Nova (20 page)

I wondered if my relationship with Austin was ever going to take on that kind of
meaning
. As it was, I
didn’t even like to be apart from him, but I felt like we were still in the very beginning stages of our relationship
. I could see myself being with Austin fo
r good, but I also wasn’t naïve
and I knew that things could change in the blink of an eye.
I wished that I didn’t always feel like good
things were never
going to last, but I really
wasn’t sure what it was like to have good luck.
I didn’t know where my relationship with
him
was headed, but for now I
was thankful for
what I had with
Austin
and I didn’t want to take it for granted
.

Dave and
Marlo
got home around nine that night, and I heard Austin roll in an hour later. He didn’t even drive to the main house, but came straight to the guesthouse to see me. It was little things like that that made me realize our relationship was pro
gressing.

“I’m only going to ask how you did and then I don’t want to talk about it,” I told him as he kissed me.

With a smile he nodded and said, “
Finished f
ourth
.”

“Well congrats and all that, I’m really proud of you, hope you had fun… Okay
, new subject.”

He smiled and said,
“How was
your
day?”

I shrugged. “Meh, okay I guess.”

“Just okay?
How come? Jack’s gone, don’t you get time off too?”

“Uh, not really.”

“Oh yeah, it’s Sunday. Lori was here, huh?”

“Yep. So tell me about
this
other team
I hear might be interested in you
.”

He eyed me carefully for a moment. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about racing?” I didn’t reply so he add
ed, “Nova, what happened today?”

“Nothing,” I shrugged. “
I just figured I should probably know what to expect if
something is going to change
.”

He smiled and slightly shook his head. “I know you, and I can tell something happened today. What was it?”

“
Nothing
. It was just a rough day. I don’t badger you about details when you’ve had a rough day at work.”

“No, but this is my ranch, so if there’s something going on then I should be informed about it.”

I sighed. “See, this is exactly the type of thing I wanted to avoid. Mixing business with my personal life.”

He didn’t say anything at
first
as he seemed to contemplate. “Okay, I understand. But when you feel, uh, business-like…will you come talk to me about it?”

“No.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I’ll talk to your dad if I need to, or Jack if that’s all it takes.”

“So this has to do with Lori?”

“Austin…”

“Okay, fine…” He took a deep breath and pulled me close, so I tried to forget about my lousy day and focus on time with my boyfriend. But he did end up saying, “Pr
oblems with Lori
are
nothing new…
Just so you know,” he added, and then the subject was dropped. 

Two weeks later I had another run-in with Lori. Jack was out with a
pinched
nerve in his lower back, and usually he’d just let me hold down the fort by myself if nothing major was going on. However, one of the competition horses required emergency colic surgery, and Lori arrived immediately to take care of it. I offered to assist her with it (it would have been my first of that type) but she pretty much refused. She actually called another doctor to perform the surgery with her, so while they went to work on Rolls Royce, I decided to saddle up Bad Whiskey and go for a ride.

I stuck close to the stables, just in case I was needed. I figured Lori would call in a dozen strangers before she’d call me, but I worked Whiskey in the arena while I silently plotted my revenge. I knew I would do nothing to retaliate, though. It wasn’t in my nature. But whatever
was going on with Lori
was really affecting my
job. She didn’t have an affect on my job
performance
, but she had an affect on how much I enjoyed working at Harmony Acres
when she was there
. I didn’t like someone having that kind of control over my happiness, so I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Austin was in Iowa that weekend. We had kind of come to an agreement about racing, and even though I still had a hard time with his choice of a career, I decided to support him anyway. I
actually saw him more than I did
before, but he was usually gone
for races
on the weekends
instead, and then he was home Monday through Thursday.
He
called me several times a day
when he was gone
, and h
e even left me funny text messages now and then. It was nice to have that contact with him on a regular basis, but
it really did make me miss him even more
when he was out of
the
state and not just south in
Irwindale
.

I was walking Whiskey to the tack room when Dave passed me. He smiled and said hello, and then gave Whiskey a pat.

“Get a good workout, little girl?” he asked her. Then his expression changed as he returned his attention to me. “How come you’re not in surgery with Lori? I kind of thought that would be a good experience for you.”

I was embarrassed for some reason, even though I knew I shouldn’t be. Maybe it was because I felt like I was being
viewed
as a slacker or something. But I tried to relax my frustration and replied, “Well, I offered, and I kind of expected to be there, but Lori wouldn’t allow me to help.”

“What?” He glanced back to Jack’s office with puzzlement. “Why wouldn’t she accept help?”

“She has another doctor in there. Dr. Tibbet
s
.”

I could tell he wasn’t happy for some reason. I didn’t know if it had to do with Lori, Dr. Tibbet
s
, or me, but his jaw seemed to tighten a bit
. Finally he slightly nodded, but then just walked away. Austin was like his dad in that aspect, and I knew that Dave either had something to think about before he said anything more, or he was actually going to take care of something first. It made me anxious because I didn’t want any kind of drama to occur because of me, so I quickly undressed Whiskey, brushed her down, and led her back to Field Four.

