Taylor and Rory spent most of the afternoon out
riding. When they finally came back, it was getting dark.
Rory showed Taylor how to remove Crackerjack’s saddle. Then they proceeded to sponge the animals off and comb them.
“This is like a reward for them,” Rory explained.
Taylor and Rory put the bridles the horses had been wearing earlier in the day back on them. They led them back to the barn and put them in the stalls that were marked with their names.
Taylor patted Crackerjack affectionately. “See you later, buddy,” he said.
Rory shut Aphrodite’s stall door and smiled. “There’s nothing quite like a man bonding with a horse,” she said.
Taylor and Rory walked slowly back up to the house. The lighted windows made it look warm and inviting. Taylor noticed a mini van, two cars and a truck were in the driveway that hadn’t been there earlier.
“Would you like to have dinner with us?” Rory asked.
Taylor looked at her sideways. “Isn’t that like, a family thing you guys do?” he asked. “Wouldn’t I be imposing?”
Rory smiled. “My mom loves to have guests,” she said. “And there are so many of us here, one more will be no big deal at all.”
Taylor smiled. “If you’re sure,” he said. “That would be great.”
Taylor and Rory entered the house. Taylor could hear the voices of children as soon as he was inside.
“Do your brothers have kids?” he asked.
Rory smiled. “Yeah,” she said. “Mark and his wife, Kori, have three girls,” she said. “Six-year-old twins named Maggie and Melody, and the baby’s name is Saren. She’s like, um, four months, I think. Patrick’s wife’s name is Penny, and they have a two-year-old son named Colin. He’s hell on wheels.”
Taylor smiled. “A house full,” he said. “I’m used to that.”
Taylor and Rory took their boots off in the hallway. Taylor then followed Rory into the bright kitchen, where Rory’s mother and her daughters-in-law were finishing dinner preparations.
“Rory!” her mother said. “How are you, sweetie? We missed you this week. You didn’t come out.”
Rory gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek. “It was a real busy week, Mom.”
Rory’s mother gave Taylor a warm smile. “Who’s your friend?”
“Taylor, this is my mom, Rae Benham,” Rory said. “And these are my brother’s wives, Kori and Penny.”
Taylor was amazed by how much Rory looked like her mother. They were virtual carbon copies of one another. Taylor chuckled to himself. Any man who was interested in Rory needed only to look at her mother to know what she would look like in 30 years. And it wasn’t bad, Taylor thought. Rae Benham was a very attractive woman.
Kori was slight and blonde. She was much shorter than Rory, and had big blue eyes. She almost reminded Taylor of Maeve, but her hair was much longer.
Penny was striking. She was quite tall, with a tangle of black curls that fell below her shoulders. Her green eyes were piercing.
“How do you two know each other?” Kori asked.
“Work,” Taylor replied. “Mrs. Benham, I hope it’s alright that I’m staying.”
Rae waved her hand absently. “Don’t think another thing about it,” she said. “The more, the merrier.”
Dinner at the Benham house was almost as much of a free-for-all as it was at the Hanson house. The children were up, down and around, and the adults chattered on about everything and anything.
It was a typical farmhand-type meal … roast beef, mountains of mashed potatoes, four different kinds of vegetables so that there would be one everybody liked, and baking powder biscuits. Taylor had never seen so much food in his entire life.
Rory’s father and brothers were all large, but gentle, men. They all had reddish-blonde hair and brown eyes, just like Rory. They were quiet, smiling and respectful of the women.
Taylor smiled. It was no wonder Rory has chosen to go into social work … she had obviously come from a very nurturing home.
After dinner, Rory and Taylor tried to help clean up, but Rae wouldn’t hear of it.
“Taylor is your guest,” she told Rory. “You go on and take care of him.”
Rory looked at Taylor. “You want to go for a walk?” she asked.
Taylor smiled. “Sure.”
Rory and Taylor walked all over the farm grounds in the half-light of the full Tulsa moon. She showed Taylor all her special places from when she was small, including where she and her kindergarten “boyfriend” had carved their initials in a big oak tree.
“Do you like to look at the stars?” Rory asked.
Taylor nodded. “Sure,” he said. “You know a place that’s good for that?”
Rory smiled and motioned for Taylor to follow her. “Come on.”
Rory led Taylor into the big red barn. She scurried up a ladder into a hayloft, and Taylor followed her.
Rory opened the big door of the hayloft, which opened up to the ebony sky awash with twinkling stars. She sat on the edge of the loft and dangled her legs out the loft door. Taylor followed suit.
“Do you ever think about how endless the sky is?” Rory asked dreamily, looking heavenward.
Taylor smiled. “Not really,” he said. “All I know is that it’s too big a thing for me to comprehend.” He paused and looked at Rory in the white moonlight. “That’s a pretty impractical thing for you to say.”
Rory grinned and looked at her lap. “I have a dreamy side too, Taylor,” she said. “I’m not completely serious all the time.”
“It’s great here,” Taylor said. “I mean, I had a great childhood too … I can’t even think of one thing in it that I could blame for what’s happened to me. But this … this must have been a great place to be a kid.”
Rory gave Taylor a look. “How are you, Taylor? I mean really.”
Taylor sighed and looked out into the sky. “It’s hard,” he admitted. “Somehow, it was easier when I wanted to use all the time. Now, when it’s sporadic, it seems like it blindsides me. I never know when it’s coming, you know? I can be fine one second, and the next I’m shaking so bad I can hardly stand up. I can’t believe I’ve done this to my body.”
Rory smiled slowly at Taylor. “You’re really doing great,” she said. “I mean, I’ve only known you for a few days, but just seeing the way you’re interacting with the residents and hearing the determination you have to kick this … I truly admire you. I really, really think you’re going to make it.”
Taylor bit his lip and caught Rory’s gaze. He leaned over quickly and kissed her lightly on the lips.
Rory cocked her head. “What was that for?”
Taylor smiled. “For today,” he said. “And last night. You said it yourself … we barely know each other. You’ve really gone out of your way to help me, and I appreciate it. I really, really do.”
Rory smiled shyly. “Could it be, Taylor? Are we actually becoming friends?”
Taylor put his arm around Rory’s shoulders. She laid her cap-clad head against his chest. “Let’s not analyze too much,” Taylor said. “Let’s just take it as it comes. Sometimes it’s best to just let things happen.”
Rory lifted her head from Taylor’s chest. “Are you in a big rush to get home?” she asked.
Taylor shrugged. “Not really,” he said. “Why?”
Rory smiled. “You up for another new adventure?”
Taylor raised his eyebrows. “Like what?”
Rory rose and held her hand out to Taylor. He took it and stood up beside her. “It’s a surprise,” she said ominously. “Let’s go.”
