rated *
The Groom
by Lindsay (Reganfan)
Prologue
Regan joined the group of family and friends that were at the top of the Manor House driveway, waving goodbye to the group of friends, the Bob-Whites.
It was autumn again, and the boys of the B.W.G.’s, Bob-Whites of the Glen, were driving their female counterparts to the college dorms. This was to be the first year they all were away at college.
The Bob-Whites consisted of Trixie and Jim, the co-presidents, Honey Wheeler, Trixie’s best friend and Jim’s little sister, as well as vice president, Brian and Mart, Trixie’s older brothers were treasurer and secretary respectively, Di Lynch, and Dan Mangan. Whereas Brian and Jim had been away at college for two years, and Mart and Dan for one, Trixie, Honey, and Di were on the edge of their seats from the excitement of entering college.
At the top of the driveway, ignoring the pain in their arms and continuing to wave, were their families, Mr. and Mrs. Lynch with their remaining children, two sets of twins, Larry and Terry and Elizabeth and Carol, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, Mr. and Mrs. Belden with their youngest, Bobby, Tom Delanoy, the chauffer, and Regan, the groom.
“I can’t believe my baby’s all grown up,” Mrs. Wheeler dabbed her eyes with a hankie that she had in her free hand. Mr. Wheeler put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. This would take some getting used to by all the parents.
Bobby pulled on his mother’s arm, “Can I go play with Larry and Terry now, Moms?”
At Moms’ nod, he took off, not waiting for a curfew.
Six Months Later
In The Manor House StablesRegan had just finished bringing the horses in for their evening meal, and he was covering the sweet feed before any rodents could get into it. He glanced around the room making sure everything was in its place. He quickly made a mental list of things he needed to get taken care of first thing in the morning, including washing the blankets and cleaning the tack.
There was a knock on the doorframe, and Regan turned around to find Mr. Wheeler.
“What can I do for you, sir?” Regan asked with an easy smile.
“I wanted to talk to you about the horses. I’ve noticed with the Bob-Whites gone you spend most of your time exercising the horses. I think we should consider selling a few of them to make your job easier.”
A look of shock settled on Regan’s handsome features and he managed to utter, “What about the school breaks? When they come home for weekends? I’m sure they would still enjoy a ride through the preserve.” He had a special bond with each of the horses and was reluctant to let any of his “children” go.
“Well, of course there will be those times. However, they will be spending a lot more time catching up with their families and, of course, at the college with their new friends. I suppose we could give it a trial run. We can wait until fall, when they are back on campus. Then we can decide what to do after we see how interested they are in riding,” Mr. Wheeler compromised.
Regan, unable to speak, just nodded and watched as his boss walked back to the house. He shook his head and wandered towards the horses. Sweet little Lady, a beautiful dapple-gray mare, poked her head out above her stall door and nickered at him. With a smile, Regan gently rubbed her velvety smooth nose. She nodded her head and reached to snuffle at Regan’s pocket.
“You know me too well, Lady,” he actually laughed as he pulled a mint out of his pocket and gave it to her.
He spent the next two hours, which he usually used to shower and make a bite of dinner, bonding with his horses. Granted, he knew that they were Mr. Wheeler’s horses, but Regan was with them all the time. Regan worked on their training when need be. Regan knew every last idiosyncrasy that each one had. He sighed into Susie’s mane and she nickered at him reassuringly.
Reluctantly, he left the horses and went to his apartment. It was so late and Regan was so tired that he almost fell asleep during his long shower. After putting his robe on over his pajama pants, he went into the kitchen to eat cold leftover meatloaf that Mrs. Belden sent over for him. She was so used to cooking for a big family that she often forgot to cut the recipes in half. When that happened, Regan was only too happy to take some of the leftovers off of her hands.
Two slices of meatloaf and a glass of milk later, he decided that he was way too tired to stay up and watch any TV, wrestling or no.
Regan was up early the next morning, just like every morning. Feed the horses and put them out in the pasture. While he waited for the horses to finish their feed, he started washing a load of the blankets.
It sure is nice to have a washing machine right here in the stables. Regan thought with a grin, remembering the fit he threw when Mr. Wheeler suggested it. He was just about to sit down to start cleaning the tack when the phone rang.
