The Horse Whisperer

'It is too!'

'It's not your turn Scott!'

Diane called Joe over and tried to mediate. But the yelling got worse and soon Frank was involved too and the fight shifted from the particular to the general.

'You never let me have a turn!' Scott said. He was near tears.

'Don't be such a baby,' Joe said.

'Boys, boys.' Frank had his hands on their shoulders.

'You think you're so great—'

'Oh shut up.'

'—giving Grace riding lessons and all.'

Everyone went quiet except for some cartoon bird squawking on oblivious on the computer screen. A

'I saw you!' His voice was more taunting but less certain. 'Her on Gonzo, down by the creek!'

'You little shit!' Joe said it through his teeth and at the same time made a lunge. Everyone erupted. Scott was knocked back against the table and coffee cups and glasses went flying. The two boys fell in a tangle to the floor, with Frank and Diane above them yelling and trying to lever them apart. Craig came ru

The next moment Frank was marching the boys out of the house, Scott wailing, Craig crying in sympathy and Joe in a silent fury which spoke louder than both. Tom went with them as far as the kitchen door.

'A

They were standing by the wreckage of the table like dazed hurricane survivors. Grace stood pale and alone across the room. As A

'You okay?'

She nodded without looking at him.

'I'm going upstairs.'

She picked up her cane and made her way with awkward haste across the room.

'Grace…' A

'No Mom!'

She went out and the three of them stood and listened to the sound of her uneven footsteps on the stairs. A

'Did you know about this?' she said. 'Did everyone know except me?'

Tom shook his head. 'I don't think any of us knew.'

'Maybe she wanted it to be a surprise,' Diane said.

A

'Yeah, well.'

She wanted them only to go, but Diane insisted on staying to clear the place up and so they stacked the dishwasher and cleared the broken glass from the table. Then Diane rolled up her sleeves and got going on the pots and pans. She clearly thought it best to be chirpy and chattered on at the sink about the barn dance Hank had invited them all to on Monday.

Tom said barely a word. He helped A

What prompted her, A

'Oh, I reckon he'll make it.'

'You do?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Are you sure?'

'No. But you see A

He fixed the last cable.

'There you go.' He turned to face her and they looked each other in the eye. 'Thanks,' A

When they came back to the kitchen, Diane had finished and all except the things she'd lent was put away in places she knew better than A

A

Tom said good-night to Diane outside the barn and went on in to check the sick filly. Walking down from the creek house, Diane had gone on about how dumb Joe was to take the girl riding like that without telling a soul. Tom said he didn't think it was dumb at all, he could understand why Grace might want to keep such a thing secret. Joe was being a friend to her, that was all. Diane said it was none of the boy's business and frankly she'd be glad when A

The filly hadn't gotten any worse, though she was still breathing a little fast. Her temperature was down to a hundred and two. Tom rubbed her neck and talked to her gently while with his other hand he felt her pulse behind the elbow. He counted the beats for twenty seconds, then multiplied by three. It was forty-two beats per minute, still above normal.

She was clearly ru

The lights of A

Now though, the blinds were open and he knew it meant something had happened or was happening even as he looked. But he knew it was something only they could resolve and, though it was foolish, he told himself that maybe the blinds were open not to let darkness in but to let it out.

Never, since he first laid eyes on Rachel so many years ago, had he met a woman he wanted more.

Tonight was the first time he'd seen her in a dress. It was a simple, cotton print, black dotted with tiny pink flowers, and there were pearl buttons all down the front. It reached well below her knees and it had little cap sleeves that showed the tops of her arms. When he arrived and she'd told him to come into the kitchen to get a drink, he couldn't take his eyes off her. He'd followed her inside and breathed deep the waft of her perfume and while she poured the wine he'd watched her and noticed how she kept her tongue between her teeth to concentrate. He noticed too a glimpse of satin strap at her shoulder which he'd tried all evening not to look at and failed. And she'd handed him the glass and smiled at him, creasing the corners of that mouth in a way he wished was only for him.

Over supper he'd almost got to believe it was, because the smiles she gave Frank and Diane and the kids were nothing like it. And maybe he'd imagined it, but when she talked, no matter how generally, it always seemed somehow directed at him. He'd never seen her with her eyes made up before and he watched how they shone green and trapped the candle flame when she laughed.

When everything had exploded and Grace stormed out, it was only Diane being there that had stopped him from taking A

But nor did Tom think this made it shameful, though he knew others might. This woman's pain and her child and the pain of that child were all part of her too, were they not? And what man was God enough to judge the fine divisions of feeling appropriate to each or all or any of these?