I washed up and helped Kathy set the table for dinner. "How was your day?" I asked her. "It was fine." She had such a bitchy tone every time I heard her. That was all that was said.
Jeff came in from the barn just then to announce that he was hungry. "Dinner's almost done dear." she said. Only this time, she didn't sound mad. I go up to my room where Kate is laying down. The tall oak dresser and bunk bed don't leave much room for anything, but it works for the time I spend here. "Hey Kate dinner's almost done" I tell her. All I get is a thumbs up.
Kathy is just setting a plate of grilled steak and baked potatoes on the table when I get to the bottom of the stairs. "Can I help with anything?" I say grabbing a small bowl of corn and setting it next to the potatoes. She shakes her head no and continues what she was doing.
"So CJ what do you wanna do tomorrow?" Jeff asks, breaking the awkward silence. "I was planning on taking Diesel out to the ring to practice." I say. "Will that take the whole day?" He asked. "Probably only be an hour. He's just not got the get-up-and-go attitude anymore." "How about you help me move the horses?" I smile and nod. Any time spent cowgirling is great. Another fifteen minutes pass and no one bothers to say much, other than a few things Jeff talked about that he found while cleaning. After dinner, Jeff goes back out to the barn and Kate and I are stuck helping Kathy clean up. Not soon enough, the dishes are done and the table is clean. Kate and I go out to the barn, and Jeff is sitting in his 'man cave' watching tv. I just love that little room that I helped build when I was only nine. "Hey Jeff," he looks as if I startled him. "We're going on a ride." "Where?" He asks. "Probably just down to the valley, it's getting too late to go anywhere else." he nods and returns to his show.
"Here, go catch Avon." I hand Kate a black halter with the horses name printed on the side and lead rope, and she makes her way out to the pasture. I grab a similar halter and follow her. Outside, Kate was running around the pasture, struggling to get her horse. I whistled. "Avon! Whiskey!" The two of them came speeding up to the gate. We led them in to the barn and tied them up so we could put their saddles on. "Brush him first." I said, handing her one of the brushes.
I got all the dirt and dust off of Whiskey, then I had to help Kate brush Avon. She gathered all the grooming supplies and put them in the tack room, while I got my horses tack.
As we rode down in to the valley, I couldn't help but think that Kathy would rather not have me there. Why does she only use her bitch-tone with me? Why does she avoid me every time she can? Why doesn't she- "Wow it's so beautiful here." Kate interrupted my thoughts. "Yeah. Hey what do you want to do tomorrow?" "Well I thought you wanted to work with Diesel then we were going to move the horses?" "That won't take very long. We could go in to town." I suggest. "Maybe."
Just then my phone rang. "Hey Caitlin, I heard you were back in town." My uncle Mike had called. "Yeah, you wanna get together?" I asked. He asked his girlfriend what they were doing tomorrow. "Sure, we can meet for lunch or dinner or something." "Sounds good. I'll text you in the morning." We say goodbye and hang up.
When we get home, it's almost totally dark. We put the horses back out in the pasture and go inside. I go up to my room-which is more of a giant closet with a window to get ready for bed. Kate comes upstairs a few minutes later. "Your uncle is crazy." She says as soon as she comes in. "Just wait until you meet my other uncle tomorrow!" I laugh. She continues to talk while I change in to my pajamas and brush my teeth. I get in my bed on the bottom bunk, and she gets on top. "Goodnight." I say cutting her off. "goodnight."
