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“I think you’re more afraid he will find something,” I answered, and a tear slid down her cheek.
All restraints unlocked at that moment, and I reached forward, sweeping a thumb across the wet trail. Her lip trembled as her gray eyes clouded with tears. “Then everyone involved is in a lot of danger, Cassidy.” She collapsed against my chest. Wrapping her as tightly within my arms as possible, squeezing with every unspoken soothing thing possible, my fingers threaded through her hair.
Her body trembled. “What have I done?” she cried out.
“Nothin’ that we can’t handle, Goldie.” Lifting my hand from the back of her hair, I gently slid her hat off and rested my chin against the top of her head. As I cradled her, the warmth from her body lit a fire in my belly.
There was the confession that I think she’d had since the moment that she showed up here. And I was determined to make sure I kept good on my word.
“I promise,” I added.
Chapter 16
BRIAR
Cassidy did not once mention my breakdown after arranging things with this “Doc” fellow. We were now waiting for his call that he was ready, then we would head to the local butcher shop—the only place with a large enough refrigerator for a dozen dead cattle carcasses. And all this “Doc” and butcher wanted as payment was free beef.
Small towns were so fascinating to me. Neither man had asked Cassidy too many questions; he’d merely needed a favor and offered some free meat, and they’d jumped at it without hesitation.
The cowboy was back in that round pen, this time working a lead rope gently around the stallion. It was mesmerizing to watch, even more so now than when we’d first met. Part of me was only a little bothered that I sought comfort in that man, even though I’d definitely been avoiding him since we returned to the ranch.
Especially in the mornings when I could hear him trying his best, but epically failing, at sneaking around his house. He’d asked for those thirty minutes, however unkindly, but I’d still given them to him—maybe more so for my own selfish reasons, but all the same. Eventually, I was pulled into chores by a rather grumpy Weston when I did make my appearance, only increasing Cassidy and my time apart and my time to think. No one mentioned the lack of Cassidy’s presence, but there was a time or two when I caught Weston watching Cassidy work that horse. Meaning Weston totally knew what Cassidy was doing instead of being foreman but said nothing.
I wondered what it was that kept Cassidy plunking along day after day, working for his brother instead of doing something he so clearly loved. Even more so, why did Weston not seem to encourage Cassidy to go after what was completely his element? Despite Weston’s earlier comment about wishing his little brother worked horses more, it seemed almost like a novelty to him seeing Cassidy in action.
They’d grown up with horses, definitely ridden them their whole lives, but Weston’s reactions had me wondering if starting horses and actually training them from the ground up was not something they routinely did. Further solidifying my suspicions was the lack of pregnant mares or foals on the ranch. There were plenty of horses, but all of them were at least rideable; so, was this as captivating for Weston as it was for me? Which was saying something since I’d started a horse or two in my life.
There was clearly a dynamic going on here between brothers that I had no idea about.
“You should name him,” I called out as the rope whacked against the side of Cassidy’s leg again. The stallion huffed, but this time he didn’t flinch like he had been—improvement from the first time when he’d almost dragged Cassidy across the round pen.
“What?” Cassidy’s husky voice casually replied.
“Give him a name.”
“Nah, Goldie. He’s your horse, that’s your privilege.” He didn’t look at me, his tawny eyes trained on the horse that finally chewed and then licked his lips.
Resting my chin against my arms, I watched as he gently scratched the horse’s neck and then swung the rope with his opposite hand, laying it in the dirt with a plunk beside the stallion. The horse’s feet pranced in the sand for a moment, but he looked more curious and unusually playful than scared. Like a giant kid who was learning things weren’t as terrifying as they’d been made out to be at first.
“How ’bout Sundance?” I offered, and this drew a rather curious look on Cassidy’s face as he twirled the end of the rope against the ground. Dust plumed around the rope, and the stallion leaned his head down, inhaling a nose full of dirt.
“Like the bank robber Sundance Kid?” he asked as the horse sneezed. Several times. A grin spread on Cassidy’s lips.
“Exactly. It goes with your name, and I think this horse deserves to have a complete restart to things. Nothing that reminds him of what he came from, just the riches that await. And he’s acting kinda like a kid right now.” I tugged my hat a little lower over my eyes, shielding my face from the sun as Cassidy slowly nodded.
“I like it. Sundance it is.” His cheery voice was cut short by a shrill ringing of a phone.
Sundance suddenly threw back his head, jerked the lead rope out of Cassidy’s fingers, and darted back toward the railing of the round pen.
A scowl pulled Cassidy’s lips tight as he dug his hands into his pockets. “That one’s on me,” he grumbled and glanced at the screen on his cell. “It’s Doc,” he added before answering the call.
My stomach plummeted to the ground as it hit me. Things were officially happening. That singular phone call was setting the plans into motion. Doc would meet us at the butcher shop where he was planning on starting two necropsies—the longest dead and the most recent. Why it only hit me now that things were really moving forward, I had no idea, because it wasn’t like I was not involved in the discussion that set up this plan.
I couldn’t move, breathlessly watching Cassidy mutter a few last things into the receiver as he quietly walked over to the stallion. The horse watched him with wary eyes, slinking against the fencing as tightly as possible, but that was it. Slowly, Cassidy slipped the halter over Sundance’s ears and then gathered up the dirty lead rope.
Then he took a step in my direction.
And another one.
