Trent
Holy, stinkin’ stables, man!
Did these horses get fed extra for the last two days? The piles of shit in here would last a horsefly for a year. I take the shovel and push the shit into the tap in the back. I only have four more to go.
Leaning my arm on top of the shovel handle, I tilt my hat back and feel the light morning breeze blow through the stables. Only problem with the breeze blowing is that the stench of shit rides on it, taking its scent everywhere.
I’m used to it though. Can’t have a ranch if you can’t take the shit.
As I stand there momentarily catching my breath, I wonder how Owen’s date went last night. If it was any bit like mine, he’ll have a starry-eyed gaze and huge smile plastered across his face.
As I start to push more crap into the back of the next stall, I hear footsteps coming toward me. I look out from the stable and there is Owen. Probably wants to talk about his date with Kelly last night.
“Well, hallelujah on high!” I exclaim, once again pushing my hat back further on top of my head. “Someone looks pretty damned chipper today!”
Owen’s face turns a few shades of red as he finally steps up beside me. I’m at least half right, no starry-eyed gaze, but definitely a smile. “Hey man,” he chuckles a little and then looks at me again. “You were right,” he says.
“Hold on,” I get down just a little lower than him and reach my arm out. “You’re telling me that I was right?” I stand up and grab the shovel handle with both hands and smile. “We gotta call the press on this big story!”
Owen laughs at me and my antics. “Is there even a serious bone in your body?”
I lean into him and say, “Only when it comes to my dick. Now there is a serious bone there.”
He shakes his head and slides a hand across his face, looking to the ceiling of the barn. He looks back at me, “Are you ready to talk now? Seriously?” Owen is still smiling as he asks me.
“Yeah, just trying to have some fun,” I tell him, settling down.
“No matter what you do, youalwayshave fun,” he says. “You were right about her putting me through the ringer as well. She asked me about you and our relationship.”
“Kind of the reverse of what she asked me, heh?”
Owen nods his head and rests his forearms on the gate of the stall, placing a foot on the wood piece that holds the bottom together. “Yep.”
I shake my head and put the shovel against the wall for a minute. “What did you say?”
“The truth,” he says. “What else would I say?”
“No, I mean,” I stop for a moment. “Anything about your parents?”
“It’s part of the truth, ain’t it?”
I nod my head and put my hands on my hips, “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I didn’t think it was my place to share your personal history, is all.”
“She knows now,” he says, “And I believe she understands the nature of our friendship, therefore ruling you and I out for any of the strange things happening here.” Owen thinks for a moment and then adds, “She did ask me if you had a reason to damage your own things, like insurance payout, or wanting attention.”
I laugh out loud with a surprised look on my face. Placing a hand to my chest, I say, “Me? Destroy what I, and you, worked so hard to get?”
“Yeah, I laughed at her for even asking such a thing,” he laughs along with me.
Standing there, shaking my head, I wonder what else she is going to dig up.