The Stable Boy (13 page)

“How are the kids and Brian doing?”

“Everyone here is doing fantastic. Br
ian just got promoted, the kids just started back to school and I am pregnant again.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yes, I am due in February.”

“Now, I will be there for Christmas. Do you know what you are having?”

“No, we are going to let it be a surprise.”

“I am so happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Jane said. “You have to come for Christmas to at least rub the belly like you did for the other two.”

“I will be there,” I said with a laugh. “You go rest and give my love to everyone. I will talk to you soon.”

“I will. I love you, Claire,” she said.

“I love you, too,” I said as I hung up the phone. I dialed my brother’s number.

“Hello?” said a woman’s voice.

“Hi,” I said. “May I please speak with Michael?”

“Sure,” said the voice. “Who may I tell him is calling?”

“His sister,” I said.

“Okay, hang on,” she said. I could hear her heels click on the floors as she walked toward him. “Hey, babe, there is someone on the phone for you.”

“Who is it?” I heard Michael ask.

“She says she is your sister, but it doesn’t sound like Jane.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“Give me the phone,” he said. “Claire?”

“Hi, Mikey,” I said.

“Claire, what happened? I gave up trying to call you.”

“I know you did. That was my fault. I could not speak to anyone after John’s accident. I pushed everyone away. I am sorry for that.”

“It’
s okay. I can understand that you were hurting, but Janie and I would have been there for you no matter what. We will still be there for you.”

“I know you would have. How have you been?  Who is the girl?”

“Just like a big sister should always ask,” he said, laughing. “I am fine and the girl is my fiancé. Her name is Michelle.”

“Fiancé? I never thought my playboy of a brother could be tamed.”

“She did it,” he said. “We plan on getting married sometime in December. Janie is having a fit, because she said she will be as big as a house by then. Wait, do you even know that she is pregnant with her third?”

“Yes, I just got off the phone with her.”

“Oh, sure, just call her first.”

“You, hush. We both know how she is. If I didn’t call big sister first
, she would have had both of our heads.”

“Yeah, she would have,” he said. “You sound happy, Claire.”

“I am heading in that direction. Today was the first day I thought of John and didn’t cry.”

“Good, maybe your wounds are beginning to mend.”

“It feels like they are.”

“How are things on the farm?”

“Good, the winter crop is planted and the animals all seem happy. We will see how what the spring brings.”

“We?” he said. “Oh, wait; you still have a farmhand, right?”

“Not the same one. He left a couple of months ago. I have a new one as of about a week ago. His name is Josh.”

“You like this Josh, don’t you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I heard the smile in your voice when you said his name.”

“It is not like that, Mikey.”

“You do know that you are a terrible liar, even over the phone, right?”

“You and Alison this week,” I said laughing.

“Oh, how is my future ex wife?”

“Is that what you call your fiancé?”

“No, just Alison,” he said, laughing.

“You always did have a slight crush on her.”

“I still do. Now, if she would just divorce Bob I could come down there and sweep her off her feet.”

“Good Lord, I hope your fiancé is not sitting right there.”

“No, she is in the kitchen making dinner,” he said, smiling.

“You are still as crazy as ever.”

“You know it,” he said. “She is calling me. I guess it is time to go and eat. I miss you, Claire.”

“I miss you, too, baby brother. I promise to call you once a week. Okay?”

“Definitely, I love you big sister. Talk to you real soon, okay?”

“I love you, too.”

“Give Alison a big sloppy kiss from me,” he said with a laugh.

“I will tell her you said hello,” I said laughing. “I will talk to you later.”

I went down stairs with the phone in my hand, shaking my head.

“I see that smile,” I heard Josh say.

“Yeah, I just spoke with my sister and then my brother. They are both doing great. Jane is pregnant with her third baby, due in February and Michael is engaged. He wants to get married in December and our sister is having a fit, because she will be
seven months by then.”

“That is great news,” Josh said.

“Yes, it is. Thank you for suggesting that I call them.”

“You’re welcome.”

“They want me to go up for Christmas. If you are up to it, I would like for you to come along.”

“Did you tell them about us?”

“Not yet, but Michael pretty much guessed it anyway.”

“I would love to meet your family.”

“Great,” I said. “I am sure they would love to meet you, too. So, what are we watching?”

“There is a horror flick coming on. It is one of the newer ones that w
as in the theaters recently.”

“Awesome, I will get the popcorn,” I said. I went into the kitchen and popped a bag of popcorn. Pouring it into the bowl, I went and cuddled up on the c
ouch with Josh. The movie began. Right away we both jumped. This was going to be a good one. We watched the movie. There were a few parts that we both jumped and I even buried my head in his shoulder at one point. He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I loved my fair share of horror films, but this one scared me. “That was one of the scariest movies I have seen out of the new generation of horror. Most are kind of okay.”

“I know,” Josh said. “That was definitely better than most of them.”

“Yes, it was.”

“I can’t believe that you like horror movies. I thought for sure you would not like it.”

