By Friday afternoon, Kamrnn and I had shared exactly 167 texts, three FaceTimes, and one coffee date. I was completely, totally certain about this one.
As in certain Kamrnn was as wrong for me as Miller had predicted.
I fired off a final text to my wedding date, my focus trained on the sight of Miller walking through the neighboring field.
Meet you at the church at six thirty.
See you then, Kamrnn.
I slipped my phone into the back pocket of my jeans and held up a hand in greeting to Miller. He inclined his head and rerouted to where I stood in the riding ring. Our last group for the afternoon had just left, and I had little more than an hour to get ready for the wedding.
“Good work today,” Ernie said as he joined me at the gate.
“Thanks.” Coming from Ernie, that was high praise indeed. “What did you see?” It was the question we always went back to when we conferred after every session.
“Tamera Escue needs an opportunity to find a different horse.”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Garrett wasn’t paying attention and nearly got kicked.”
“What do you think that’s about?” I asked my partner.
“He’s reverting back to control mode.”
“I completely agree.” It was often part of the process. “It’s hard to give up old patterns, isn’t it?”
Ernie leaned his arms across the gate and squinted against the sun. “I reckon it is. Did I mention Ava came by after you left early yesterday?”
“I didn’t leave early. I left on time for once. I had a coffee date.”
“Don’t tell me that stuff. Do I look like your girlfriend?”
“No, sir. My girlfriends moisturize a whole lot more.”
“We’re coworkers.” He made a sweeping motion toward the barn area. “This is a farm. Not the watercooler, so unless you want to hear about my latest colonoscopy, how about we don’t share personal details.”
“Does this mean you don’t want to go get manis and pedis with me after work?” I bit my lip on a laugh and watched Miller stop and talk to a departing veteran.
Ernie ripped off his cowboy hat, wiped his head with a handkerchief, and smashed the hat back on his head. “Ava was looking for you. I could tell she wanted to talk, and she appeared mighty interested in the horses.”
“Dash is the one she needs.”
“I have eyes. I could see that.”
“Did she stick around?”
“She helped me feed Dash and gave him a good brushing.”
“So you stayed after hours to help Ava.” This man who looked like he’d lived three lifetimes, was bilingual in English and rudeness, and was an insult to fashion was as beautiful as they came. “You want to know something, Ernie?”
“I do not.”
“Under all that bluster you’ve got a really soft, squishy heart.”
“Take that back.”
“I’m telling you, there’s a teddy bear in there.”
