Chapter 3

On Monday, the crew picked me up and we drove to our first site. I got ribbed for my new boots, but then Art said they were good and that I had chosen well. Emilio asked me what GT stood for and what a yellowjacket was. It took a while for us to figure out that the Spanish word for wasp was avispa and that was close enough.

“You already know you are going to college?” Manny asked in Spanish.

“Look where he lives,” Emilio said. “He knows. I bet you get good grades, too.”

“I do.” I knew that working with these guys was a bit of a culture shock for me but I hadn’t counted on it being one for them, as well.

“Really good grades?” Manny asked.

“Yes.”

“Hector said you get straight As at Porter-Gaud. Your mom told him. Is that true?” Art asked.

“Pretty much.” It got really quiet.

“You really love this, Kim, then,” Manny said, having come to the conclusion that I was a real weirdo.

“Yes.”

“It is a noble thing,” Art said. “To work for her hand in marriage. It is a noble thing. Not a gift. Not an expectation. It is a very good thing.”

“Thank you, Art. I think it is.”

“You will work with your hands with us, this summer. Then you will go to college and never have to do this again,” Emilio said.

“Maybe not, but I’ll know that I can if I have to.” I told them about my previous summer, learning how to put shingles on a roof, operate a Bobcat and excavator, and all the rest. Then I told them that by the end of the summer, I expected to be bi-lingual as well. It was quiet for a minute and then they all laughed.

Once they quieted down, Art said, “You are picking it up quickly. You still have to work on how you say what you did or are going to do. You say you are doing too much of the time.”

“You want us to correct you?” Emilio asked and I told him I did. They agreed to help. It pretty much set the tone for the rest of the summer. We had an understanding and they already knew I worked hard and didn’t ask for any special favors.

We worked hard Monday and Tuesday, trying to get ahead of the schedule before a storm rolled in on Wednesday. It wasn’t raining when I woke up and I knew we’d work until the rain stopped us. Emilio picked me up just before eight. Art and Manny had picked up a load of mulch we needed to spread before the rain hit. Moving it dry, wouldn’t be bad but rain would make it weigh a whole lot more. We were motivated. We skipped lunch and managed to get two full loads spread before the first drops of an afternoon thunderstorm hit.

“This is going to hit hard. Wrap it up,” Art said and we loaded our wheelbarrows and tools onto the trailer.

We could see a lightning flash and heard the thunder. I timed it. Fifteen seconds meant the lightning was three miles away. The next house was just down the block. I suggested we go there and knock out part of the work. We counted the next lightning to thunder difference and it was down to two miles. Art shook his head and we loaded up.

“We can work in rain. Not lightning,” Art said and we all agreed it wasn’t worth the risk.

We drove back to Art’s and quickly switched vehicles. Emilio drove me home just as the sky opened up. It came down in buckets. We’d managed nearly a full day more work than we thought and were pretty happy about it. If the rain quit before morning, we wouldn’t miss anything and might actually be ahead. I thought back to the times Hector had shown up at our house on a weekend to mow, making up for rain days. I had a whole new appreciation for what he did.

I called Vince and then Bobby, arranging to work on boxing that evening. I took a deep breath and sorted through my day and the rest of the week. I was good. I had this. I checked with Mom in the kitchen. She had the weather channel on, knowing, I guess, that I’d want to know what the forecast was.

“This is supposed to be done about one AM. Will you be working tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Lightning stops us. Other than that, Art will have something for us. He’s a good boss.”

“I’m not surprised. Hector is a good man. He would hire good people. Hungry?” she asked and I didn’t even answer. “Stupid question. How hungry? Better?”

“Ravenous,” I said, trying to see what was for dinner.

“Ravenous. You haven’t used that word all week. You must be hungry. Dane is going to be late. Country-style ribs. The meat is falling off the bone. Ribs, black-eyed peas, and watermelon. That’s it.”

“All I need,” I said as she handed me a plate. “Vince and Bobby are coming over at seven. Boxing.”

“The student becomes the teacher, huh. Good for you.”

I demonstrated what a ravenous teenager can do to a plate of ribs, then prepped for Vince and Bobby. I put on some old tennis shoes and grabbed a newer pair to work out in, then stood at the front door with the golf umbrella wishing for the rain to slow. It didn’t. I sort of charted a path across the driveway to the gym. Since I’d slipped and broken a foot in the rain, I was a lot more careful. Not an experience I wanted to repeat.

