up weddings and spray intruders with pepper spray,” he said, his grin cocky and smug now, like he knew her. “Yeah, I know. Hard to miss. I can take care of it. I’ve been taking care of it long before you decided to show up,” he said, moving his hands out, holding the rake beyond her reach. “He doesn’t belong to you anyway,” he said.
“Screw you. He’s on my property, so that makes him more mine than he is yours, so you can leave him with me and it would be nice if you left, too.”
“You know what you’re doing?” he asked, that smug smile still on his face.
“Yep, just like with my mace,” she said, reaching for her rake.
“No problem,” he said, dropping the rake into the wheelbarrow before he pushed it toward her feet. “He takes two buckets of water each day, in case you’re wondering. The same at night. Give him some feed. Purina Senior. Jack kept that in the cabinet in the tack room. He eats about six pounds per day, so divide it into two feedings—one in the morning and the other at night,“ he said.
“I know how to take care of a horse,” she said.
He continued talking. “I’ve been giving him extra hay, to help him put on some weight. The hay is in the hay shed. You’ll need to buy more. You’re running out,” he said as he casually made his way to the door, looking back at her once more. “Good luck,” he said, before closing it behind him.
Rafael walked over to his truck. He wasn’t surprised by much anymore, but he hadn’t meant for his disapproval to show, his abhorrence for people who didn’t appreciate or take care of what they had. Not after he had to work so hard for his. Yes, he recognized her from the YouTube video, and despite her prettiness and nice body, she and her family were still terrible stewards of their land. Throw in her pepper spraying him the night before—yeah, he was still a little pissed about that—no good deed goes unpunished coming back to haunt him. All he was trying to do was check out the house. The knot on his head ached.
He hadn’t meant to be callous or mean to her. It wasn’t his normal behavior by any stretch. He was usually an agreeable, helpful guy. He just didn’t mince words or try to sugarcoat things. It took too much time and effort to lie. Honest and direct were his two favorite means of communication, and they had served him well. There was less room for things to get twisted.
Besides, what had he said that hadn’t been true? Her family
was
awful stewards of the land. Miss Big City—desperate enough for a man to break up a wedding—didn’t look up to the challenge of changing her family’s record of land ownership. And that was a shame, because they owned one of the most valuable pieces of property in the county. It was too bad it was wasted on people who apparently didn’t give a shit.
Five years ago, when he’d been searching for property to own, he and his young self had actually considered making her family an offer. He laughed now at his naïve and lunatic thinking. It had been so far out of his price range.
He’d found the place next door. Of course it was smaller, but he was working to make it into something to be proud of. He turned out onto the street heading home. So yes, he could, okay, should have been nicer—she might not have known. He could have given her the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, well.
#
Okay, so her neighbor Rafael was gorgeous on the outside, but the inside pretty much sucked. Good to know. What ever happened to pretty is as pretty does? It had been her great grandmother’s favorite expression, meted out daily to Carter, during a time when things like that made sense. She heard him leave, watched his truck pull away.
“Guess we better get you set for the day,” she said to the horse. She was tired already and she hadn’t even gotten started. There was still the hoarder’s house to clean, minus the cleaning crew that was always available on TV to help, and now she had a horse that
“Screw you. He’s on my property, so that makes him more mine than he is yours, so you can leave him with me and it would be nice if you left, too.”
“You know what you’re doing?” he asked, that smug smile still on his face.
“Yep, just like with my mace,” she said, reaching for her rake.
“No problem,” he said, dropping the rake into the wheelbarrow before he pushed it toward her feet. “He takes two buckets of water each day, in case you’re wondering. The same at night. Give him some feed. Purina Senior. Jack kept that in the cabinet in the tack room. He eats about six pounds per day, so divide it into two feedings—one in the morning and the other at night,“ he said.
“I know how to take care of a horse,” she said.
He continued talking. “I’ve been giving him extra hay, to help him put on some weight. The hay is in the hay shed. You’ll need to buy more. You’re running out,” he said as he casually made his way to the door, looking back at her once more. “Good luck,” he said, before closing it behind him.
Rafael walked over to his truck. He wasn’t surprised by much anymore, but he hadn’t meant for his disapproval to show, his abhorrence for people who didn’t appreciate or take care of what they had. Not after he had to work so hard for his. Yes, he recognized her from the YouTube video, and despite her prettiness and nice body, she and her family were still terrible stewards of their land. Throw in her pepper spraying him the night before—yeah, he was still a little pissed about that—no good deed goes unpunished coming back to haunt him. All he was trying to do was check out the house. The knot on his head ached.
He hadn’t meant to be callous or mean to her. It wasn’t his normal behavior by any stretch. He was usually an agreeable, helpful guy. He just didn’t mince words or try to sugarcoat things. It took too much time and effort to lie. Honest and direct were his two favorite means of communication, and they had served him well. There was less room for things to get twisted.
Besides, what had he said that hadn’t been true? Her family
was
awful stewards of the land. Miss Big City—desperate enough for a man to break up a wedding—didn’t look up to the challenge of changing her family’s record of land ownership. And that was a shame, because they owned one of the most valuable pieces of property in the county. It was too bad it was wasted on people who apparently didn’t give a shit.
Five years ago, when he’d been searching for property to own, he and his young self had actually considered making her family an offer. He laughed now at his naïve and lunatic thinking. It had been so far out of his price range.
He’d found the place next door. Of course it was smaller, but he was working to make it into something to be proud of. He turned out onto the street heading home. So yes, he could, okay, should have been nicer—she might not have known. He could have given her the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, well.
#
Okay, so her neighbor Rafael was gorgeous on the outside, but the inside pretty much sucked. Good to know. What ever happened to pretty is as pretty does? It had been her great grandmother’s favorite expression, meted out daily to Carter, during a time when things like that made sense. She heard him leave, watched his truck pull away.
“Guess we better get you set for the day,” she said to the horse. She was tired already and she hadn’t even gotten started. There was still the hoarder’s house to clean, minus the cleaning crew that was always available on TV to help, and now she had a horse that
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