Mad About Maddie by Sherri Thomas

Author:Sherri Thomas [Thomas, Sherri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Published: 2011-12-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The sun rolled into a scorcher during the afternoon hours, and Jake used his pent up energy to unload the bales of hay. It proved to be a hot sweaty job. He picked up the last bale, tossed it on top of the stack, and reined in his emotions. He’d been preoccupied, thinking of a black-haired angel with the venom of a rattler, when he’d knocked over twenty of the two hundred bundles of feed like a dang greenhorn. He’d just stacked the sacks this morning after the Feed and Seed store delivered them and had to do most of it all over again.

“Damn, stubborn woman.”

“You say something?” Dex hollered as he entered the barn.

Jake snarled and retrieved his tools before going on to his next task of shoeing his quarter horse. “You think it’s a good idea to let Maddie work with the stallions?”

“She did a fine job with Tike and Champ, but Leo is pretty high strung.”

“Yeah, and she’s small. How’s she supposed to control him, any of them?” Jake shook the file in his boss’s face.

“Don’t let her hear you.” Dex chuckled, leaning on a support beam. “What’s this about? I’ve seen her with the horses, she’s good. Besides, weren't you the one who rode out with her and Champ?”

“Yeah, but this thing with Sonny…” he shook his head. “She should’ve been prepared to handle any situation, and she wasn’t.” With great care, he bent over his horse's hoof and began to file away the excess dirt.

“We all mess up once or twice. It’s called being human. Now, I agreed with you, she should let up for a couple of days, but I can't go any further,” Dex replied.

“Fine. Next time, you play paramedic.” He grunted, put the right front hoof down, and patted Taz's shoulder.

Dex sighed and shook his head. He rested his arm on the stall door. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “That bad, huh?”

“No.”

Dex sized him up. “Who put the burr under your saddle?”

“No one. Forget it.” Jake's mouth formed a tight line.

Dex's mouth twitched before it broke out into a full-blown grin.

“Glad you think this is amusin’.” Jake glared at him over his horse’s back.

Dex thumped the wood with his thumb, let go of the frame, and backed up. “Never thought I would see the day Jake Dutson fell head over heels.”

“And you still haven’t.”

Dex nodded with a smirk. “After you finish up here, go home. The rest can wait ’til morning. Oh, and one other thing.” His smile widened. “Get a grip on your feelings before you start costing me money.” He nodded toward the feed and walked away.

“Nothing to get a grip on,” Jake's chin jutted out in his own defense.

“Then we're in trouble.” Dex whistled and strutted out of the barn.

Jake's jaw dropped as his friend's departing shadow disappeared across the barn. “Accidents do happen, ya know,” he called after his boss.

“Keep that in mind next time you talk to Maddie,” Dex hollered back, exiting the barn.

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