New Hoofprints in the Snow, page 7
“Chica, they say it will begin to snow shortly.” Abuela Sylvia’s tone said there was no arguing.
“Can I wear my ski jacket?” Maia moved toward the hall closet, not wanting to look fancier than Billy, plus the dress coat only looked good if she had on heels. It was too long otherwise.
Abuela Sylvia pursed her lips and looked at Billy, in his letterman jacket, standing there with his baseball hat in his hands, looking nervous. “I suppose.” She followed Maia to the closet and hung up the fancy coat as Maia snagged her ski jacket. “Chica”—she dropped her voice to barely a whisper—“you be careful with him. You have cab money and your phone. Just in case he does something you don’t like.”
Her concern made Maia chuckle. She might not be looking forward to their date, but she wasn’t worried about Billy doing anything she wasn’t comfortable with. If he did, Tess would have it all over Falcon High School in a matter of hours, and he’d never date again. “I’ll be fine.” Maia patted the older woman’s arm.
“He’s a boy.”
“I trust him.” Maia slipped into her more comfortable ski jacket.
Abuela Sylvia thrust a pair of gloves that matched her jacket into Maia’s hands. “Take these. Stay warm.” She glared at Billy. “Have her home by ten thirty. If she’s not home by the time her mother gets here, we come looking for you.”
Maia rolled her eyes and kissed her abuela’s cheek. “Abuela Sylvia….”
Abuela Sylvia kissed her back. “I mean it. Now you two go have fun.”
“I promise to have her back in time, Mrs. Perez.” Billy opened the door for Maia.
He didn’t say anything else until they were in his beat-up Nissan Frontier pickup.
“Well, she’s kinda intimidating,” he said as he pulled the truck away from the curb.
“Mi abuela?” Maia chuckled. “She can be. She’s a bit old school. Doesn’t trust boys taking girls out.”
“Oh. I’ve gotten worse from some fathers from time to time, but they didn’t seem to mean it like your grandmother does.”
“And she does. If we’re not home by eleven o’clock, she’ll have Ramon tracking my cell phone.”
Billy stopped for the stop sign at the end of the block. “Damn, that’s intense. She knows about cell phone tracking?”
“Saw it on CSI a few years ago. I heard her talking to Ramon about it earlier. Wanted to make sure he knew how to do it.” She giggled when she recalled Ramon trying to get her to intervene on his behalf, but neither one of them had been able to shake Abuela Sylvia from the idea lodged in her head.
Billy turned toward the interstate. “Okay, so we better eat quickly and get to the movie. If we make the 7:30 showing, it’ll be over by 9:45. I’ll have time to get you home, then.”
“Yeah, that’s a good plan.” Maia relaxed in the seat as they drove.
“So far, I think this sidewalking thing is fairly easy,” Billy said as they turned north on the interstate. “Cassie asked me the other day if I’d be willing to do it for other people than just Ramon.”
“What did you tell her?” Maia hoped they could spend most of the night talking about the center. It was safe common ground that she could enjoy discussing.
“I said sure. She said something about trying to get me on as a ranch hand, or even an intern, and then she could give me a little bit of cash for helping. If I’m just a volunteer, she can’t pay me. It sounds like there’s already a list of folks wanting to come out and take therapy.” He reached over and put his hand on her leg. “Thanks for thinking about me for this. It’s really cool. Dad thinks it might be the start of a medical career.”
She forced the lump down that welled up in her throat at his touch. She remembered her words to her abuela that Billy wouldn’t do anything to her she wasn’t comfortable with. Somehow, she hadn’t expected a casual hand on her leg to feel so awkward. It felt too heavy and confining. But he wasn’t squeezing her leg or moving his hand at all. With a deep breath, she told herself it would be okay, and after a second, he moved his hand back to the steering wheel.
“I’m just glad that you said you’d help,” she said as he removed his hand and she found her breath again. “It means a lot to Ramon.”
“Yeah, Ramon’s a good guy. It’s a real bitch that he hurt himself like that, but I guess that’s part of the game. You put on the pads and helmet and do what you can. Sometimes you get hurt.” He looked over at her. “I hope it means something to you too.”
