The Boyfriend List by Moon Jeannie

Author:Moon, Jeannie [Moon, Jeannie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: InterMix
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

He should be good with his hands.

—#14, Jenna’s Boyfriend List

“The goal with everything that’s been done here was to maintain the original stable building. It was a piece of history no one wanted to let go.”

Jenna brushed Pip, who had been a perfect gentleman during her lesson. “I’m glad. This is an amazing example of the excess of the time period, but it’s stunning, nonetheless. It would have been a crime not to preserve it.”

The main stable was a two-story, all-brick structure, with a slate roof, grand carriage doors, and a huge Palladian window in a gable over the center. There was an apartment on one side of the second floor and a hayloft on the other. It was a U-shaped building with a brick courtyard, a brick aisle, and every amenity a horse or horse owner could imagine. Even though it was built in 1890, it had updated easily.

“My great-grandfather lived in the apartment on the second floor when he started working on the estate.”

She put the brush back in the bucket, and pulled out a hoof pick. “Now what do I have to do with this? It looks dangerous.”

Nate was treating her like every other student and he was really proud of the fact that she’d jumped in with both feet. “Let me show you. It’s tricky the first couple of times.”

He picked Pip’s feet and then led the horse to his turnout. As soon as he was off his leadline, Pip trotted off into the pasture.

“So, do I get to meet Roger?” she asked, remembering what he’d told her about his old horse.

Nate grinned, grabbed her hand, and walked her to the next paddock. Once he gave Jenna a kiss for good measure, he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The horses, who were across the paddock, all lifted their heads from grazing and trotted toward the fence.

“They come when they’re called?” she asked. “Like dogs?”

“Some do.” Roger could be intimidating. He was a huge horse at almost eighteen hands and 1,300 pounds, but for all his bulk he was nothing more than a puppy. Nate reached into the pocket of his jeans and put a treat on the flat of his hand. Roger gobbled it up and nudged him for another. He fed treats to the two mares in the adjacent paddock before giving Roger anything else. Then he offered a carrot to Jenna.

“You want to give it to him?”

She looked stricken. “Me?”

“Sure. Open your hand like this.” Nate broke the carrot and then showed her the proper way to offer it, with the fingers straight and palm up. Jenna followed his lead, and when he put the carrot in the palm of her hand, Jenna slowly moved it toward the snorting horse.

“His teeth are pretty big,” she said nervously. “He doesn’t bite, does he?”

He shook his head. “He’s not a biter . . . usually.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Usually.” She turned her head at the same moment Roger took the carrot. It startled her and Nate laughed as she took a step away from the fence.

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