Montana Sky

Chapter 25: Life Before You

A/N: Sorry for the delay, writing is pretty slow right now, so I can't promise updates will be very regular... we'll see. Thanks to those who still stick with me!

*****

Oh, I thought my life was happy (thought my life was happy)
I thought that I was fulfilled
Then you enriched my life (oh, what a change)
My whole new world was revealed
I had a hunger I never knew, until we loved and you fed it
Like a book with a missing page, oh, I never knew it until you read it
I never really lived (never really lived)
Though I had good intentions
In just a few hours, you showed me new dimensions
– The Supremes:  You're What's Missing in My Life –

*****

The blue river snaked through the landscape, cold, clear water bubbling happily over the slippery rocks on the bottom and past the larger boulders that were warmed by the sun; Bradley stretched his legs out on top of one, tossed a few small pebbles into the stream, frowning as he observed the lower than normal water level. The entire April had been dry all across the state, too dry, apart from a few showers; luckily the morning's weather forecast had promised some relief for the following week.

He sighed, leaned his elbow against his knee and his other hand onto the warm, solid surface of the rock; the river was a landmark that separated his and Gloria's lands from Sam, Kate and Mike's, and on the other side of the water, a herd of the neighbours' beef cattle grazed, the animals regularly lifting their heads and staring at him with curious eyes. The early afternoon was calm and quiet, only the occasional screech of a predatory bird and the steady bubbling of the stream breaking the silence; in addition to the hilltop, this was his favourite location to come spend a little time at when ranch work situation allowed. It was a place to think, a place to seek solace and strength from the surrounding nature whenever his mind was overfull with worries or otherwise stressed; most of the time it settled him, but now Bradley wasn't so sure.

He and Mike had taken Stefani and Natali to Billings that morning, and he had held onto the blonde for a long while at the airport; she had been quite emotional, and he hadn't really fared much better. Perhaps it was extremely silly, when she would only be gone for a couple of days, but over the past month they had grown so close, so attached to each other; when she wasn't there, it literally felt like one half of his soul was gone, he was unrooted and already missing her more than he had ever thought possible. The drive back had been rather quiet, both men deep in thoughts; at home, he had hugged Lea, who was busy supervising Mary's baking, grabbed a quick sandwich and made his way to the stables, saddled Shadow and headed for a long ride. He had felt the need for a bit of alone time, away from the house that felt empty now, without the two sisters that had become an inseparable part of it the moment they had first walked through the front door.

The rhythmical sound of a horse's hooves against the ground drew him from his thoughts and then Shadow neighed a greeting; he glanced over his shoulder just as Gypsy came to a halt and Sarah jumped down, loosely attaching the horse next to the stallion.

"There you are." She made her way closer, offered a small smile. "Are you all right? Tim said you didn't really want to talk before heading out, so I decided to come check on you; I had a pretty strong inkling you'd be here."

"I'm okay." Bradley cleared his throat, shifted sideways on the rock to make space for her; this wasn't the first time, the two of them there together, and he knew that sometimes Sarah also liked to sit by the river alone, had several times mused to him how therapeutic the place was. "I see you have again pinched Gypsy from him."

"Yeah, I just wanted to annoy him a bit, but more than that, Scarlett was really bitchy to me this morning; I think she's in heat and I knew you had Shadow." The blonde grinned, tightening her ponytail. "I promise we won't drive you too crazy anymore, bickering over Gypsy. So, what's wrong? Apart from the obvious, of course."