Jack returned to the ranch the next day, and I could tell he was still in a lot of pain, just by the way he moved.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. I was just returning to his office from a round of medication dispensing and he was there looking over paperwork. “Jack, you should still be resting.”

“Ah, it hurts no matter what, so I’d rather just be moving.”

“Want me to tranquilize you?”

He chuckled. “I’ve
seriously
considered it.” He set the papers down and then looked over some photos. I could tell they were pictures of Rolls Royce’s surgery. “So you missed out on colic surgery, huh?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure what to say so I didn’t say anything. I was afraid I might call Lori a name I might regret.

Jack motioned for me
to sit and he pointed out a few things that the pictures showed. Then he placed a disk in the DVD player and turned on the television. I scooted my stool closer so I could watch the surgery better, and Jack stood next to me.

“The colon,” he pointed. “The gas was removed…emptying the large colon of
ingesta
…” He fast-forwarded the video
some more
and added, “The obstruction being removed…”

I listened to Jack explain the surgery in-depth. He’d forwa
rd the video, rewind it, and pause—w
hatever he needed to do to teach me all that he could. We spent over an hour viewing and discussing the procedure, and when we were done, Jack walked me to Rolls Royce’s stall to talk about his recovery. The horse looked good as new, and Jack was pleased that he
was bouncing
back so quickly.

He turned to me and said, “I’m sorry you weren’t able to assist with the surgery.”
I shrugged, not sure of what to say. We were walking back to his office when he said, “Did you notice which set of hands performed most of the work?”

I had noticed that, and I nodded my head.

“I think Lori is having trouble with her eyesight,” Jack continued. “She doesn’t feel comfortable performing surgery by herself anymore, and she’s known Edgar—uh, Dr. Tibbet
s
—for many years. I’m sure she chose Edgar to help out instead of you so she didn’t have to show weakness.”

“She could have just said so—”

“Nah, you know Lori—v
ery prideful. But she can’t perform her job fully anymore and she knows that. I think she also knows that you’re her replacement.”

“What?”

He shrugged
as we stopped in front of his office
. “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? You’re a perfect fit here, Nova. Even if you just finished your basic studies and wanted a job here you would get it. I mean I know you want that piece of paper, and I can understand that, but
if you decided to just take you
r
tech exam for now, you could be an assistant and get the pay for it.” He paused for a moment and added, “It’s just an idea. I don’t
know
what your plans are otherwise—you know, on a personal level—but it’s something you can think about.”

“Are you talking about Austin?”

He shrugged again. “I suppose. He is the only other thing you focus on, isn’t it?”

I smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess so. But we’re both kind of… I don’t know. We both have plans going on that could change things, you know?”

“Yes, I understand that. Which is why I’m giving you another option to think about.
It’s all a matter of what you want the most, Nova. I can’t decide that for you, Austin can’t decide that for you… So just take all of your options and study them carefully.” He cringed and put a hand against his lower back. “Right now
my
only option is seeing a professional.”

“Yeah, you really should if it’s gotten so bad. You want me to stand on your back to see if it helps?”
I joked.

He chuckled, but I was surprised when he said, “Actually
I would do anything at this point. I’d like to try it if you don’t mind?
”

I shrugged. “Uh, no, not if that’s what you want.”

“You’re what? –A buck twenty-five?”

“Mm, give or take.”

“Perfect.”

He dropped onto the floor right by the counter, so I removed my shoes and stepped onto his back. He slightly groaned, so I stepped off.

“No, that was great,” he said. “It just takes a second for the pain to adjust.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s your sciatic nerve?”

“Yes.”

I placed one foot on his lower back and the other in the middle, and held onto the counter just in case it was too much pressure.

He moaned again, but it sounded like a good moan.

“That’s okay?” I asked.

“Yes, that feels so good.”

“I feel like I’m too heavy for this, though.”

“Uh, it’s not bad…”

I stepped off of him and said, “What if I make it worse?”

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Well I can do the same thing without all of that weight. I mean if
you don’t mind
.”

“I’ll take any help I can get.”

I knelt over him so I could hold his lower body with my legs
,
and pressed my hands against his back so it separated his upper and lower body.

“Oh, man,” he moaned again. “That feels so good. Keep doing it.”

“Just hold it there?”

“Yeah if you can.”

I loosened my hold briefly
to get better position,
and then separated his joints once again.

“Oh, my…” he moaned. “That feels so good.”

I heard a sound at the office door so I peaked over the counter to see Austin standing there with a curious smile on his face. I knew he couldn’t see me straddling Jack on the other side of the counter, but Austin tilted his head to the side to see Jack’s feet sticking out from behind it.

“Jack? What are you doing with my girlfriend, pal?”