The Horse Whisperer

'Thanks,' she said.

'So, you're ru

'Oh, absolutely.'

'At least there'll be someone here smart enough to use a telephone if something comes up,' Diane said.

Tom smiled and looked confidingly at A

'Diane reckons poor old Smoke can't count to ten.'

A

He didn't answer, just smiled again and this time A

'I'm real sorry about Grace,' he said.

'Yes, well. We sorted it out. I mean, if it's okay with you, she can ride Pilgrim when you get back from Wyoming.'

'Sure.'

'Thank you. Robert won't get to see it but, you know, to have got this far and then not—'

'No problem.' He paused. 'Grace told me about you quitting your job.'

'That's one way of putting it.'

'She said you weren't too cut up about it.'

'No. I feel good about it.'

'That's good.'

A

'He's a top hand with a steak, that husband of yours.'

'Oh yes. Yes. He enjoys it.'

'He's a great guy.'

'Yes. He is.'

'I was trying to work out who was the luckier.' A

They sat and ate, the children at one table and the adults at the other. The sound of their laughter filled the space among the cotton-woods. The sun went down and between the silhouetted trees A

Grace seemed happy again, now that her hopes of riding Pilgrim were restored. After everyone had finished eating, she told Joe to show Robert the match trick and the children gathered around the adults' table to watch.

When the match jumped the first time, everyone roared. Robert was intrigued. He got Joe to do it again, and then again more slowly. He was sitting across the table from A

He had a couple of attempts himself and failed. Joe was giving him the whole spiel about static electricity and was doing it well. He was about to get him to put his hand in water to 'boost the charge' when A

'I get it,' he said. 'You flick it with your nail. Is that right? Here, let me have another go.'

He rubbed the match in his hair and drew it slowly up his palm toward the second one. When they touched, the second one jumped away with a crack. The children cheered. Robert gri

'Too darn smart these lawyers,' Frank said.

'What about Tom's trick!' Grace called. 'Mom? Have you still got that piece of string?'

'Of course,' A

Grace handed the cord to Joe who told Robert to hold his finger up. Everyone was watching. Except for Tom. He was sitting back a little, watching A

'Don't,' A

Everyone looked at her, startled to silence by the anxious note in her voice. She felt the heat rising to her cheeks. She smiled desperately, seeking help among the faces in her embarrassment. But the floor was still hers.

'I - I just wanted to figure it out myself first.'

Joe hesitated a moment to see if she was serious. Then he lifted the loop from Robert's finger and handed it back to her. A

'Good for you, A

Everyone laughed, even Robert. Though when their eyes met she could see he was puzzled and perhaps even hurt. Later, when the talk had moved safely on, it was only Tom who saw her quietly coil the cord and slip it back into her pocket.

Chapter Thirty-one

Late Sunday night, Tom did a final check on the horses then came inside to pack. Scott was in his pajamas on the landing getting a final warning from Diane who wasn't buying his story that he couldn't sleep. Their flight was at seven in the morning and the boys had been put to bed hours ago.

'If you don't cut it out, you don't come, okay?'

'You'd leave me here on my own?'

'You betcha.'

'You wouldn't do that.'

'Try me.'

Tom came up the stairs and saw the jumble of clothes and half-filled suitcases. He winked at Diane and steered Scott off to the twins' room without a word. Craig was already asleep and Tom sat on Scott's bed and they whispered about Disneyland and which order they'd do the rides, until the boy's eyelids grew heavy and he slept.

On his way to his own room, Tom walked past Frank and Diane's and she saw him and thanked him and said good-night. Tom packed all he needed for the week, which wasn't much, then tried to read awhile. But he couldn't concentrate.

While he was out with the horses, he'd seen A

He washed, undressed and got into bed and tried reading again with no greater success. He turned off the light and lay on his back with his hands tucked behind his head, picturing her up there in the house all alone, as she would be all week.

He'd have to leave for Sheridan around nine and would go up and say goodbye before he left. He sighed and turned over and forced himself at last into a sleep that brought no peace.

A