CHAPTER 14

Differently from the previous day, the Saturday morning went by rather calm for Monica and her dearest charges. Under a warm early spring sun, and most importantly, due to Ian’s absence as it was his weekend off, she had the opportunity to work on all the horses and even the wee foals managed to receive her attention.

Her hiding Ian’s behaviour from Andrew kept haunting her like a constant nightmare and made her feel extremely guilty. But the consequences of her telling the blond angel that the trainer had “accidentally” slashed his whip against her arm during an argument could be terrible. They were angels before anything, but she had witnessed Andrew’s anger at cruelty and injustice. And she knew he too could end up forgetting about his true nature.

Monica finished the ice treatment on Grace’s leg and kept the material in a box. They were both out in the field as she believed it was also good for the animal to feel the nature around her while she was being treated. “She’ll feel more comfortable in open air.”  Was what she told Rafael before he took one of the horses for a gentle ride around the farm.

“I promise I won’t allow anyone to treat you bad, sweet Grace.” She spoke in a low voice, tenderly combing the horse’s soft hair. “And even if you don’t go back to the racings, you’ll have a fine long life in this farm. Andrew will find a way to save the property so you and your friends can live happily ever after.”

She received a friendly sniffle in the nape of her neck and it managed to elicit a giggling from her. Not too far, a young foal seemed quite excited about the possibility to run free with his siblings along the fields and the angel kept watching them.

Even nature looked brighter when Ian was not around.

X

“Excuse me, Andrew?”

The blond angel raised his eyes from the documents that were spread over the desk to see Margaret coming in. She was bringing a small tray with a glass of orange juice and deposited it on the table. “I imagined you’d like to make a short pause.”

“Thank you, Mrs Snyder.” He gladly accepted the offer with a friendly smile.

The old woman looked at the papers and folders over the desk and back at him. “You and Monica are very hard workers. We were very blessed that you applied to our advertisement on the newspaper. We were becoming desperate.”

“This farm doesn’t deserve to be sold, Mrs Snyder. It’s such an amazing place and we’ll do everything we can to help your family overcome these hard times.”

“I’m sure you will, son.” She made a short pause, still with a smile playing on her lips, as if choosing the best words. Sensing Andrew’s questioning gaze back at her, Margaret started to speak again. “You see, Andrew... It’s Saturday and we think you and Monica could take a break from your duties.”

He reflected for a moment about that thought and came to the conclusion that it pleased him: his sweet co-worker did deserve a small break and he had made a mental note to try get to the bottom of the incident with her arm. “Well, thanks, Mrs Snyder, we-”

“There is this very good restaurant not far from here where Jonathan and I use to go once in a while... Dutchess Daughter, that’s the name.” She gently cut him off. “On Saturday there’s even live music and there is a dance floor that goes up to the outside...”

“Sounds... lovely, Mrs Snyder...” he spoke, not yet realising where the woman wanted to get at.

“I’m sure Monica would love it!” Margaret finally spoke, with a smile of mischief that caused Andrew to finally laugh.

Nodding his head, the blond angel saw in it the opportunity he had been waiting for since early in the day, when he sensed there was something his dearest friend was not telling him. “I’m afraid you’re totally right! Monica loves dancing.”

Pleased to hear it, as her plan had successfully been accomplished, the woman rose to her feet. “So I take it you two are not having dinner with us tonight?”

Still laughing, Andrew nodded his head. “I guess we’re not. It’ll depend on her.”

“She’s in the field right behind the stables with Grace and the foals. I believe now is the perfect time to make a short pause from your calculations!”

X

It did not take Andrew too long to find his angelic friend, and he purposefully delayed his walk up to her just to observe the joy in those beautiful doe-like eyes as she dealt with the animals of the farm. The young foals seemed to have found a new yet different friend and so did the stallions and mares that inhabited the place. Monica was feeding the youngest ones with carrots and other legumes and also telling them the importance of eating properly so they could grow strong and beautiful.

At the same time, Brady kept an eye on her but elected to keep some distance from the horses – one could even say he was jealous of his mistress. The friendly dog only rose to his feet when he felt someone was coming closer, but he didn’t even bark as he saw who it was.

His slight movement called Monica’s attention and she turned around to see her dear friend walking towards her.

“I can see you have made many more valentines!” he joked, glad to see her smile. She looked more relaxed and the nightmare of the previous night seemed to have been forgotten. It was better this way.

“They’re the cutest wee things, don’t you think? Beau, Ricky, Jimmy, Kitty, Jasmine and Rascal. They are all going to be beautiful stallions and mares.”

“Yeah, they’re lovely.” He touched the littlest one, who was still chewing an apple from Monica’s hand.

“What about Grace?” His eyes searched for the mare, who was walking around not far from them.

“She’s getting better, Andrew. See? The swollen on her leg didn’t come back. Now she has to do some exercising to make her muscles stronger, and it has to be done little by little.”

He nodded his head, not missing her enthusiasm. “Well, she looks happy about it!”

“I know!”

Chuckling, and noticing she finished to feed the foal, he reached for her arm so he could check on the work he had done in the morning. “How is it?”

“Oh, it’s much better. I don’t feel any pain at all.”

“I’m glad to hear it, angel.” He turned to look at her eyes now. “Do you think you’ll keep your friends up until late?”

“Oh, no. We’ll even end the activities a wee bit early today...” she winked at him cheerfully and secretly glad he had changed the topic of the conversation. “After all, it’s Saturday, they deserve a little break!”

“Well, good that you think so because I was wondering if you have plans for later!”

“Plans?”

The adorable way she turned from a cheerful to a confused little angel was particularly endearing to him.

He removed some strands of hair from her face. “There is this restaurant in the town not far from here. I heard they serve very good food and there’s live music.  I was wondering if I could have the honour of your company?”

The smile that formed on her face was precious. “Oh, but that sounds lovely, Andrew!”

Even unconsciously, she was glad to have a little break from the farm. Plus, she and Caroline had a rough conversation on the previous night and she was still thinking of a time to reach the young woman as she had been avoiding her for the day.

“Be ready at 7 then, angel.” Andrew spoke, before giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I will!”