She swallowed, trying to figure out how to answer him and sound honest, but not heartless. “It does. It shows me that you’re a real friend. Ramon and I need friends right now.”
Billy looked back at the highway in front of them as he drove toward the Lake Avenue exit. “I know Tess and Emma are real friends. Emma goes on about you all the time.”
“She does?” Somehow knowing Emma talked to Billy about her made Maia feel good.
“Yeah. She really likes you. But I also think she gets lonely out there all the time. I mean, she’s homeschooled, but I don’t think she has a lot of friends out there.” He shrugged as they stopped at a traffic signal. “But then she’s helping Cassie constantly. Maybe she doesn’t have time for a lot of friends.”
But she has time for me. “That could be. I know we text at night after we get done with our homework and chores. She hasn’t mentioned doing things with other friends.”
“You know, maybe we should all go do something soon. We could get Tess and take Ramon too. I bet he needs to get out for more than just school and riding.”
The idea of getting Ramon out without her folks brightened Maia. “That would be great. If we can talk Ramon into it.”
“Hey, leave that to me.” Billy pulled into the Red Robin parking lot. “I’ll talk him into it.” A wide grin crossed his handsome face. “So, if I can talk him into going out with all of us, will you go out with me again?”
“Let’s see how tonight goes first, okay?” Maia hoped it didn’t sound like a brush-off. If it helped make Ramon happy, she’d go out with Billy again, providing this evening went smoothly.
“Okay. I guess it’s kinda rude to ask for a second date before the first one’s even really started.” Billy turned off the truck and grinned. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“I guess not.” Maia undid her seat belt and opened the truck door. A few stray snowflakes drifted down toward her as her feet hit the asphalt.
Billy grinned as he walked around to the front of the truck. “Good. I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot.”
“You’re not.” As they walked into the restaurant, Maia wanted to change the subject. “So have you been back out to the center the past couple of days?”
“Yeah.” Billy held the inside door open for her.
“How do you think Georgia’s looking?”
“Georgia?” Billy held up two fingers to the greeter, who whisked them off toward a table.
“The paint mare we rescued.” Maia had to raise her voice to be heard over the din of the crowd.
“Oh.” Billy pulled off his jacket and hung it over his chair. “Still skinny.”
Maia copied his move with her ski jacket. “I think that’s to be expected. Emma says with each day that goes by, her chances of making it go up.”
“That’s good.”
They paused and placed their orders. With the talk turning back to the center, Maia felt more at ease. She didn’t know why talking to Billy about dating made her nervous, but talking about the horses seemed almost as natural as talking to Emma. Then she realized that she and Emma had gotten to the point they could talk about anything, but they’d never talked about boys, and only occasionally about other friends, but most of Emma’s seemed to be in the past, not the present. She didn’t think Emma was sad or lonely, but it made her wonder.
BY THE time Billy pulled up in front of Abuela Sylvia’s house, enough snow had fallen to cover the lawns, but luckily, the streets weren’t freezing up.
Billy turned off the truck and smiled at Maia. “I had fun. Thank you for going out with me.”
She offered him a soft, heartfelt smile. “Me too. It was good to get out and do something different. Sorry I went on all night about horses.”
He shrugged. “No problem. I like them too.”
“Yeah. That’s a good thing.”
“So, what about it?”
She tried to think about what he was asking. “About what?”
“The second date? Did I behave myself well enough?” He grinned.
“You did.” She pursed her lips. Since he’d brought it up earlier, she’d been dreading his question but had forgotten about it in all their talk about horses and the center. “Tell you what, if you can talk Ramon into going out with all of us, then I’ll go out with you for a second date.”
Billy’s grin widened. “Cool. I’ll start to work on him tomorrow when we go out to the center for his therapy. I might tell him if he doesn’t go with all of us, I’ll let him fall off Selena.”
Maia punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t you dare do that. He could get hurt, or worse, Selena could get hurt.”
He rubbed his shoulder, laughing. “I wouldn’t do that. Ramon’s my friend.”
