Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 10

over mine. "Goodnight, Bryn."
    "Goodnight." I watched him walk out of the kitchen and waited until the rusty creak of floorboards from above ceased, telling me he'd gone to bed.
    ****
    "What's that man doing out there in the corral?" Mrs. Douglas peered through the dining room window.
    I set her breakfast on the table. "He's breaking in a horse."
    "It looks pretty brutal."
    "He's usually very patient with them."
    I glanced past her. Puffs of dust rose and caught in the late summer sunlight, kicked up by a small bay horse. Will hung onto a long rope while the horse sat on its haunches, ears pinned back. It was a scrappy little thing.
    "It looks like this one is putting up quite a fight." Mr. Douglas observed "Looks like a mustang."
    "It probably is." I turned away, not wanting to see any more. I hated it when it all boiled down to a battle.
    After breakfast I returned to the kitchen and helped myself to a coffee while I stared at the stack of washing up beside the sink. Two weeks into the new venture and word was already getting around that the Blue Forks Ranch Bed and Breakfast was worth a visit. The book was filling up well into the fall and would keep me busy before we closed at Thanksgiving, until the New Year.
    "Penny for them." Will wandered into the kitchen and headed for the coffee.
    "I was just summoning the energy to wash the pots."
    He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and sat down. He smelt of horses and dust. "Why don't you ask Luz to do it?"
    "I could, but I can't stand looking at a dirty kitchen and she has half a dozen rooms to do when she gets here."
    "Fair point." He added sugar to his coffee and leaned back in his chair. "Let me finish this coffee and I'll give you a hand."
    "You don't have to." It was our way of 'taking things easy', doing little things together like the dirty dishes, or cooking dinner.
    "It's all right. I want to. If I go back out there too soon I may kill that horse."
    "I saw you were having some trouble."
    "Damn mustang." He set his mug down on the table and ran his hands through his hair. "It's a stubborn one."
    "Can you blame it?"
    "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
    "It's hardly what it's used to, is it? It spends its life running free and then one day, it's not."
    Will pressed his lips together in a thin, tight line. "I never had you pegged as one of those people who think a free mustang is a happy one."
    "It's got to be a traumatic experience."
    He let loose a gusty sigh. "At least he has a chance of surviving in captivity. It's not all running free under the stars. It's a hard fucking life. If I hadn't bought him from the BLM auction, he'd be dog food by now."
    "I suppose so."
    "Better get those dishes done." He scraped his chair across the floor and headed for the sink. "You drying?"
    I picked up a towel.
    Will ran the water and watched the bubbles rise. A muscle twitched in his cheek. "You have to understand, not every creature thrives on freedom. Sometimes, you need to feel secure and settled. Sometimes you need to put down roots." He tossed the silverware into the water. "At least it'll never know hunger or be hunted. It'll always have shelter, water and care."
    I looked at him, at the stiffness in his shoulders. "Point taken."
    Will turned his attention to the plates. I stared out the window at the brilliant autumn sunshine and listened to the rattle of china.
    We washed up in silence. Not the companionable silence of the previous few weeks, this was a silence steeped in unspoken words. I thought about the fact that I'd been there for three months and that if it wasn't for the bed and breakfast being booked clear up to Thanksgiving, I'd throw my stuff in my car and move on.
    Will pulled the plug. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have got so snappy. I guess I'm just tired." He wiped a damp, soapy hand across his forehead.
    "I think we both are." I tried not to think about the full house that night, another busy dining room in the morning.
    "Roll on Thanksgiving, huh?" He offered me a smile.
    "Yeah." I smiled back, relieved those few awkward moments had passed. The house slipped another tether around me. I looked at Will and that tether tightened just a little.
    His fingers threaded through mine. "Are you happy here, Bryn?"
    "So far, so good."
    "Can I treat you to dinner tonight? I'll make something nice for the both of us."
    "I'd like that."
    He smiled again. "Good. Leave it to me. I'm going to surprise you."
    "Will I like it?"
    "I hope so." He brushed his lips briefly