“Where is Ari’s horse, Jeff?” Matt asked.
“She’s not here, buddy. ”
I saw Josh walking into the barn with a concerned look on his face. I looked down at Matt as he was trying to sweep some hay away from one of the barn doors.
“Hey, Josh. ”
Josh looked over at Matt and smiled, and then he looked at me as his smile faded. Shit. I know that look. Something must have happened with Heather.
“What’s up, dude? Hey Matt buddy, you helping Jeff clean up?” Josh asked.
Matt smiled at Josh and held out the broom for him to see it.
Then, Matt turned to face me again.
“Where is Ari’s horse, Jeff?”
“She isn’t here, buddy. What’s going on, Josh? You look like someone just kicked you off the playground. ” I said with a smirk.
Josh rolled his eyes and gave me the finger.
When I laughed Matt looked at me.
“What’s so funny, Jeff?”
“Nothing, buddy, Josh rolled his eyes at me, and it made me laugh. ”
“Do you like that, Jeff? I can do that, too! Jeff, where is Ari’s horse?”
“She’s not here, buddy. Want to pet Rose?”
“Yes!”
Josh walked into Rose’s stall, put a lead on her, and brought her out. I picked up Matt and carried him over to Rose.
Matt loved being around the horses. Even just the mention of seeing them got him all excited. Ari and I had taken him to some stables around Austin a few times. I just loved this little guy.
I started to think about Ari and how badly she wanted kids. She’d been worried about having kids. Now, with the whole Rebecca shit, I knew it was going to be on her mind again.
“You like her, Matt?” Josh asked. He was giving Rose some oats while Matt was running his hands along her back. “You want to sit on her, buddy?”
Nodding his head at Josh, Matt smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
“Keep a good hold of him, Josh,” I said.
“I know what I’m doing, asshole. ”
“Assmole!” Matt yelled out.
Josh and I lost it, and we both started laughing. This only caused Matt to say it over and over again.
“Assmole! Assmole! Assmole!”
Holy shit! We couldn’t stop laughing.
“Assmole Jeff!”
Oh hell! I needed this laugh.