“Good.” She reached for the door handle as the porch light came on, letting her know that someone inside was watching them.
“Wait.” He touched her leg again. It still felt awkward and strange to her.
“What?” She tried not to sound impatient.
“Do I get a good-night kiss?” He leaned slightly toward her.
She didn’t want to disappoint him and possibly ruin things for Ramon. With a heavy sigh, she leaned into him and gave his lips the briefest brush of hers. Even that little bit didn’t feel right. It felt rough and dry, much like his hand on her leg. “See you tomorrow.”
A confused look was on his face as he straightened. “Yeah, tomorrow. Hey, do you want me to walk you to the door?”
She started to say no but thought of Ramon. “Sure. It’ll make a good impression on mi abuela.” She waited for him to come around and open her door, then got out of the truck, and they started up the walk.
When they reached the door, they exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then she slipped into the house. As soon as the door closed, her family closed in around her with tons of questions. She answered them all, assuring her father, mother, and Abuela Sylvia that she’d had a good time and Billy had been a perfect gentleman. Then she scurried upstairs to text Emma, hoping it wasn’t too late for them to talk for a while.
12
EMMA WAS excited. She tied Georgia to a tie ring in the barn and began to curry her, taking extra special care since she was so thin. The vet had been out earlier to check on Georgia again. It had been a week and a half since they had rescued her, but today they received the biggest news of all, and Emma couldn’t wait to share it with Maia.
Emma still daydreamed about their hug and the kiss she gave the top of Maia’s head when they rescued Georgia. Emma hoped Maia thought about it as well.
Maia had rushed home after her date with Billy to text Emma and tell her about it. Emma couldn’t help but grin, and she let out a soft laugh when thinking about how uncomfortable Maia had been with Billy. He had been a gentleman, according to Maia’s texts, but there was just something about it that felt wrong. But it was when Maia said she would rather have been with Emma that Emma’s heart nearly burst. She managed to refrain from telling Maia how she felt, but inside, she was shouting for joy.
Usually their conversations consisted of talking about Selena, Carl, and the center. More recently, they talked about Georgia and her rescue, Maia still up in arms that someone would treat a horse the way Georgia had been treated. Their conversation about Billy was the closest Emma had come to telling Maia the truth about how she felt.
This would be the first day they saw each other after that conversation.
Georgia nickered at Emma softly and Emma laughed. “What are you doing, you silly horse? Do you want a cookie?” Emma’s pockets were usually full of horse cookies, treats to give to whatever horse she was working with. She slid a treat out of her pocket and held it out to Georgia who gently took the cookie and began to chew. Georgia had the most delicate mouth—she was very gentle when it came to taking cookies and treats—but they hadn’t tried putting a bit in yet to see how that went.
“I bet you can’t wait ’til Maia’s here either. I can’t wait to tell her our news—”
“What news?” Maia asked as she walked into the barn. Emma looked over at her with a big smile on her face.
“Georgia’s pregnant,” Emma said, the smile never leaving her face.
“What?” Maia said incredulously.
“She is! The vet left earlier, and she’s positive she’s in foal. We’re going to have a baby!”
“Oh my God!” Maia took a hold of Emma’s hands, and they danced happily around in a circle.
Emma stopped the dance but didn’t let go of Maia’s hands. “And…” She paused for dramatic effect.
“What? What?”
“She thinks she’s going to have the foal in the next couple of months.” Emma didn’t want to add that, with the shape Georgia was in, foaling would be hard on both her and the baby. The vet said the baby was going to be small, no matter what they did. Georgia just didn’t have the body mass for a brood mare.
“That soon?”
“That soon. We’ll be turning Georgia out of quarantine and putting her in with the others in a few days, and I’ll have to get the birthing stall ready for her. When she starts to show it’s time, we’ll put her in the birthing stall. Most mares tend to wander off to have their babies, and we don’t want Georgia to do that.”
“Why?”
