Lemonade

Getting into the car with Rosetta, Jay responds with a little sigh. "Yeah... I apologized to him for our spat when he was out at my place." He shrugs as he starts the engine. "If I made all this worse, I really do feel badly. I told him to just be himself and we all wanted to keep him around. He seemed a little better but I guess if it were me lying in there, I'd probably be depressed too."

Pulling out onto the main road, Jay knew the route well, and they were soon headed back to the ranch. Though Jay kept his eyes on the road, his mind wandered many place. "So... how are things at the ranch anyway? Jeff isn't the greatest when it comes to details." 

Mick wanders back down the bairn aisle, and coming upon the last few stalls, his eyebrows rise slightly. Hunter was just finishing up the second stall - Mick had figured the young man might get the first one done, but no more than that. "Hey, how's it going?"

Hunter looks up and wipes some sweat from his face with his shirt. "Not bad." He dumps the last shovelful of manure into the wheelbarrow and pushes it out of the stall. "Just finished up this one." 

"I see that." Mick surveys the work and chuckles. "I wish all my ranch hands worked that hard."

Hunter laughs. "Well, I don't know if I'd work this hard if I had to do it every day."

Mick grins and pats Hunter's shoulder. "Well thank you for your help - this is great."

"No problem." Hunter had actually enjoyed it. It had been too long since he'd just had a good hard physical task to do. It made him feel like he accomplished something, and the muscle weariness felt good. "Got anything else you want me to do?"

Mick's surprise comes back. "After all that, I thought I might have scared you away."

Hunter grins and shakes his head. "Naw. It takes more than that to scare me away. Besides, if I'm gonna be totally honest, it's more for me than helping out anyway. I can't sit still - gotta be keeping my hands busy or I'll go nuts." 

"Well then you've come to the right place." Mick chuckles again. "How about I give you a break now though? I bet there's some lemonade in the kitchen over in the dining hall - you can help yourself." 

"A finer suggestion, I've never heard." Hunter smiles and grabs hold of the wheelbarrow. "After I dump this out." 

As he heads away, Mick watches him, cocking his head. Finally though, he turns and goes back to his own tasks. 

Once Hunter was satisfied that his job was done, he wanders around the outside of the barn, finding Katie near the yearlings at the fence. Coming up alongside her, he greets the first filly with a pat on the back, giving her a loving rub. "Headed inside for some lemonade," he mentions. "Want some too?"

Garret shakes his head a little. "Don't know when I'm supposed to be back out again. I was supposed to get a couple weeks break here soon but I don't know when." 

His fingers trail over Victoria's on her free hand. "If you had the chance... would you leave this place?" It was a dangerous question, and he knew it. But he'd never outright asked before, and he wanted an answer. 

Jared laughs with Grace as he enjoys this time, finally able to relax. "You? What about me? I haven't seen the sun in ages. Come to think of it... I don't even know if I burn easy or not." He pauses in thought. "Maybe I get a super nice tan and look like a super model or something." 

He lifts his head to look at Grace teasingly. "Or not."