I crossed to the gym and opened two other garage doors so Vince and Bobby could pull in if they wanted to. I practiced box jumps and then measured my vertical leap while I waited. I wasn’t anywhere near Birch’s twenty-nine inches but I was getting there. I worked the heavy bag a little until Vince pulled up. I motioned for him to drive into the garage and he did. Bobby pulled up right after that and I motioned him into the last open stall.

“Hey, Aquaman. How’s life? How’s work?” Vince asked.

“Good. Giving me a new perspective, that’s for sure.”

“How’s that?” Bobby asked as he joined us.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll ever take manual laborers for granted, that’s for sure.”

“I bet. I guess I probably do,” Vince said. “What do you think I should do differently?”

“I’ve only been at this a week and a half so I’m not speaking for anybody that’s ever raised a blister.”

“I get that. Still, you’d know better than me,” Vince said.

“We have a couple of people that will come out and offer us something to drink. That’s nice but we have that covered. One guy asked if any of us needed to use the restroom. We all did. He had a bathroom off the mudroom but he still invited us into his house. I thought that was kind of a big deal, you know? And then, there’s this elderly lady who comes out to watch and then compliments us on our work. Not many people do that.”

“Neither one of those things seem like much,” Bobby said.

“No. Probably not. But that’s what I’ve noticed. You guys ready to do some work?” I asked, and realized that’s just what Timex would have said.

I taped up one of Vince’s hands and then let Bobby do the other one. He slid bag gloves on and I worked with him on that for a bit and then switched to target pads. He’d hit each of the pads a couple of times and then I’d give a slow swing at his head, making him duck. The better he got, the faster and more frequently I’d swing. It wasn’t long before he was dripping. We traded places for a bit and I added footwork in to show him how to work angles and distance. Bobby seemed content to watch. I asked him about it.

“Maybe next time,” Bobby said.

“You should go for it, Bobby,” Vince said. “Seriously, I could use a break.”

He seemed uncertain. I didn’t want to push him too hard but I was curious and asked him, “Why not?”

“To be honest, this is going to sound a little weird, probably. You guys are just a bit intimidating.” Vince kidded him a bit and motioned for him to ‘come on – I think I can take you’.

“Your pace, Bobby. If you want to,” I said.

“How did you feel the first time you went to Mink’s?” Bobby asked.

“Like a fish out of water. Everybody there knew what they were doing. There were little kids, no, not little kids, but you know what I mean. There were kids that were probably twelve or so, and they knew more than me.”

“How many times did you go?” Bobby asked. Vince had his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

“A dozen, I think. Something like that.”

“Okay. I’m just trying to get a feel for it. Vince is catching on but you’re kind of scary.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, really mystified.

“Who are you hitting when you work on the heavy bag?”

“Just working on the bag. Not sure what you mean.”

“Ask Vince. He’s bigger than you but you’re knocking the crap out of the bag.”

“He’s right. Whatever you weigh, you’re getting all of it into your punches. If you swing the bat like that next year, you’re going to hit a lot of home runs.”

“Wow. Thanks, guys. I’ve been working on it but I didn’t think I was doing that good.”

“Break it down for me,” Vince said so I did. I showed him how power comes from the hips. Even jabs can have some power from the hips. He worked at it and got the bag moving pretty well. Finally, Bobby couldn’t stand it and had to put on the gloves and work on the heavy bag.

It was starting to get late and I had work the next morning. I still wanted to talk with Bobby about Melanie. I gave Bobby some tips and Vince encouraged him and he started to get the hang of it. When Bobby had enough of a shot at it, we peeled the tape off our hands and tried to re-hydrate.

“What’s the scoop with you and Lani?” I asked Vince, to start a different conversation.

“Not sure. I like her and she likes me. Still trying to figure out what we have in common, you know?” He stopped and looked at me, probably because I was trying not to laugh. “What? What’s funny about that?”

“You know what Kim and I had in common when we first started dating?” He shook his head. “Neither one of us had a date lined up for Friday night’s basketball game. Aquaman meets Frontier Woman. I had no idea how different we were.”

“Now, you guys do everything together,” Bobby said, with perhaps a hint of jealousy.