“Manor House Stables,” he answered.
“Regan, how’s my Susie?” Regan was surprised to hear Trixie’s voice.
“Well, hello to you too, Miss Fidget,” Regan said with a playfully hurt tone to his voice. She answered him with a laugh.
“Hi, Regan. You’re not too busy with us gone, I hope.”
“Just the way I like it,” he answered. “And Susie is doing just fine. I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“I am so glad to hear that, Regan. Thank you!” She was silent for a moment when she glanced down at her watch. “Gleeps! I have to go or I’ll be late. It was good to talk to you, though, Regan.”
“Sure, Miss Fidget, call any time.”
He hung up the phone and gathered all of the things he would need to clean the tack, and then set about his job. Unfortunately for Regan, cleaning tack was a mindless job, and his thoughts quickly returned to his conversation with Mr. Wheeler.
There was a knock on the doorframe and Regan turned around to find Mr. Wheeler.
“What can I do for you, sir?” Regan asked with an easy smile.
“I wanted to talk to you about the horses. I’ve noticed with the Bob-Whites gone you spend most of your time exercising the horses. I think we should consider selling a few of them to make your job easier.”
A look of shock settled on Regan’s handsome features and he managed to utter, “What about the school breaks? When they come home for weekends? I’m sure they would still enjoy a ride through the preserve.” He had a special bond with each of the horses and was reluctant to let any of his “children” go.
“Well, of course there will be those times. However, they will be spending a lot more time catching up with their families and of course at the college with their new friends. I suppose we could give it a trial run. We can wait until fall, when they are back on campus. Then we can decide what to do after we see how interested they are in riding,” Mr. Wheeler compromised.
With a sigh he started to think of all the times the Bob-Whites had come home over the past six months. Thanksgiving they spent with family. It was the same with Christmas. Not that he was complaining; after all, he thoroughly enjoyed spending the holidays with his nephew, Dan. Only, his thoughts were leaning more towards, they never did have much time to ride.
Regan hated to admit that his boss was right. This was the one time he wished Mr. Wheeler was wrong. Maybe with Spring Break, in another week, things would be different. Maybe they would make it home more often on weekends for riding.
* * *
That night, Trixie tossed in her bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. Her mind wouldn’t turn off, and it was starting to frustrate her. With a sigh, she finally got up and padded into her little kitchenette. She put water on to boil. She decided that maybe some mint tea would help her mind wind down enough for her to get to sleep.
While slowly stirring in a drizzle of honey, she unconsciously chewed her lower lip. Something was off. Something was wrong, and for the life of her, she couldn’t put her finger on it. She gently blew on her tea to cool it before taking a sip. That said sip was sprayed not a full two seconds later.
“Regan!” she nearly yelled. She quickly slapped her free hand over her mouth. After removing her hand, she said again, this time more quietly, “Regan-- there was something not quite right in his voice.”
She sipped her tea again and pondered this epiphany. When she finished her tea, she rinsed the mug, left it in the sink and padded back to her room. She fell asleep before she could further analyze the short conversation she had with Regan.
The next morning she awoke with another brilliant idea. She should call an emergency meeting of the Bob-Whites to get their opinions. She could hardly sit still long enough for her classes before she was finally able to meet up with the others in the courtyard.
“What took you so long, Trix?” Jim asked.
Trixie angrily mumbled something about a professor not being able to read an analog clock and sat with the others. She stopped short when she saw a new face.
“Trix, this is my new friend, Amber. Amber, this is Trixie,” Dan introduced while winking at Amber.
“Nice to meet you,” Trixie smiled at the young woman with long dark hair and blue/green eyes that were filled with mirth and mischief. The way Dan looked at Amber did not escape Trixie’s notice, and she knew immediately that Dan had met his match in this feisty-looking woman.
“You too. Dan has told me all about you, and your adventures,” she smiled. All the Bob-Whites looked at Dan with one eyebrow raised. Dan didn’t make a habit out of telling new people about their exploits. They all had the same thought, Oh yeah, Dan met his match.
