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The Asherton Horse Business
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When Trevor and Barbara met Tommy in the stables she was wearing the presents he had given her for Christmas. It caught his eye immediately and raised his mood. He was in a stressingly polite conversation with two sheep-eyed stable girls on their last shift this year who went off giggling but shooting daggers from their eyes at Barbara because Tommy's eyes had visibly lit up at her sight and he had excused himself in the moment when Barbara had come in.
Tommy gave Barbara a little tour. He led her around explaining all the horses. He told her about their common riding horses and those who lived in the hired boxes, the three award winning stallions and the mares, and the only foal from this year. He also showed the fine leather works in the tack room and all the medals and cups the Asherton horse business had won with their horses. All the time Trevor walked with them and he never let go of Barbara's hand eager to learn what his uncle was telling. At the end of the tour Tommy gave him a bucket with oats and allowed him to give some to each horse.
"Three of your little handful into the troughs. Not more. We wouldn't want to let them have the tummyaches, would we." When the boy went to do his task with an earnest expression the adults finally had time for a more private conversation. Although neither of both mentioned again that they were having a proper date tonight the evening still was their topic.
"I have to admit I'm a bit nervous." Barbara murmured after a while and blew her nose once more. They still stood in front of the show case with some of the trophies. The common room was rather big and there were lockers and a table with six chairs. They did not sit down though but kept standing, still mostly looking at the gold, silver and bronze stuff instead of each other.
"Don't be. It's just a dinner with family and friends and then a simple party. And you really don't have to choose one of the fancy dresses you've got in your rucksack." Tommy winked. "I guess most of the party guests are wearing jeans anyway."
"Do you?" Barbara laughed. She actually could not imagine him in casual clothings on events like this even if it was announced as a casual party.
"Of course n- Mmh, you got me." Tommy joined her laughter. "Well, should I?"
With a grin she sized him up and down. He looked pretty sexy in his slightly dirty blue jeans for his stable work, with Wellies and a knitted polo-neck jumper. "You don't look too bad in it, Sir ...Tommy."
His heart made a small jump when he heard her correcting herself without him asking for it. And she looked so cute when she was blushing with that mischievious smile. Had she really just been sizing him up? The pleasant goosepimple shower across his nape seemed to confirm it.
"Well, Judith will perhaps come in jeans, in black jeans of course, Natasha probably too and Peter wears nothing else ever - I guess it's time I shock my mother with wearing denim this year."
"And no tie? What will the family think of it?" Barbara teased him. She always loved his appearance in dark suits, crisp white shirts and with a bow-tie, his shiny hair strictly combed back and the trademark lock of hair falling into his face only later in the day. But since this mostly was his usual work dress she also loved seeing him in more casual things. This time though she would not want to stick out from all the noble and rich people with her simple and cheap things so his nice bum covered with denim or the jersey cloth of a T-shirt stretched over his broad chest were not the only reason he should not wear a suit this time.
"Of course I'll wear a tie." Tommy answered mock shocked. "Shirt, tie, jacket. Goes along very well with black denim, by the way." They shared a laugh before he shook his head. "Seriously, I guess, I'll wear the usual black suit."
"What about black leather?" Now Barbara had to laugh out really loud causing another fit of coughs. He gave her a sympathetic smile although her coughing was not as heavy as it still was yesterday.
"Good to see that your coughs have turned better." Tommy changed the subject.
"If only my nose would follow my lungs on their way to recovery." As if to emphasize it she had to sneeze.
Full of pity Tommy stroked her upper arm but before he could express his concern with words Trevor came running back. He had finished his feeding round and now impatiently demanded to meet Dotsy. He put the bucket down and turned.
"Who's first at the fence!" he exclaimed expecting one of the adults to follow.
"Ah, ah, wait, young man!" Tommy called him back. Trevor knew what his uncle wanted and rolled his eyes with a groan. He stopped and turned nonetheless. "I know you'll mount her, but not without this!" Tommy pushed a kids riding helmet onto Trevor's head.
"Yes, Sir." Trevor groused. Tommy inhaled to give a sharp rebuke but when he felt Barbara's hand on his arm he stopped and turned to her, wanting to explain his strict orders.
"Safety first. I know." Barbara simply smiled and reassured him that she would take care of the boy. Their eyes locked. "And why is he allowed to call you Sir and I'm constantly reminded I'd have to call you Tommy?"
Her cheery voice stood in clear contrast to the deep soft look she gave him. It let him involuntarily know that she in fact did not mind saying his name. In this unobserved moment an invisible wall had vanished and the atmosphere in the common room had changed. The tension between them had become palpable. Tommy inhaled again in order to answer but he found no proper words. He wanted to say 'because I love hearing it from your lips'. He wanted to say 'I don't want that barrier between us'. He dearly wanted to say that he loved her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and prove it. He wanted to kiss her. Kiss her doubts away, kiss her feelings to the surface, kiss her senseless and let himself being kissed senseless too.
Nobody was kissed and nothing was said. Tommy kept quiet. He only exhaled his breath again when Barbara abruptly had turned to run after Trevor without any further explanation. She had realised that she had kept her hand on his arm for a little too long and they had looked into each other's eyes for a bit more than necessary to assure him of Trevor's safety. She had deeply blushed but Tommy surely had not seen it because she ran away after she had realised she was waiting for him to kiss her. She knew he would not.
He knew he almost had. And he knew he should not. When Barbara had left the stables Tommy let his head bump against the wood of one of the locker's doors. "You're an idiot." he hissed to himself. "You shouldn't even think about it."
When Barbara and Trevor arrived at the paddock the huge shire horse stood in the furthermost corner on the other side eying everything suspiciously. Only Dotsy was curious and came running. The boy immediately wanted to mount it but he was stopped by Barbara. She made sure that Trevor would take on the required helmet properly and with its chin strap.
"You're like uncle Tommy!" Trevor whined and jumped from one foot to the other. The cheeky Shettie already nibbled at his jacket, hoping for some of the oats it still was smelling of.
"We're just concerned about your health, Trev!" Then she took a closer look at the tiny horse. "Indeed this is a tiny horse!" she laughed when Trevor effortless climbed onto its back without a saddle.
With a happy "Yeehah!" they darted away. It looked absolutely adorable, the tiny horse, the tiny boy on it, the mincing steps Dotsy pattered onto the grass and the windmill-like pose Trevor made with his arms and legs. It did not look like he had had many riding lessons but he obviously did not need them to steer the pony even without stirrups or reins. Barbara stuffed her hands deep into the pockets of her coat and slowly followed the ridiculous pair towards the huge stallion. Eventually Cormoran boggled at the sight of Dotsy running towards him with the weirdly behaving boy on her back so he turned and ran the other way.
Somewhere in the middle of the paddock Barbara stopped to watch Trevor having fun. Her fingers toyed with a little plastic figure in her pocket while she thought about the previous moment in the stable's common room. Sighing she just stood there while the boy measured up half of the paddock. She was deep in thoughts. And in her back the huge shire horse stallion slowly approached her.
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