guess that is what you two are up to.”

“Yes, it is Mrs. Everett.”

“Now, Joshua, I have told you many times to call me Alison. Are you having this problem with him, too?” she turned to me to ask.

“I was, but I think he is coming around. At least, I hope he is.”

Josh’s face reddened.

“I know you were brought up right and have the proper manners in place, but the misses and ma’am has to stop. When we tell you to call us by our name, we mean for you to do it.”

“Okay, I promise that on Saturday, I will call you by your first name.”

“Great, I look forward to it. Call me later, Claire. I need to get this shopping done and head back home before Bob wonders if I got lost and if he is going to starve for the night.”

“Okay, I will,” I laughed. “Give Bob my love.”

“I will do that. You have a good day, Joshua.”

“You, too, Mrs., I mean Alison.”

“Oh my God, he did it. Stumbled with it, but did it,” she laughed as she walked away.

“Alison can be a
lot of fun,” I said.

“She was always really nice to me. Mr. Everett is a great person, too.”

“Yes, he is. He and John were best friends.”

“Oh, really?” he said.

“Yes, they would help each other out all the time. When they had a chance, they would go fishing or hunting together. They would even hit up the local bar for some drinks once in a while, a boy’s night out away from the women. Alison and I would get together while they were gone and go to the next town over to see a movie. We would have to swing by the bar on our way home to pick them up,” I laughed at the memory.

“Do you think your husband would have liked me?”

“You know, I believe he would. He would have seen a lot of himself in you. He would have taken the time to nurture you and help you grow as an individual. I am pretty sure that is why Bob sent you to me.”

“Maybe, we will have to ask him on Saturday.”

“Maybe we will, but first we need to finish shopping so we can have something to bring.”

“Let’s do it,” he said. “The faster we get it done, the more time the pickles have to set up.”

“Great,” I said. “I just need a few more things and then we can be out of here.”

We finished our shopping in 15 minutes. We headed home. After putting the groceries in the house, we both headed to the garden to get what we needed. He picked the cucumbers. I picked some tomatoes, peppers, and onions. He looked at me with curiosity.

              “What?” I asked. “This is what I need for my pasta salad.”

             
“I never thought those things went in a pasta salad. I always thought it was pasta, mayonnaise, tuna fish and onions.”

             
“No, that is a macaroni salad. A pasta salad has fresh vegetables, pasta, and a salad dressing. I prefer to make my own dressing, which makes it a little bit better.”

             
“Ah,” he said, nodding his head. “The things you can learn hanging around different groups of people.”

             
I smiled. I was glad he was learning something new. We went back inside. I put three pots of water on the stove; two were five quart pots. I needed one for my pasta. He needed one for the canning jars. The other was a small pot he needed to make the pickling liquid. I grabbed a cutting board for myself with a chef’s knife. He came up behind me. He reached around me, his abs and left hand resting on the small of my back. He reached for another cutting board.

“Excuse me,” he said with a smile.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have asked if you needed one.”

“It’s okay. It is like you said. You have gotten used to do things by yourself.”

“Yes, I have. It is going to take some getting used to having someone else in the house with me, again.”

“I can be noisier if you need me to be,” he laughed.

“That’s okay,” I laughed. “I prefer your church mouse quietness.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing,” I said with my own smile.

“Uh-huh, I see how you are.”

“What?

Grabbing the Mandolin he went to the other counter to begin slicing the cucumbers for part of the canning process while he
left some of them whole. I diced up my vegetables and placed them in a large storage bowl. Adding the pasta to the water, I stirred it, bumping into Josh as he was preparing his pickling liquid.

“Hey, watch were you are going there young lady.”

“Oops, sorry, your quietness threw me for a loop,” I laughed.

“That’
s it. There will be no sleeping for you tonight. I’m going to make as much noise as I can. I’m going to keep you up all night. Running up and down the stairs, banging on your bedroom door, I’ll even put the TV up loud.”

“You already kept me up last night. I barely slept.”

“Seriously? I am sorry. I told you I could have slept in the barn. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with me here.”

“I’
m not now. I am feeling more comfortable every minute we spend together.”

“Great, that makes me happy, because I do not plan on leaving.”

I turned my head away from him and smiled. I didn’t want him to leave. “Good,” I said.

It was his turn to smile. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. It startled me. “What was that for?”

“You deserve it. Your husband would be proud that you kept the farm running without him and very little help.”

My
eyes stung with tears. “Thank you,” I said, leaning over to kiss his cheek, but he turned and my lips landed on his soft, full lips. I pulled away quickly. “I’m so sorry,” I said, the heat escalating in my face.

He smiled. “It’s okay. I
t was an accident. I didn’t know you were leaning over. No worries, there is no need to apologize.”

“I’ll be r
ight back,” I said and ran up the stairs. Closing the door to my bedroom, I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I could not believe that took place. I was so embarrassed. How was I going to go back down there? I just kissed someone who is virtually a stranger and twelve years my junior. My husband would never approve. Poor John. He was probably rolling over in his grave. Tears began to roll down my face. I just committed the ultimate crime in a marriage. I kissed someone else. I have no idea how long I sat there, but there was a sudden knock on my door.

“Hey, I think your pasta is done,” he called through the door.

“Okay, thanks, I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Are you okay?” he asked as he turned the doorknob.

“Yes, I am fine,” I said as the door opened up. “Just a little embarrassed that is all.”

“No, there is something more to it,” he said studying my tear stained face.

“No, it’s just me. I am being silly.”

“I’ll get my things and leave. I do not want you to be upset.”

“No, Josh, please don’t do that. I really need your help around here and prefer that someone who knows what they are doing to work the farm. As you can see, I do not have a clue, especially the equipment.”

“I’ll stay, but I am moving into the barn.”

“I cannot let you do that. My conscience will eat away at me.”

“Okay, then I will only come in for meals and have minimal conversation.”

“I told you, this has nothing to do with you. It’s my own personal things that are making me this way.”

“I don’t want to see you cry. It breaks my heart. A beautiful woman should never have tears in her eyes.”

“Thanks,” I said with downcast eyes. I could feel my cheeks flush.

“Why do you always turn red when I compliment you?”

“I don’t know. I have always been that way, even when my husband did it.”

“You must have been flushed through most of your marriage then.”

“I was,” I laughed. “I think he liked to make a game out of it. He would count how many times he could get me to blush.”

“Even on your wedding day,” he said looking over my shoulder at the wedding picture that still sat on my dresser.

“Especially on our wedding day,” I said. “If you only knew the things he whispered in my ear before that photo was taken.”

“He sounds like he was fun.”

“He was a blast to be around. He was always cracking jokes.”

“I would have liked to have met him.”

“I believe he would have you, too. Let’s go back down stairs as I have a pasta salad to finish making.”

“Okay, I am done with the pickles. I am going to feed the horses and work a little more with the colt.”

“Okay, I will let you know when dinner is ready.”

“Sound
s good to me.”

We walked down the stairs. He went outside. I went to the kitchen to finish making the pasta salad. I called Alison.

“I need to talk to you. Is there anyway I can come over later?”

“Yes, of course. You sound upset. Are you okay?”

“Not really, but I will explain everything later.”

“Okay, how about after dinner?”

“Sounds good, but this needs to be a private conversation.”

“That is not a problem as tonight is Bob’s bowling night.”