“Okay, Trix, get on with it. Why are we all here?” Brian asked. “I have a class in five minutes,” he then explained himself.
Trixie jumped right into her explanation. Honey looked a little alarmed at the thought that something might be wrong with Regan. Dan looked down right worried as he jumped up and suggested they all go to Sleepyside immediately.
“You read my mind, Dan,” Trixie smiled; she was glad that she wasn’t the only one that wanted to rush home.
“I guess we can leave after Mart’s last class on Friday,” Jim thought aloud. Everyone nodded their agreement, and the meeting was adjourned. Brian jogged off, hoping to get to his class on time.
* * *
No matter how hard Trixie tried to keep her mind on her English teacher’s ramblings, she just couldn’t get her mind off of the phone call she had with Regan. She hoped beyond hope that Regan wasn’t having a disagreement with Mr. Wheeler. Two redheads disagreeing when one is the employer and one the employee could be a very dangerous thing.
Trixie shook her head. No, Mr. Wheeler would never let Regan go. He couldn’t find a better groom than Regan…
The teacher standing over her brought Trixie out of her reverie.
“Were you going to keep me company all day, Trixie?” She asked with a smile.
“Oh! Oh, no, Professor Carpenter. I just… I… I’ll see you next week, Professor Carpenter,” Trixie jumped from her seat, and blushing, hurried from the room.
“I thought I out grew that in high school,” Trixie muttered to herself, and she rushed to her next class across campus.
* * *
The next afternoon found the Bob-Whites, plus Amber, in the parking lot with their two cars. They were all quickly throwing their weekend sacks into the trunks and deciding who was riding where.
It was decided that Jim and Brian would drive their cars. Trixie, Amber, and Dan would ride with Jim, while Honey, Di and Mart would ride with Brian.
Dan opened the back seat door for Amber and waited for her to situate herself before closing the door and running around the other side to get in.
Trixie tried desperately to hide her smile from watching Dan. He had never, as much as he loved the Bob-White girls, opened a door for them. She was in the middle of her mental happy dance when she noticed Jim staring at her as if she were growing horns. She just couldn’t help herself and she grinned giddily at Jim.
Jim successfully kept from rolling his eyes and returned Trixie’s grin. He turned back to driving and followed Brian off of the campus.
After an hour of driving, Jim lost sight of Brian. It didn’t bother him in the least, considering he knew where he was going, so he didn’t give it a second thought.
Trixie was half-turned around in her seat talking to Amber.
“You never did tell us how you met Danny,” Trixie couldn’t resist calling him by the pet name the girls of the Bob-Whites had bestowed upon him.
“We have some classes together. We actually met last year in our History class, but lost touch over the summer. Now, we’re just getting reacquainted,” Amber gave Dan an evil sidelong glance that didn’t fail to attract Trixie’s attention.
Trixie nodded, but that’s all she managed before she heard what sounded like a rather large gunshot. Jim swore, a very rare occurrence, and slowed to pull off the road.
“Jim?” Dan asked from the backseat, behind Trixie.
“Flat tire,” Jim said with a clenched jaw, trying to get to the emergency lane without getting run into.
Once stopped in the emergency lane, everyone piled out of the car and stared blankly at the right rear tire. It was obviously not going to be fixed by one of those quick flat fix cans.
Jim popped open his trunk and pulled out everybody’s sacks to grab his spare.
Jim and Dan worked together to get the tire changed quickly. When the jack was slipped out from under the car, Trixie and Amber just moaned. Jim and Dan looked at them questioningly. They joined in the moaning when the realized that the spare was also a flat.
“Why didn’t you get a new spare after the last blow out Jim?” Trixie asked in slight annoyance. “I kept reminding you to…”
Jim muttered some choice words under his breath and flipped open his cell phone. Amber couldn’t help but laugh when Jim swore, louder this time, and nearly threw his cell phone into the middle of the highway.
“Anyone have their cell phones?” Jim inquired. “Stupid phone died.”
“I don’t have one,” Dan said.
“Me neither,” Amber added. Jim looked towards Trixie.
“I have mine in my purse,” Trixie rummaged around in the car for her purse. Then, she not so delicately banged her head on the car. “I forgot my purse in the apartment.”