“Trust me, I never in a million years would have guessed I’d be listening to Emmy Lou Harris, reading Louis L’Amour, or riding. Emmy Lou Harris isn’t my favorite but I get it and I like her. Louis L’Amour is a pretty good author. Surprisingly good, as a matter of fact, but he’s no Frank Herbert. But riding is a blast.”

“You two have everything all worked out,” Bobby said.

“We kind of figured something out a couple of months ago. We took the word ‘if’ out of our planning and replaced it with ‘when’.”

“You two always been planning a life together? How long did it take to get that serious? Dang,” Bobby said.

“It seems like it, I guess. It’s not like I’m going to hold out for someone better. Who would that be?” I asked. Vince was being really quiet. “What am I missing? I honestly don’t see any flaws. Nothing that bugs me, even. What?” I asked. “There’s something.”

“Nah. You’re happy, right?” Vince asked.

“Yeah, but am I missing something? Does she have an evil twin I don’t know about or something?”

“No. She just seems a little ... Never mind. Nothing.”

“No. You can’t do that. Seems a little, what?” I asked, truly clueless.

“If you don’t see any flaws, it doesn’t matter what anyone else sees, right?”

“Go for it, Vince. What don’t I see? If you say something I haven’t noticed, I’d appreciate knowing. Honest.”

“She seems a little, I don’t know the word, intimidating, maybe. She’s got a really powerful personality. If you two get along, that wouldn’t matter but I’ll bet if you disagree on something, she’ll win.”

“I wouldn’t disagree with that but I’ll tell you what she said about how we’ll solve tough problems.” I relayed our conversation about choosing an apartment. “Here’s the scenario. We find two apartments we like in Atlanta. I like apartment A and she likes apartment B. How do we decide which one? That’s what I asked her.”

“What did she say?” Vince asked.

“We rent apartment A. My choice. She said she trusts me to take her wants and needs into account and if I still want apartment A then that’s what we rent. She said her parents have used that method for a long time. I get to choose but there’s the weight of getting it wrong, too. I won’t disagree that she has a strong personality, though. I like it, I guess.”

“Dang. That’s quite a method. I guess when you know, you know,” Vince said. “What about you, Bobby?” Vince asked.

Bobby was quiet for a long time and then he answered, “I guess I’m a chicken. I’m afraid that I’ll commit to Mel and then someone better will come along, but I agree with Jack on that. I don’t even know what that would look like. Mel’s got a lot going on.”

“She does, Bobby. She’s smart and super cute and she has an amazing sense of humor.”

“Yeah?”

“She can really be funny. She and Kim together are kind of dangerous.”

“Maybe I should take the ‘if’ out of my thinking,” Bobby said.

“Dude, you’re a junior. She’s a junior. It’s not like there’s a rush or anything,” Vince said. Thanks, Vince, I thought. It was going pretty well.

“She likes you a lot, Bobby. I have a hunch she likes you more than you know.”

“You know what the problem is,” Bobby said. “It’s you, Aquaman. You and Frontier Woman. I think Mel thinks you two are showing the rest of us how relationships are supposed to work.” That was almost exactly what Melanie had said.

“No,” I protested, probably a little too loudly. “We’re showing each other how ours works. We’re not concerned about other people’s relationships. I mean, I care but we’re not going to change what we’re doing because of other people.”

“I know. I get it. But Mel ... I think she thinks that’s just how it should work.”

“I’d just tell her, you know. Tell her what you’re thinking so she is thinking more about the two of you than she is about anyone else,” I said.

“That sounds like good advice, Bobby,” Vince said. “Now, if Lani and I can figure out what we want by the time I need to leave for Notre Dame, that would be a good thing. You two met early enough to think things through. Lani and I just started dating and only have the summer to make some decisions.”

“You’ve talked it through though, right?” I asked.

“Not really. We both know.”

“Talk it through, Vince. You, too, Bobby. Either you’re just messing around or you’re considering Lani and Mel as lifelong partners. Guys, you have to talk to them. What else do you need to know to make a decision?”

It got pretty quiet. We watched the sky light up and then heard the thunder. It had been doing that since we’d started but I think it’s the first time we really noticed. We sat in silence for quite a while.

“How do you know?” Bobby asked, after thinking about it for a long time.

