Missed Me, Missed Me, Now You Gotta Kiss Me

Take a Load Off

I yawned, shuffling down the stairs. “Mom,” I groaned as I reached the kitchen.

  There she stood at the sink peeling the shells off hard boiled eggs. It seemed like she was always in the kitchen lately. My mom, who had always been a tall twig of a woman, now was starting to show her double pregnancy. She looked really cute pregnant, though. She was one of those women who were tiny with an adorable bulb on their stomach.

  “Morning, sweetheart,” she greeted without turning around.

  I walked over to her, sitting on the counter top. She usually hated it when I did that, but she wasn’t yelling at me….yet, anyways. “I think you ought to fire Liam,” I said, the smell of hard boiled eggs strong and nauseating.

  Mom glanced at me, startled. “And why’s that?”

  “It’s ten o’clock on a Saturday and he is late.”

  She chuckled a little. “Honey, he’s not late. He took the day off.”

  “He did? But I thought he never took the day off.”

  Mom shrugged. “I thought so, too, but he called sometime yesterday and asked for Saturday off. So I think we’ll just hold off on firing him.”

  “Oh, joy,” I mumbled.

  “Honey, you wouldn’t want to do all the stuff Liam has to do. You wouldn’t get paid for it. Those poor horses’ stalls would never be clean.”

  I gasped. “Mom. Is there a lightbulb above my head?”

  My mom eyed me carefully, gauging how serious I was. She had become quite blonde in her pregnancy….Which was pretty funny because my mom was a natural blonde who kept dying her hair dark, and now her blonde roots were showing. I half expected a recreation of that scene in Baby Mama when Amy Pohler tries to dye her hair and Tina Fey is viciously scrubbing it out.

  I jumped off the counter and gave my mom a noisy kiss on the cheek. “See you! I’m going riding!”

  “Bring a water bottle with you!” my mom called after me as I tore up the stairs. “It’s hot out today!”

  It was hot out, but I was able to ride so that was all that mattered to me. I had Reesey tacked up instantly—after, of course, tossing a carrot to both Terry and Molly. She gave me not one bit of trouble as I steered her up the hill. She seemed happy, even, to be riding. I was a little disappointed, to be honest. I was hoping she’d rear or buck. I wanted to feel like I had control of something.

  But, no. She was perfect, even though Liam sure hadn’t been riding her; or any horse here. Earlier in the week, he’d come by with his horse trailer and took Lefroy home. I was a little sad about that. But he was messing with Terry more, I noticed. So maybe Lefroy was just a bit of a distraction.

  I took Reese all around the hills. It was blisstering hot, and any other time I would have complained. But I took full advantage of Liam’s day off and rode for at least three hours.

  I wasn’t done there, though. After I untacked Reese, hosed her off, and set her out in the field, I snatched up Molly and brushed her down. She was really patchy in parts where stubborn winter fur still clung to her dark coat. Liam had been keeping care of her well, though.

  I smiled sadly in my horse’s eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been down here in forever, sweetheart. I’m a terrible person, I know. I’ve been feeling so sorry for myself that I couldn’t even come down and brush my girl.” I circled my arms around my neck.