The group of four just stood there staring at each other.
Amber’s face brightened suddenly. She shot a big grin at Dan and walked to the edge of the highway. She shot a quick grin over her shoulder at her friends.
Amber pulled her long black skirt up her legs until the hem was just above mid-thigh and put her thumb out in a hitchhiker’s manner. Jim’s jaw dropped as he saw what she was doing. He started forward to bring her back, but Trixie grabbed his arm.
Dan, on the other hand, was staring wide-eyed and motionless, at Amber. Trixie was sure that if someone didn’t stop to help soon, Dan’s eyes would bug out of his skull. She took the two steps over to Dan.
“Wipe the drool off your chin, Danny boy, and put your eyes back in their sockets,” she whispered as a car slammed on its brakes and stopped just short of Amber.
Dan colored slightly, blinked several times and then ran a hand down his face to compose himself.
Amber saw his preening and didn’t bother to hide a giddy smile as her heartbeat quickened. ‘Hmmm... Wonder what else I could do for that reaction, or maybe one better,’ she thought slyly as her eyes glanced quickly at the front of his jeans then back to his face. She hastily turned back to the stopped car and poked her head inside the open window.
“Hey, sorry to bother you, but could I borrow your cell phone?” She batted her eyelashes with a flirty smile.
“Sure, not a problem,” answered a man, that looked remarkably like Dan had a few seconds ago, as he handed her his cell.
* * *
Back on the road again, after calling for a new tire, Trixie was once again half-turned to talk to Amber.
“I can’t believe you did that,” she giggled. “I never would have thought of it.”
Amber just smiled and winked conspiratorially at Dan, making him blush ever so slightly while trying to rid his mind of perverse thoughts.
At that moment, Trixie knew that Amber had it just as bad for Dan as Dan did for Amber.
* * *
“ Hey, Brian, I don’t see them anywhere,” Mart said, turning back to face the front of the car.
“Where are they then? When was the last time you saw them?” Brian asked. Mart shrugged.
“You think I should call Jim?” Mart asked.
“I think,” Di piped up from her place beside Mart, “that they are big boys and girls and know the way home. If they need us, they’ll call.”
“I think Di’s right,” Honey chimed in, eager to get home to see Regan.
* * *
“Hello, Lady. How are you doing today?” Lady snuffled at Regan’s pocket looking for her morning treat. “Come on, girl; let’s go out in the preserve.”
Lady followed Regan out of her stall without a lead and stood patiently while he groomed and tacked her up. He mounted smoothly and they were off for a quiet ride through the preserve.
* * *
“Moms!” Mart called loudly, letting the screen door slam behind him. “Moms, we’re home!”
Moms came into the kitchen from the living room, holding a dust rag, and putting a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
“What are you doing home this weekend? I thought you had to stay to work on projects,” she said, giving them each (Honey and Di, too) happy hugs.
“Actually, we came home to lend Regan a hand with the horses,” Honey smiled.
“And speaking of the horses,” Brian cut in, “we better head for the stables.”
The group entered the stables all of three minutes after Regan rode out.
“Lady is gone,” Honey observed. “Should we wait for the others, or go out to find Regan now?”
They decided to wait for the others, knowing that Dan would want to go looking with them.
* * *
“They’ve probably left without us,” Trixie sighed.
“Maybe not, Trix,” Jim offered reassuringly.
“You heard Moms, they left for the stables half an hour ago! I don’t think all of us will fit on one horse, Jim,” she said, smiling at the image her mind conjured. The poor horse that they attempted to ride had four riders.
“Come on, now, we don’t even know if anyone’s gone off riding yet. They might have found Regan right there and they’re talking to him as we speak,” Amber said with finality.
“Amber’s right,” Trixie said with conviction and ran towards the stables. Amber smiled winningly at the guys and trotted after Trixie as fast as she could in boots and a skirt.
“What took you so long?” Mart demanded as Trixie entered the stables.
“You don’t want to know,” Jim wearily.
“We think Regan went out riding,” Brian changed the subject. “So, who is going to find him?”
“Dan,” Trixie said without thinking.