“I can’t speak for everyone. First, I tried to imagine a life with Kim. You know, school, graduation, college, career, kids, and all that. That took some imagination. We talked about it to see if she was thinking the same things and she kind of was. So, at first, I imagined life with her. Now, I can’t imagine life without her. Maybe that’s how I know.” It got quiet again. I guessed they were both trying to imagine life with their girlfriends.

“So, oh wise one,” Vince started, “How do you know you love her?”

“Mom told me that love is a decision. She said you have to make it every day. She said people get divorced or separated when it’s easier to decide not to love them than it is to decide to love them. I don’t know if that’s right or not but it’s pretty easy to decide to love Kim.”

“I don’t think that idea is going to make it into many songs,” Bobby said. “Not terribly romantic.”

“Does it seem right to you? How hard would it be to decide to love Mel?”

“Pretty easy, to tell you the truth. Actually, it would be really easy. That’s it, huh?”

“Best I got,” I said. Vince nodded but it seemed like Bobby had just made a decision. It was written all over his face. We switched subjects back to boxing and agreed to meet again. They each got in their cars and drove away, leaving me in the gym with a big golf umbrella and a downpour to negotiate. I changed shoes back to my crappy pair and sloshed up to the house.

It was nearly ten and I was tired. I hit the sack and fell asleep, happy. I’d taught some boxing and challenged Vince, but mostly Bobby, to consider his relationship. That’s it, Melanie. You’re on your own, I thought.

It must have been midnight when Mom woke me. “Jack, you need to take the phone. Kim is on the line.”

“What time is it?”

“Late. It sounds urgent. I told her you were sleeping, but I’m not sure it registered”

I walked out to the library and picked up the phone. I mumbled something into the phone.

“Hey, Baby. I know this was you. You talked to Bobby tonight, didn’t you.” It wasn’t really a question and Kim was talking ninety miles an hour. I knew better than to interrupt. “Bobby went to Mel’s house and they talked for hours.”

“Good.” That’s all I could think to say.

“Mel’s ecstatic. Bobby apologized to her. He said he’d taken her for granted and he didn’t want to do that and she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him and he loves her.”

“Uh-huh.”

“That’s a big deal, Aquaman.”

“We just talked, Kim. I didn’t do anything. Whatever he said or whatever they did, that’s all Bobby.”

“If you say so. Why are you up so late? It’s after midnight,” she said, I think suddenly realizing that I had to work the next day.

“Just hoping to hear the sound of your voice,” I said but I doubt I was very convincing.

“I love you so much. Go to bed,” she said and I did. Who can know the mind of a woman?

I woke up Thursday morning feeling much better than I had any right to. I wasn’t sure if we’d be working or not but the rain had stopped sometime during the night. Art picked me up right at eight.

“I wasn’t sure if we’d be working today,” I said.

“The ground is soft. We have a lot to do,” he answered but his mind was somewhere else.

“What’s up? Something is bothering you.”

“Family. Emilio is taking money and a package to our cousin Eduardo, in Orangeburg. Eduardo’s going to drive to Saltillo.” Then, in English, he added, “Our Aunt Lupe had a stroke last night. Stroke, right?” I nodded.

“You and Emilio are cousins?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know much about strokes and I don’t know where Saltillo is.”

“She fell and broke a hip, I think. That’s bad for someone old. Saltillo is near Monterey, about six hours from Corpus Christie. They’ve been putting a package together for months but now is the time. Emilio will be back today. Eduardo will drive down by himself.”

“Do you send money to your family very often?” I asked.

“Every week that I can. We all do.”

“Are you going to try to bring them here?” I asked. He looked at me weirdly. I thought I’d said something wrong.

“No. Saltillo is home. We’ll go back. Manny’s home is here.”

“I didn’t know. We are working for totally different things,” I said.

“We are both working for something that’s important to us, Amigo.”

We picked up Manny, then went to a nursery where they had an order ready. We loaded a bunch of plants onto the trailer and went to work. We took advantage of the soft ground and planted dozens of plants. Once again, I was impressed that Art knew how to schedule our time and work around the weather. Emilio caught up with us after lunch. They talked too fast for me to follow but it didn’t matter. It was their family issue. If they wanted me to know, they’d tell me.

We finished the day and worked just as hard on Friday. Hector met us at the nursery as we were picking up supplies for Monday. I never saw Art call Hector but somehow, Hector always knew where to find us.

