Cowboys & Horses

Chapter 10

Leading us out into the dry landscape, I relaxed as he told me a few stories of people trying to cross the border by coming across the desert. In the last fifteen years, over two thousand migrants have died beneath the Arizona sun in a bid to flee Mexico, and start a new life in the United States. He said the number of dead bodies being found in the scorching temperatures just keeps rising. By the time they're found, all that's left is bones which makes identification almost impossible.

After indulging me on the nauseating details of death by heatstroke, I began to sympathise with the desperation these people must have in order to even consider a lethal landscape full of scorpions, lizards, prickly plants, and cougars.

Despite the horrors I was learning, having a normal conversation with Brady was welcomed. His eyes gleamed in a way which entranced me. The way his whole face became animated when he spoke, told me how passionate he was about this place and living out here.

As we turned around the bottom of a small hill, he changed the conversation completely.

"So, Sophie. Tell me about yourself."

I hesitated, not really sure what to say. "Well, I think you know more about my life than most of my friends back home."

He looked at me, a serious look on his tanned features. "No. I know about your troubles with your ex. I don't know about you. What you do for a living, your likes and dislikes, that kind of thing."

I shrugged my shoulders. "There's no great tale to tell I'm afraid. I'm a business executive for a large animal feed company." I stopped and smiled. "Kinda ironic really. I thought I had the perfect life. Job, house, partner, car. Apparently not."

He looked away, falling silent for a few seconds. "If you don't want to talk about back home, that's fine."

"No, it's ok. Honest."

Twinkling with sincerity, he locked his eyes onto mine. "So, what do you do outside of work?"

I laughed. "I used to have my horses. Since they went, work kind of swallowed my life."

"How many did you have?"

"Four."

He whistled. "Quite a handful for someone on their own."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I had a routine. Once I was in it, it was easy. They were on full livery so all I had to do was turn up and ride. One of them was on loan to a girl on the yard. One was semi-retired as well, so I only really had two to exercise."

"Why'd you give them up?"

I smiled. "Ha. That would be the marvellous Ben."

His face creased into a frown. "He made you give them up?"

"Yes and no. He isn't an animal person and hated the amount of time they took up. Once we moved in together, I figured I'd have to compromise on something to make us work. Turned out that compromise was my life passion."

He scanned his dark eyes across my face, and a muscle in his cheek twitched. "And what did he give up? To make you work?"

I stumbled over his question. I stared straight ahead as I sifted through my memories. After a minutes deafening silence, I glanced over at him, my brow furrowing together. "I actually can't think of anything."

He quirked his lips into a small smile before he moved on, talking about film choices and drunken experiences. I was surprised how easy he was to get along with when he was relaxed. We seemed to have quite a few things in common which made topic of conversation easy.

"There's home."

I followed his pointed finger to see an exact replica of the main house back at the ranch. "Did you like John's house that much?"

He chuckled. "This is still John's land. He built that when he first bought the ranch, then decided to change the location to where it is now. He left that up with the intention of selling it, but when I came along, he gave it to me as part of the job."

"Wow. Pretty neat. How long have you worked for him?"

"Ten years."

I smiled, saying nothing as we approached the front of the house. To the right of the gorgeous building stood a collection of trees providing shade over the post rail beneath. A large trough of water also nestled in the small area, out of the intense heat.

We tied the horses up before Brady led the way inside the house. As we stepped through the dark wooden door, I gasped. White marble floors, exposed wooden oak beams, the open plan design—it was just incredible.

"Wow. What a house!"

He smiled and motioned for me to follow him down the hallway. "I'm glad you like it."

I walked forwards, passing several dark wooden doors either side of me before taking the left turn at the bottom which revealed yet more doors.

"How many rooms does one person need?"

He chuckled as he led me towards the last door on the right. "His initial plan was to have people staying in the house with him. Half of these rooms I don't even use. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

I laughed, wondering what lay beyond the door he was opening.

The answer was simply a beautiful room.

A huge wooden double bed sat in the middle of the room, matching wardrobes and dressing tables placed around the outer edges. Two windows, one straight in front and one to the left, were framed with sashayed deep purple curtains. The grey marble floor twinkled as the streaming sunlight highlighted its depths. Pictures of horses lined the walls, trophies stole one entire wall, and rosettes covered the perimeter of the room.

"Oh, my. What an incredible room."

He smiled, a hint of sadness rolling over his face. "Thanks."

He walked over to one of the double wardrobes and opened the doors to reveal a staggering collection of stunning shirts and blouses. A shelf above held several Stetson's. Everything looked brand new and never worn.

I gasped. "What an amazing set of clothes. Are you sure it's ok to borrow something? They look...expensive."

He nodded. "It's fine, honestly. They haven't been worn for a long time. It would be lovely to see them being put to use."

A haunted look shadowed his features, an empty wistful glaze taking over his eyes. I wanted to know who they belonged to, but that look—it clenched something so deep inside my chest, tears started brewing.

He smiled and crossed his arms over chest. "I know you want to ask."

Heat flushed my cheeks. I looked around the room and spotted a picture of a pretty girl with honey brown hair. She was beaming from ear to ear as she stood holding a trophy with a buckskin horse which looked just like Cody.

"My sister."

A shot of dread ran through me. I couldn't help but cringe at the strained voice that uttered those two words. Suddenly very aware of treading on painful ground, I started to panic, wondering just exactly what wounds I was picking at.

I stumbled around for some words, anything to lessen the awkwardness surrounding me. "She's very pretty."

He nodded, walking over to the picture I was looking at. "Yes, she was."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Was?"

He turned back to me, his eyes glistening over with water. "She died six years ago."

"I'm so sorry. I...I...perhaps I should go?"

He shook his head and took a step towards me. "It's fine, honestly. I just...I guess I still blame myself for it."

"For what?"

"Her death. It was my fault she died."