“Honey and I should go,” Jim said, looking at Trixie. “And I’m sure you’ll just die if you don’t go.”
A few minutes later, it was decided that Mart would go back home to help Bobby with his Pre-Algebra homework. Di offered to stay behind, for she was much more used to Western saddles and wasn’t up for a crash course in how to ride English. Amber would have liked to go, but decided to stay to talk with Di instead of changing out of her skirt.
Before Dan followed the others out into the preserve, he turned Strawberry back towards Amber. He ran a hand slowly through her long, nutmeg colored hair.
“You don’t mind staying here without me?” Dan asked so only she would hear.
“Of course not,” Amber replied with a sweet smile. Dan smiled back at her and leaned over to drop a kiss on her forehead. He quickly turned Strawberry and urged him into the preserve after the others.
“You okay back there?” Brian chanced a peek over his shoulder at Honey. They rode together atop Starlight.
“Perfectly perfect,” Honey answered, smiling and tightening her grip around Brian.
Dan led the way, clucking Strawberry up to a trot, followed by Jim, Trixie, then Brian and Honey. Jupe gladly picked up his pace when Jim hugged him with his legs. Susie gave a little snort to Trixie before she started to trot. Starlight happily followed along, excited by this new game of rushing through the preserve carrying two people.
It was twenty minutes later that Strawberry nickered a soft greeting to Lady. Lady replied in kind. Dan was surprised at how tired his Uncle Bill looked. He had dark circles under hooded eyes; and he looked more pale than normal.
“Hi, Regan,” Honey called out from behind Brian. Regan looked at her hard for a moment, almost as if he were tempted to scold the two of them for riding together. As soon as the look appeared, it vanished.
“What are you doing home this weekend?” Regan asked, obviously surprised.
“Thought I would come visit my favorite uncle,” Dan grinned.
“Gee, Regan, what’s wrong?” Trixie said, actually having stopped to think rather than say, ‘Gee Regan, you look awful.’
“Don’t worry Trixie, I’ll figure it all out,” Regan managed a smile at the impetuous now young woman. Trixie shot him a thoughtful look before wisely keeping her mouth shut.
Jim quietly assessed the situation and figured that Dan would like to talk to Regan privately.
“I’ll race all of you! Last one to the stables has to clean ALL the tack!” Jim called out and started Jupe cantering away. Brian squeezed Starlight’s sides and he and Honey took off after Jim. Trixie, however competitive, wanted to talk to Regan alone so she had Susie follow at a trot.
“So what have you been up to, Danny? School keeping you busy?” Regan asked as they walked their horses side by side.
“School’s tough, but I’m doing okay, I suppose. There is something that I want to ask you, though, Uncle Bill,” Dan seemed hesitant about questioning his uncle.
“Okay,” Regan said, hoping that it didn’t have to do with his own appearance.
“There’s this girl,” Dan started, and Regan almost laughed with relief. “I met her last year, but this year we’re in almost all of the same classes. I really like her, Uncle Bill. I just can’t seem to read her. I don’t know if she likes me like that or not. What do you think I should do?”
“Have you flirted with the girl?” Regan demanded roughly, but with a smile.
“Well, of course,” Dan replied, also smiling, though his was a confused smile.
“Alright, well let’s see…” Regan thought for a moment and started his list of suggestions.
* * *
“I can’t believe you lost, Trixie,” Honey snorted in a quite un-lady-like fashion.
“Well, I guess Susie just wanted to take it slow and enjoy the ride today,” Trixie bluffed.
“I don’t believe you for one second, Trixie Belden. You’re up to something, again, and the minute I find out what…” Honey let her sentence dangle as Brian and Jim carried their tack by Susie’s stall laughing.
“I have no idea what you mean, Honey,” Trixie refused to look at Honey, knowing that eye contact would be her undoing.
“I know you lost on purpose. I just can’t think of why right now. I’ll let it alone for now, because I feel a mess, I’m heading up to take a quick shower and change,” Honey raised one eyebrow at Trixie over her shoulder. “I expect a full report by the time I get back.”