“Art says you do good work. Next week, your pay goes up,” he said, handing me an envelope with cash in it. I nodded in appreciation. “Sometimes, we have extra work. Interested?”

“Like on Saturdays?” I asked.

“And sometimes late. Not tonight or this Saturday but sometimes, and you’ve earned the opportunity if you want it.”

“Thanks, Hector. Definitely.” I got a ride home from him and told him about Emilio and his aunt. He already knew. I was not surprised.

Mom and Dane were already eating but there was plenty of meatloaf and corn for me. I sat down and filled my plate. They asked and I shared about my week and my day. Dane had done a lot of things but he’d never worked the way I was working. I couldn’t read his emotions about the whole thing.

“Kim invited us to ride, tomorrow,” Mom said.

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her I was interested but I’d check to see what you have in mind, first,” she said.

“I’m game,” I answered. “Mom, do you know how to ride a horse?”

“How hard could it be? Kim rides and she didn’t even know how to ride a bicycle.”

This could be interesting. “The way I look at it, I’m away for five days out of seven. Whatever Kim wants to do on the other two is fine by me.

“You’re giving her seven out of seven. That’s how I see it,” Dane said.

“Nah. This is for me. Both of us, I guess. Any way you look at it, two weeks down and eight to go. Have you made any more plans about our vacation at the end of the summer?”

“Veronica will go. I guess I’m kind of waiting for Franklin and Karen to get back and hear their stories,” she said.

“I’d listen to their stories,” I said, taking my empty plate to the sink, “But I’m pretty sure I’m too young.”

“Out,” Mom said and threw her wadded-up napkin at me. “We leave at nine-thirty. Don’t forget ... never mind. You know what to bring to ride.”

I grabbed my Spanish-English dictionary and tried to look up a couple of new words. I found a couple but they spoke so fast, I couldn’t remember them all. I switched to my novel and read about a hundred pages and wanted to go to sleep but I kept thinking about Art and Emilio and their aunt in Mexico. They didn’t just speak a different language. They had a culture and history that were completely foreign to me. I thought I was going to mow some lawns and maybe learn a little Spanish. It was way more than that. Way more.

The next morning, I expected Kim to pick us up but that was silly. Her truck only had room for two. Instead, I joined Mom and Veronica in her car for the short ride to Kim’s house. Dane had some work to catch up on and stayed home.

“Do you know how to ride, Veronica?” I asked.

“I know how to ride a bike. How hard can it be?” she asked using almost exactly the same wording Mom had used the night before. I was ready for some entertainment.

Kim led us to the stables and introduced Mom and Veronica to the horses they’d be riding.

“Mrs. Pierce, this is Mystic. She’s a sweetheart. We’ll be back to you in a minute,” she said to Mystic, patting her cheek. We walked two stalls further. “Miss Veronica, this is Rocket.”

“Rocket? I’m not sure I like the sound of that. Is he fast?”

“He can be but he’s very well trained. You’ll be fine with Rocket.”

Kim walked us down to Ghost and I groomed him while Kim explained what I was doing. It took me fifteen minutes and Kim taught and answered questions. They both had a lot of questions. What I was doing didn’t make it into the movies so it was new to Mom and Veronica.

When I finished, I worked with Veronica on Rocket. Kim was right. He was very smart and easy to work with. Veronica seemed to enjoy getting to know her horse. We went back to Ghost and I put his saddle pad and saddle on, then the bridle. When he was ready to go, we returned to Rocket and did the same. I let her do as much as possible but Veronica didn’t care for the idea of having her hand so close to his mouth so I put his bridle on. Then we walked both of our horses down to Mom.

Kim had worked with Mom to get Mystic ready and Diva was almost ready. Mom and Veronica talked. They were having fun but a bit apprehensive. We walked our horses out to the indoor arena together.

“We’ll use this stool to get on,” Kim said, holding Rocket for Veronica to get on. “You could put a foot in the stirrup and get on that way but this is easier on the horse. Diva doesn’t mind and I’m the only one who rides her but the check-out board says Rocket has been ridden a couple of times this week.”

