Chapter 57

Giving Imp one more pat, Lex exited the stall, closed the bottom half of the Dutch door, and turned to see who his neighbor would be. He came up short when he saw Trent leading Dixie.

Trent stopped and looked at Lex. Their eyes met. Trent took a deep breath and continued to walk his palomino mare into her new home.

Lex stood for a moment, not sure what to do. Taking a deep breath, he mustered up his courage and went to the doorway of stall fifteen. Trent turned from his horse and looked at Lex.

“Hi,” Lex said, rustling up a smile.

“Hi,” Trent responded, staring at something on the ground.

Lex noticed that Trent hadn’t bedded his stall. “Can I give ya a hand with the shavings?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Trent replied, still avoiding Lex’s eyes.

Encouraged by Trent’s acceptance of his offer to help, Lex turned to Trent’s truck, hopped in the bed, and began tossing out bags of wood shavings.