Trixie hurriedly finished grooming Susie and took her tack to the tack room. There, she sighed as she sat down with a sponge in one hand and the leather soap in the other. She quickly grabbed a bridle and set to work.
He really looked like death warmed over. I wish I knew what was bothering him so I could help, Trixie thought miserably. Dan and Regan leading their horses into the barn interrupted her train of thought.
“Let’s get these horses groomed and out in the pasture,” Regan told Dan as they stripped their horses of saddles.
“Beautiful day for grazing in the pasture.” Dan said the thought that was running through Regan’s mind. Dan took their tack into the tack room and smiled at Trixie.
“You’re cleaning tack? I thought for sure Jim would be spending all evening out here, not you,” Dan laughed as he went back to groom Strawberry. She laughed with him and called after him that she would gladly clean his tack so he could go visit with Amber.
* * *
Trixie stared out the tack room window as she absently started in on the second bridle. She watched as Regan led Susie, her favorite little black mare, out to the pasture. The normally laid back mare kicked her heals up when Regan turned her loose. Dan stayed long enough to lead both Strawberry, Mart’s usual mount, and Starlight, Brian’s, to the pasture. Then Dan turned tail and ran for the Manor House, to be with Amber, Trixie assumed. The last horse to be led out to the pasture was Jupiter.
The long ride in the preserve had done nothing to settle Jupiter down. He was prancing beside Regan, nearly prancing right over Regan’s toes a couple of times. Regan gently yanked on the lead shank and said something to Jupe that Trixie couldn’t hear. Just as Regan was slipping the halter off of Jupe’s gorgeous head, it looked like Jupe bit Regan’s pocket.
As Trixie looked closer, she saw that he hadn’t bitten Regan, he had stolen a bag of something from his pocket! It took a moment for her to think of what it could be. Then she remembered that Regan had just recently started carrying a bag of mints to give the horses as treats. She couldn’t help herself, she laughed out loud until tears rolled down her face watching Regan chase after Jupe. She could see him scolding the gelding from where she sat. Regan stopped and put his hands on his knees, bent over to catch his breath. He took out his handkerchief and wiped his brow.
Susie, not wanting to be left out, trotted up behind Regan and snitched his hankie right out of his hand. She was so delicate, pulling her lips back and taking it daintily with her teeth, obviously trying not to bite Regan.
Regan couldn’t help but laugh at Susie. He clucked and called to her but she turned her back to him. She let him walk up to her neck, even let him place his hand on her neck, but before he could reach out for his hankie, she took off trotting, throwing her legs out in front of her in a little dance.
It took Regan a good little while to get his hankie back. He also had to promise a mint for each horse before Jupe relented. After a mint and behind the ear scratching for all the horses, Regan turned to Lady who was nuzzling his back.
“Yes? Can I help you?” Lady reached out delicately and tried to steal the mints, but Regan quickly put them in his pocket again. He rubbed her forelock and dropped a little kiss on her velvety nose before swing up onto her back.
Having had this happen before, Lady nickered and started grazing while Regan stretched out on her back with his hands overlapping on her withers and resting his chin on his hands. His feet curved with the curve of her rump. When they were both comfortable they stayed there for quite sometime in the sunlight, Lady grazing and Regan enjoying this time of bonding with the horses.
* * *
Trixie was just finishing cleaning up the last saddle and putting it on it’s rack as Regan walked back in. Trixie’s sides still ached from laughing at Regan’s escapades with the horses he obviously loved dearly. She had to admit though, she also enjoyed watching him swing up on Lady and lay there as the mare grazed. She had stopped watching after about five minutes, feeling as if she were intruding.
Regan strode into the tack room and did a double take. He looked from Trixie, to the clean tack and back to Trixie. “Hell, Miss Fidget, you didn’t have to clean all that tack. I was going to get to that when I came in,” he said to her.
“I lost the race fair and square. That was the deal,” she reminded him.
“But you didn’t have to clean the tack that I used,” he insisted.
“No, I didn’t. I just thought it would be a nice gesture to help you out a little bit,” Trixie smiled up at him.
“Thank you,” he said, looking into her eyes for the first time since he stepped into the tack room.
