A Churn for the Worse by Laura Bradford

Author:Laura Bradford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-01-17T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

The guests were all there when Claire finally finished with the week’s books and wandered into the parlor, their lighthearted voices and occasional bursts of laughter proving to be just the tonic she needed.

“If I’d known you were all having so much fun in here, I would have abandoned my calculator and pencil an hour ago.” Claire instinctively lifted the half-empty tray of cookies from the table just inside the doorway and made the rounds of the guests. Jeremy, of course, took another, as did Hank and Bill.

“Then you’d be up until the wee hours of the night trying to finish what is now done.” Diane leaned around her laptop computer and patted the bottom section of her lounge chair. “Put the tray down, dear, and come sit. You really need to see the photographs Hayley has been taking this past week. They’re simply breathtaking.”

“Let’s not inflate her ego any more than necessary,” Jeremy joked. “Hayley got lucky is all.”

Diane peered at Jeremy across the top of her reading glasses, tsking playfully beneath her breath. “Now, Jeremy, is that any way to talk to your partner? Especially since it’s you who handed the flash drive to me when I inquired about Hayley’s work?” Then, without waiting for his answering banter, the woman hit play on the slideshow and handed the laptop to Claire. “Look at these. The one of the black horse through the branches of the tree is my favorite.”

“You should see your face right now, Diane, it’s glowing.” Bill smiled at Claire’s aunt from his seat beside the hearth. “Horses really do make you happy, don’t they?”

“They’re beautiful creatures.” Diane looked from the pictures fading in and out on the screen in front of Claire to the photographer who’d captured the images. “Hayley, I have to imagine you feel the same way based on these photographs. I mean, there’s almost a tangible reverence here.”

Clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention, Hayley cleared her throat and volleyed the subject back to Diane. “Have you ever thought about purchasing a horse of your own? Your grounds are certainly large enough to accommodate one.”

“I did. For a while. But if I purchased a horse, I would want to give it more time and attention than running this inn would allow me to do. So, instead, I enjoy seeing them pull buggies past my driveway, I enjoy seeing them in the fields of my Amish friends, and I enjoy visiting with each and every new horse that comes in for sale at the Weaver farm when my schedule allows.”

Claire looked up from a photograph of a chocolate brown–colored horse beside a pile of colored leaves and studied her aunt. “You go to the Weaver farm? I didn’t know that.”

“I don’t do it all the time, dear. But I do it as often as I can. I love looking at them between worlds.”

Hank lowered his pen to his notebook long enough to address Diane. “Between worlds?”

“Most of the horses that Mervin Weaver buys at auction are retired racehorses.

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