“Horses have to be quick about giving birth. Because of the trauma Georgia’s been through, we want to make sure everything goes well at that time. We’ll put up a security camera in the stall so we can watch her, and at the first signs she’s going to give birth, Mom and I will call the vet, then come out and watch,” Emma said. “Mom’s assisted at a birth before. I haven’t, so this will be my first!”
“That’s fantastic, Emma!” Maia exclaimed. She leaned forward slightly as though she were going to kiss Emma on the cheek.
Emma smiled happily and intercepted Maia’s kiss with her lips. Lips brushed against lips, and Emma pulled Maia close to her, hands on her waist, kissing her softly.
Emma was the one to break off the kiss, a sudden fear of having pushed Maia too far entering into her mind. “I’m… uh, I’m sorry…,” Emma started, her face growing hot.
“Don’t be,” Maia said, her arms still around Emma’s neck. “I liked that. Your hands feel so much better than Billy’s hand on my leg.”
Emma laughed, a small hitch in her voice. “I hope so. I’ve wanted to… I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”
“I think me too actually,” Maia said, pulling her back. “Let’s do it again.”
Maia’s lips, this time, sought out Emma’s as Maia pulled her close, their tongues probing each other’s mouths carefully as if exploring some dangerous yet exciting new world. Emma felt her panties dampen and she broke off the kiss again.
“I think we need to talk about something else now,” Emma said as she squeezed Maia’s hands. “Let’s go and sit down in the back of the barn and talk.”
EMMA THREW a horse blanket down on the pile of hay and pulled Maia down on it with her. Emma’s heart was racing—she’d only had this talk once before, with Diane. But the roles had been reversed. Emma pushed thoughts of Diane away—she looked at Maia and smiled happily, brushing a piece of Maia’s hair behind her ear gently.
“Maia, you might have figured it out by now, but I wanted to come straight out and tell you. I’m gay.”
“Gay… you mean, homosexual?” Maia asked.
“Yeah. I’m attracted to girls, not guys,” Emma said, her heart beating hard in her chest.
Maia got quiet for a second. “So, you go out with….”
“Yes, girls,” Emma said with a small laugh. “I don’t have a girlfriend now, though. I’ve only ever had one.”
“What was her name?”
“Diane Hall. She—” Emma stopped herself, feeling all the old emotions beginning to rise to the surface. Maia didn’t need to be burdened with all of that. She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to talk about it, honestly. Maybe one day.”
“Okay, I’m sorry for asking—” Maia started.
“No,” Emma said as she placed her index finger against Maia’s soft lips. “Don’t be sorry. Don’t ever be sorry for anything you say or do around me.” She sighed deeply. Maia’s hair fell into her face again, and Emma brushed it back behind her ear a second time. “What I’m trying… what I’m trying to say, Maia, is….”
Maia tossed her hair back, and that same piece of hair Emma kept putting behind her ear fell forward again. “Just tell me.”
“I… I like you. I like you a lot.” A huge pit in Emma’s stomach opened, and she felt vulnerable, more vulnerable than she’d ever been.
“I like you a lot too, Emma,” Maia said, looking at her.
“Yeah, but… well… the question is—do you like me… the same way I like you?” Emma breathed a sigh of relief, but her stomach was jittery, nervous. What if she says no?
13
MAIA GRIPPED the steering wheel of the new van as she drove Ramon toward the theater where they would meet up with Emma, Tess, and Billy. They’d decided to go to a movie, figuring it was something that would be easy for Ramon to do. His spirits had been up recently, and with the attitude he’d developed since his accident, she was surprised how easy it had been to talk him into going. It had actually been easier to talk him into going than it had been for her to force herself to go. The idea of going somewhere other than the center with both Billy and Emma scared her.
Since her last trip out to the center, Maia had been trying to sort out how she felt. Emma was so easy to talk to. They got along great. Their kisses had been amazing. They’d been the type of kisses she always thought kisses should be like. So totally different than the short, awkward kiss she shared with Billy. All week, she’d been thinking about making out with Emma in the barn. It had felt right. When she stopped to think about it, she could describe everything about Emma—her face, her hair, the way her clothes hung from the curves of her body. The soft gentle way they touched.
