When we got to the top, Ava slipped her dress over her head and shivered. “I’m freezing. I have a blanket if you want to ride with me. We can pony Tequila back.”
I wasn’t sure what she was asking. She handed me the rolled-up blanket and then climbed up into the saddle on Dancer’s back. I quickly put my jeans, shirt, and shoes on then looked up at her. She leaned down and tied Tequila’s reins to Dancer’s saddle. “Well, are you gonna get up here and keep me warm or what?”
“Oh.” I climbed up into the saddle behind her. She scooted forward for me to slide in and then sat back. Her tiny ass was right against my crotch. Oh fuck, don’t get hard. I wrapped the blanket around both of us and with one hand pulled her toward me so her back was flush against my chest. I reached around her waist and took the reins without argument from her.
Pulling the blanket tight around our shoulders, she leaned her head back to rest just below my chin. I made a clicking sound and Dancer started to move forward, towing Tequila behind us. I didn’t know if I should speak; if I brought Ava back to reality, maybe she would freak out. She was tucked against me so nicely inside our little blanket cocoon. Dancer walked slowly and I didn’t encourage her to go any faster.
“You’re getting the hang of this, cowboy,” she said in a lazy voice.
Doctor cowboy?
“Do you love it here?” I wondered if Ava ever wanted to leave.
“It’s hard to tell now but I know I loved it here before. Look around and take a deep breath. It’s beautiful. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?”
“Do you plan to stay here forever?” Though I had only known her a couple of weeks, I wanted to take her away from it all back to L.A.
She didn’t answer; she just shrugged. After a few moments, she said, “Nate?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know that I don’t even have a high school diploma?”
Some distant memory surfaced of my mother reminding me that degrees were much easier to strip away than integrity. “That doesn’t matter, Ava. Have you thought about getting your GED?”
“What for?”
I couldn’t answer the question. There was a part of me that wanted to suggest that it would be helpful in the future, but honestly I couldn’t think of why unless she wanted to find a different kind of job.
Leaning down, I kissed her shoulder. She shivered but didn’t object or respond. “Ava, if you ever want to get your GED I can help you study, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks.” Her tone was inscrutable. “What was it like growing up in the city?”
“I didn’t really. You know how spread out L.A. is. We lived in a rural part of the county on a big piece of property for much of my childhood, so I grew up with land. I even did 4-H.”
“What did you have to do for 4-H?”
“I had to raise a pig. Worst experience of my life.” I felt her laughter vibrate against my chest.
“Why do you say that?”
“I loved that pig. Wonka. He happily followed me around the property and we used to take naps together—I’d sleep on his big belly. He was my buddy. And then there was the auction.”
“You had to sell him to slaughter, right?”
I put my hand over my aching heart. “The worst part was that my next-door neighbors bought him and their son, little Johnny Shithead, would come to school every day and say, ‘Hey, Nate, guess what? I had bacon again for breakfast. Ha ha.’ That little fucker. I wanted to poke his eyes out with my mechanical pencil.”
She laughed again and then put her hand over mine and squeezed. I leaned in and kissed her right behind her ear. She shivered so I pulled her tighter against me. I couldn’t get close enough to her.
CHAPTER 9
Comes and Goes
Avelina
Nate was a perfect gentleman after the hot spring. He took me to my cabin and then rode the horses back to the barn to brush them out. I stayed in that night, finally feeling tired enough and relaxed to sleep without the whiskey. Over the next several days I had many lessons and Nate helped Dale a lot. I rarely saw him except at Bea’s dinner table. She was so happy that I was finally joining them on a regular basis. She’d even ask me to make a side dish once in a while, and I was happy to do it.
One night, Redman, Bea, Dale, and Trish all went into town for the monthly antique auction. Caleb politely declined dinner with us, leaving Nate and me alone. Nate secretly admitted that he was a vegetarian but didn’t want to tell Bea so I made pasta with vegetables and mushrooms in a red sauce. He hovered over me at the stove and watched as I stirred the sauce. “That smells amazing. How about we open a bottle of Bea’s wine?”
“Just make sure it’s not a good one. She’ll kill us.”