Wanna Help?

Hal grinned a little as he chewed. "Good. How about tomorrow?" If Sam was going to overlook his issues as graciously as she was, then there was no reason for him to keep hesitating.

"It's Saturday and the weather is supposed to be nice..." He left the invitation lingering as he looked her in the eye, wondering if she really was as game as she said. In a way, even if he did feel like an idiot, he felt relief starting to replace his embarrassment. Sam had seen what most people didn't, and she hadn't shied away, so a friendship with her would most likely be safe. 


Dylan chuckled and nodded his agreement. "You're probably gonna want coffee multiple times throughout the day." He spoke from experience. Taking off his hat, he ran a hand through his hair before putting it back on and sighing. His eyes returned to the colt, watching as he smelled of his mother and watched the audience curiously. It took a little while, but he finally got up the courage to try standing, and after stumbling a bit, he was finally stable enough to stand by Copper, seeming to be quite proud of himself. 

"He's got good straight legs," Sparky mused as he leaned on the doorway. "Broad chest. Gonna be a big boy, I'd say."

"Mm-hmm," Dylan agreed. "Prolly will take after his tall daddy." 

It wasn't much longer that the colt was nursing and Sparky was convinced that all was well, and he opted to head to the house early to get the coffee started. Alone with the horses and Ashlee, Dylan yawned. It would probably be another half hour or so yet before anyone showed up for chores. "Wanna help me in the feed room? Got a couple half-barrels of grain that should be combined so we can take the empties to get filled up." He rubbed his eyes with his palms wearily. "Then we can clean out some water buckets and by then it'll be feeding time."


Hunter just grinned and stayed where he was, watching Ryan and eating his own lunch. He really didn't mind if she had to work through lunch. He didn't have anything better to do at the moment, and of course liked just being with her. He also wouldn't mind a bit if he needed to pick her up tonight, but he would just let her and Eli work it out. 


"Hey. Your sister's texting you." 

Eli looked up just in time to catch his cell phone that Axel had tossed to him. Sitting on the concrete floor of the garage, he read her message and nodded. "Thanks..." 

Axel wandered back to the front of the car and ducked under the hood. He might only have one hand, but he was not going to abandon this particular job. No one else knew where he was today, and it would stay that way until this project was complete. 

Eli leaned back against the car's tire and typed out his reply to Ryan.
Never too busy for you.
Scarlet ditched me for her cousin.
Actually, he was eating an early supper with her, then would be on his own the rest of the evening.
I can take ya to the race. 
See you at home tonight.