Veronica stepped up, then climbed into the saddle. Kim checked the belly band and tightened it up some. Mom’s turn. Kim held the Mystic and Mom started to get on. Just as she did, Mystic moved a step. Not a big deal but Mom gave Kim a look. Kim waited and Mom tried again and was on. Kim and I got on our horses quickly and it was time for the riding lesson to begin.

Kim followed the process she used with Franklin and Karen. They both enjoyed walking their horses but when we tried to trot them, Mom got pretty nervous. Veronica, on the other hand, loved it. Kim had them riding around the arena, switching from a walk to a trot and back again. I caught up with Mom and rode beside her for a while without saying anything.

“You do this for fun?” Mom asked.

“You’re not having fun?”

“I’m afraid I’m going to fall.”

“You’re doing fine. Mystic is a gentle horse. Look up. Look where you’re going. Your eyes are on Mystic.”

“This doesn’t bother you?”

“No. Listen, if you’re not having fun, we can stop.”

“I want to. I just don’t know how. I hate to admit it. It’s scary.”

“What’s scary? What is it that’s scary?”

“I’m ten feet up in the air on a thousand-pound animal that can do what it wants.”

We’d been walking our horses together around the arena. Mom was not going to canter her horse, any time soon. Switching to a trot seemed fast, and Mystic did have a fairly fast trot. I looked over to see Kim working with Veronica. “Ask your horse to stop,” I said. She looked at me with a how-do-I-do-that look. “Make sure you don’t have any pressure on her with your legs. Say, ‘whoa’ and gently pull back on the reins. Before you do, turn your hands like this,” I said, showing her how I held mine with the reins between my fingers and my thumbs up.

She adjusted her reins, said ‘whoa’ and began to pull back and Mystic stopped and I stopped Ghost next to her. Mom took a deep breath and looked around. “I feel like I’ve had tunnel vision,” she said.

“Yup. Ask her to back up. Gentle pressure until she backs up four paces and then ease up and let her stand again.” Mom did and when Mystic backed up, Mom grinned at me. “She doesn’t like to do that but she did because you asked her to.”

“Okay. It’s weird, ‘asking’ a horse to do this or that.”

“I get it. You don’t command. You ask for cooperation. Do you know why Kim keeps hammering you two on posture? She did it with me too, by the way.”

“She doesn’t want us to fall off?”

“Well, there’s that,” I said. “But’s also easier for Mystic to balance when your posture is good and predictable. Also, she understands you better if you’re consistent.”

“This is so weird. Cooperating. Not what I expected.”

“More fun this way, though. Let’s walk again. They’re both getting restless.” We both gave our horses a little ‘snick-snick’ and they started walking. “Trot, again,” I asked after we’d walked a lap. “Your horse can trot fast or trot slow. It’s like the difference between jogging and running, sort of.”

“How do I get my horse to trot slowly?”

“Watch Mystic’s head. Keep gentle tension on the reins as you ask her to trot. If she goes too fast, ease back on the reins and say ‘easy’ a couple of times. I think that’s pretty universal.”

Mom nodded and we set off at an easy trot. Ghost was so good. He was ready for more but was helping set the pace. Such a good horse. We worked together for a couple of laps at an easy trot and then let them pick up the pace a bit.

“I think I’m done, Buddy. That was a lot more fun but it takes a lot more concentration than I thought it would.”

I agreed and then led her and Mystic to the stool so she could climb down. When she was on the ground and holding the reins, I rode over to Kim. She led Veronica to the stool and she climbed down, as well. When they were both situated, Kim told me what she wanted to do.

“We’re going to show you the four gaits so you can see what they look like,” she hollered. Then we went from walk to trot and then canter. I eased up so Kim could show what a gallop looked like. I didn’t even try. Outdoors, where there’s plenty of room is one thing but trying to gallop in an indoor arena took a level of proficiency I didn’t have yet. We walked our horses for a couple of laps, letting them cool down, while Kim explained what we’d just done.

“Your mom looked pretty nervous, there, for a while. Is she okay now?” Kim asked as we rode toward the stalls together.

“Yeah. She’s okay. You’re right but I think she’d probably do it again. You never know. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her nervous like that.”

“They’re big animals. Not everybody enjoys it. Mel didn’t. You do.” she said as we met up with the ladies.

We helped them remove their tack and we all groomed our horses a second time. Kim marked our session down on the checkout board. We took a last look around to make sure we’d left it all in good shape, then walked out to the car together.