“Oh no, it was a favorite of John and I’s. We used to go to the drive in to see them during the spring to fall months. During the winter, we always went to the movie house. I was watching them by myself, but being in this big old house by yourself after watching them alone can really freak you out.”

Laughing, he said, “I am sure there are some noises in and out doors that would creep you out after watching one alone.”

“Don’t laugh,” I said, laughing. “It gets quite scary here alone. No one around, no one to go check for the weird noises, you have to hope it is your imagination until the wind blows hard enough to swing your screen door back and forth with a slam. It makes you lose some sleep.”

“I can see you now all huddled up in your bed upstairs, covers over your head, the dresser up against the door,” he said, laughing so hard tears were rolling down his face.

“It’s not funny, seriously,” I said, holding my side as I laughed. “You wait until you are here alone on Saturday and tell me it is not creepy the next morning.”

“Okay,” he said, wiping his face. “We will have to see. I bet I make it better than you do.”

“I’ll take that bet,” I said with a smile.

“What do I win, if I get through the night after watching a horror movie not being scared?”

“I will allow you to tell whoever you want about us. And if I win, you have to cook dinner for a month.”

“Including your family?”

“Yes.”

“Deal,” he said, putting out his hand. I shook it. He pulled me in toward him. I landed on top of him. He planted his lips on mine. Pulling away, he said, “sealed with a kiss.”

              I had a feeling I was going to lose this bet. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Are you sure you want to take this bet?”

             
“Why do you ask? Are you afraid I might win?”

             
“No, I am afraid I might win. I don’t think you can handle cooking dinner for a month.”

             
“You like to think that. I have quite a few recipes up in this head.”

             
“Really, well I can’t wait to taste them all.”

             
“You really think that you are going to win this thing, don’t you?”

             
“I don’t think, I know,” I said with a smirk.

             
“Okay, well we will have to see about that.”

             
“Yes, we will,” I said before I kissed him. He shifted under me until I was lying down the length of him. He wrapped his arms around me. His tongue played its familiar tune with mine. The screen door slammed. I felt him jump. I pulled away, laughing. Sitting up, I said, “I told you. This house can be eerie.”

             
“I just was not expecting it. Why does it do that?”

             
“I don’t know. It just always has. The first few nights we lived here, I don’t think John slept much. He used to get up every time the wind blew to see who was at the door.”

             
“That is just ridiculous. I will see what I can do to fix it.”

             
“John tried everything. The only way to get it to not do it is to latch it, but then if someone is out, they can’t get in.”

             
“That is true. I can see why it would scare you.”

             
“Yeah, you get used to it after a while. It is to the point when I don’t even notice it anymore when I am sleeping. It used to wake me up.”

             
“It is loud.”

             
“I know. I am waiting for the morning I go out there and the door is in the middle of the pasture.”

             
“A good strong storm comes through here and I am sure that will happen,” he said as a clap of thunder sounded over head. The crashing clouds let out a spark of lightening. The entire room lit up. Another clap of thunder sounded. “It looks like we are in for a good one tonight.”

             
“It sure does,” I said walking over to the door. I open the door to latch the screen door. A wind gust came through trying to pull it back open. I secured the latch before it was able to fully grab a hold of it. I stood there watching the lightening strikes dance among the clouds, lighting up each cloud as they moved from one to the next. I felt his arms around me. “I love storms. They have such a mystery to them. They can be beautiful and scary at the same time.”

             
“I have not heard anyone describe storms as beautiful before.”

             
“I just like the way the lightening strikes. It gives a dark portion of the clouds new light.”

             
“The thunder doesn’t bother you?”

             
“No, when the thunder rolls through the sky, I think of the train tracks I used to live by as a kid. I used to sleep to the sound of the passing trains. When we first moved here, I couldn’t sleep because it was too quiet. The thunder helps me sleep. When the rain beats on the window pane, it sets its own rhythm like that of a beating heart or a song on the radio. It makes me happy. It is hypnotic.”

             
“I never saw storms in that way. When I moved here as a kid, I used to hide under my bed when it stormed.”

             
“Really?” I asked. “I can’t see you doing that.”

             
“Yes, we didn’t have storms like this in New York City. They scared me, until my grandfather made me sit on the porch with him one summer evening during a storm. We sat through the whole thing and never said a word. I was never scared after that. I saw that there was nothing to really be scared of. It was just the sky making noises.”

             
“In Montana, the storms were like they are here, just not as frequent. They only took place in May and June. The rainy part of the spring was always my favorite. I used to sit by my bedroom window and watch the sky light up. There is just something about it that fascinates me.”

             
“I think you missed your calling as a meteorologist,” he said with a smile.

             
“Hardly,” I said with a laugh. “But I do think all farmers need to be able to predict the weather in their own way. Our crops live and die by our knowledge of the seasons and their patterns.”

             
“My grandfather was really good at knowing what was going to happen and when to put the seeds in the ground.”

             
“That is because he did it all his life.”