“Anytime…Regan?” she asked almost timidly. Regan looked at her intently, Trixie was anything but timid. “What’s wrong?”
Deciding that she was the last person that he could keep this from, and that the Bob-Whites deserved to know the situation he said, “Why don’t you run off and tell the Bob-Whites to be ready in the stables after dinner tonight for an announcement.”
Trixie looked a little surprised. She hadn’t expected Regan to crack so easily. She nodded and headed towards the Manor House. Halfway through the door, she turned back and flung herself at Regan. She was lucky that Regan had fast reflexes and easily caught her as she hugged him. He returned the hug, knowing that he needed it much more than she knew.
“I know we don’t say it enough, Regan, but I…we…all of us Bob-Whites really, we love you and really do appreciate you!” She exclaimed pulling back to look him in the eye. She gave him one last squeeze and walked towards the door again.
When Trixie looked back, she noticed that Regan’s eyes were brighter than normal. She continued on her way and could have sworn she heard him clearing his throat of the lump her speech had put there.
* * *
It was a somber group that sat at the dining room table as Cook served them hamburgers and hot dogs. Regan rarely called a group meeting for an announcement, and they were all curious to the point of nervousness as to what it might be about.
The only words spoken were, “Please pass the mustard,” and, “Are you finished with the relish?”
Not much was eaten and when they all, even Mart, decided that they weren’t hungry enough to eat; they marched up to the barn. They left the food on the table, hoping that after the meeting that would have their regular appetites.
“What gives, Regan?” Brian asked as politely as he could when they found Regan in the tack room. Regan waited for everyone to gather around before he started.
“You must be the Amber I’ve heard so much about,” Regan started when he saw a new face.
“And you must be Uncle Bill. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she smiled at him. He returned the smile and cleared his throat, preparing himself.
“Here’s the deal…Mr. Wheeler and I have had a long discussion about all these horses that we have here,” he decided the best way to say was to spit it out and get it over with. “Mr. Wheeler is thinking about selling some of them, maybe all of them.”
There was a loud uproar as Bob-Whites objected to this idea. Regan held up a hand and waited for silence before continuing.
“There is obviously a lack of help. It’s not your faults. You all are busy away at college, and we all know that you can’t get home as often as you would like. We also know that when you get the time to come home, you don’t have much time for riding. You have families that want to spend time with you, and you want to catch up with each other when you don’t have time to keep up at school.”
“We could come home more often, Regan, really. And we could help a lot more, too,” Mart insisted. Regan shook his head.
“I told Mr. Wheeler the same thing, but I’m beginning to see his reasoning. Even if you were to come home more often, those times in between I’m being run ragged. I don’t want to part with any of these horses. They are part of my family because they have been all I have had for a long time,” he said with a meaningful look at Dan. “I have faced the facts, however, and it would be in our, Mr. Wheeler’s and mine, best interest to sell at least a couple of the horses.”
“You’re right, Regan,” Honey said with tears in her eyes. “We haven’t been able to help. And I really don’t want to see you looking like death warmed over anymore. We will all miss the horses, but Regan, I promise that I will help you find the best home for each that is sold.”
All the Bob-Whites, and Amber too, agreed with Honey. Honey started to shed her tears as she gave Regan a tight squeeze. A group hug ensued as many tears were shed. Times were changing. The Bob-Whites were adults now. Everyone wiped their eyes and sniffled until Mart spoke up.
“Well, now that we know what Regan needed to tell us, I say we go eat!” Mart ushered everyone, including Regan, to the Manor House for dinner. Their appetites weren’t quite back to normal as of yet, but knowing that this had to be done had made it much easier to accept.
Regan was relieved that the Bob-Whites had taken his news so well. If only he was more willing to part with his equine family.
The End
Author’s notes:
I would like to take this time to thank my three wonderful editors, April W, Cathymw, and Amber. I would also like to thank Amber for persuading me to get to work :D she did a great job helping me right along!
I can’t forget to add my thanks to my Dear Husband, Jeffrey, who is my computer man that has been handling my website for me. Doing a wonderful job of it too! squish thank you Jeffrey!
Disclaimer These characters are property of Random House Publishing. I am making no money from them, I only write because I love them J