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“I am a sensitive, an empath.” Cady placed an arm around her. “I just pick up impressions.” She looked at Bull. “You love him.”
“Yes, I do. Very much.” Isabella searched Cady’s face. “He said he loves me too.”
“How could he not? Your spirit is one of the purest I’ve ever seen.”
Isabella shivered. “Your sight is welcome. Do you see my future?”
Cady shook her head. “No, not clearly. I do see a time of testing. You have much love to give and the man who will receive it, he shall be very blessed.”
“Is he the man?” Isabella pointed to Benedict Redford.
Cady gave her a gentle smile. “I cannot tell, there is a cloud obscuring my vision.”
“What does the cloud mean?” Isabella was desperate for assurance.
“Future events, yet undecided. Fate is fluid. Sometimes our destinies are determined by our will. Our intent. This is true power, Miss Cortez. Decide what your fate will be and make it so.” With that bit of sage advice, the mysterious woman went to place a hand on her husband’s arm. The light that sprang to his eyes at her touch was amazing to see.
Isabella stood and pondered Cady’s words until Bull called her name.
“Hey, Isabella, there’s someone else I want you to meet.”
She straightened her shoulders and went to see who her friend and business partner wanted to introduce her to.
“This is my neighbor and best friend, Canyon Brady. Isabella Cortez is from Terra Dura Ranch in Mexico. Her family breeds prime stock.”
“What a privilege it is to meet you, Mr. Brady.” She gave him a kind smile and a simple squeeze of her hand. “Benedict speaks very highly of you.” As she greeted the big blacksmith, all she could think of was what Bull had told her of Canyon’s losing a child to cancer.
“I’m surprised.” Canyon chuckled. “He’s usually too ornery to have much good to say about anybody.”
Yes, she’d noticed that. In the past few minutes, she’d been demoted yet again. From friend to business associate and now to just an acquaintance who breeds prime stock. If she stayed much longer, she’d fade into obscurity.
“How much longer will you be in Texas, Miss Cortez?”
She met Bull’s eyes. They were unreadable. Cady might not be the only one who could discern the future, she could foresee a very tense ride home, followed by an even more intense discussion. “That remains to be seen, Mr. Brady.”
Bull might be big, but he wasn’t dumb. He could tell their visit had accomplished more than adding another potential client to their list. From the look on Isabella’s face, she wasn’t happy. He’d blown it, not telling his friends they were together, not claiming her as more than a friend or a business associate.
“If you’ll have that trailer your men rolled the other day towed to my shop, I’ll see what I can do to fix it,” Canyon offered, leaning on the fender of Bull’s double-cab dually.
While they spoke, Isabella strolled over to the white wooden fence framing the perimeter of the adjoining field. Her eyes surveyed the lush pastureland, in some ways reminiscent of her own home. While she gazed outward over the landscape, her mind was otherwise occupied. What had changed? How could he be so loving one day and so cool the next? What had she done wrong?
“Thanks, Canyon, I’ll do that. Maybe we can get together in a few days and have a beer.”
After he said goodbye to his friend, Bull opened the driver’s side door of his truck and addressed Isabella. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” she said, climbing into her seat. She was ready to leave Tebow. She wasn’t ready to leave Benedict Redford.
The distance from Kerrville to Leakey was less than an hour’s drive. To Bull, it felt like an eternity. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d been given a gift from heaven and he was squandering it. “I think the McCoys liked what you had to say.”
“I think so too.”
He swallowed, trying to find firm ground. Seeing how Noah’s mother and the young Mexican had reacted to Isabella - their admiration, their respect – made Bull realize how far Isabella Cortez was out of his league. She was beautiful. She was rich. She was a celebrity in her country, both as herself and as La Diosa. There was simply no comparison between them, he couldn’t help but feel unworthy and inadequate. “How many acres is Terra Dura?”
“A little over a half million,” she answered softly.
Bull’s eyes bulged. “Holy merciful mother of…”
Isabella’s heart constricted. “Why?”
