Behold the Stars by Susan Fanetti Page B

and rubbed her neck. She knew nothing about horses. They didn’t scare her, but she wasn’t comfortable not knowing things. She would have preferred to be out here with Isaac, so she could ask questions about what to do. When and how much to feed them. When to put them outside. Where to put them outside. The back door of the barn opened to a small enclosure which itself opened to a larger grassy area. Isaac had called it a paddock. She assumed that was the horse yard. But she didn’t like to make assumptions about thousand pound animals.
    She looked around. She understood the halter and lead. She’d helped Len yesterday, after they’d led the horses away from the fire. He’d shown her how to halter them properly, and she’d helped tie their leads off, then gotten them water. She was touched to see the way Len cared about the horses. He’d been devastated by what had happened to the horse who’d come running out of the barn—Comet. After the blaze was out, he’d knelt on the ground in his gear, next to the smoldering body, and when he stood and came toward her, she could see he’d been crying. She hugged him. She hadn’t thought about it; she just did it. And he’d cried hard. This beefy biker with tattoos from his fingers all the way up to his jaw. Lilli, herself broken up about what she’d had to do, had been deeply moved by the tenderness of his grief.
    She gave Gertie a pat and went to check out the other two—both black, one bigger, with a white stripe down his nose—Flash—the other entirely dark—Ebony. They were both friendly, if a little more energetic than her Gert. She laughed to herself when she realized that she’d just thought of the spotted grey mare as hers. She should be careful about that. The horses did not belong to them.
    Lilli explored the barn and the enclosures beyond it, trying to decide whether she should let the horses out. The barn was empty of anything they hadn’t brought in from Len’s trailer. There were shelves and racks that looked purposeful, but had nothing stored on or in them. Once she did a lap around the paddock and ascertained that the fence was solid and the gates closed, she went in, picked up Gert’s halter, and strapped it on.
    As she was opening Gert’s stall, Isaac spoke up behind her. “She should go out last, Sport.”
    Lilli turned. He looked better. He was leaning on the side of the open barn door, in his customary jeans, boots, black button shirt, and leather jacket. No kutte; he didn’t wear it at home. His hair was braided. It looked wet—he must have jumped in the shower.
    “What?”
    “Flash and Ebbie are young. They get antsy, don’t like to get left behind. You put Gertie out first, they’ll think they’re missing out, and they’ll be harder to control. Gert’s a patient old lady. She’ll sit and wait her turn.” He walked to her and kissed her cheek. “Morning.”
    “Morning. Do they need to be on the leads?”
    “You want to be in control of a horse when you’re in a tight space like this, so yeah. But take the halter off, not just the lead, when you release them. Want help?” He nodded toward Flash.
    “Nope. I got it.” She went over and haltered Flash. Isaac walked out into the corral and climbed the fence. As Lilli led Flash out, she saw that he was filling a big water tank just inside the corral. She released Flash, and he tore off, bucking as he did a circuit around the enclosure.
    When all three horses were out, the youngsters racing around, Gertie wandering off to eat grass, Isaac and Lilli sat on the fence and watched.
    “You okay this morning, love?” Lilli studied Isaac’s profile as he watched the horses.
    “Better. Not okay. I need to call Liza, and then I gotta get to town.” He turned to her. “I’d like you to come. Breakfast—well, lunch, I guess—at Marie’s, give everybody time to talk to me about what happened. Then the clubhouse, so we can figure out our move.”
    “Yeah. Okay, of course.” She