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TWO WEEKS LATER
Cole
“And the one-legged cowboy walks again!”Ham held out both his arms as he teased me about my leg.
He had been living at the ranch for the past two months, tending to the horses and keeping the place going as though it was his own, and I was grateful to him for it. I had wanted to come out to the ranch for a while now, but Raya had kept putting it off, telling me that she wanted to make sure I was good and ready before I made the trip out.
“You’re just going to want to ride one of the horses, I know you are,” she’d told me. “And the last thing you need is to get thrown off the back of one with your leg still trying to heal. You want to fall off and break your other leg while this one is still on the mend?”
Of course that sounded terrible, but the only reason I really let her keep me at home was because of the fact she refused to let me have the keys to my truck until I proved to her I was good enough at driving the thing with the prosthetic that she didn’t have to come with me. It took a lot of convincing, that was for sure, but I eventually managed it.
And that only took two weeks beyond having the prosthetic leg put on.
On the other hand, there was a good chance she was getting tired of me being around her all day, every day, and she was happy to have the bit of a break from me when I told her I was going to be going out to my ranch for a few hours. It was the weekend, so she was able to be home alone, and she seemed to be glad for the break.
I understood. I was a loner, too, and I liked that she was able to entertain herself for a while and not have me there with her. It showed me that even now she wasn’t going to baby me or let me be a burden to her. She promised me already she wasn’t going to let that happen, and she showed me with the way she was letting me take off for the afternoon.
Of course, it was going to be a while before I was able to move back out on the ranch. If I even wanted to. I had no intention of selling, but I knew I could easily rent the place out and have people there to take care of the horses for me. I would stop by, of course, to train more animals and make sure my own horses were doing fine, but it would be a way for me to keep the place and still get to be with Raya.
With how much she loved New York City, I wasn’t going to tear her away from it. Her entire life was there. Her work, her friends, her hobbies. I couldn’t ask her to move out to the ranch with me. It was too far away for her to have a life still in the City, and I was willing to make the compromise with her.
I could put up with where her apartment was located. It wasn’t too far into the city, so I didn’t feel like I was being suffocated with the people. And, once I was able to convince her I could drive, I was free to make the two-hour trip out to my own place to take care of the horses any time I wanted. With the freedom we gave each other in our relationship, I knew that wasn’t going to be an issue, and I loved that.
It made me want to spend as much time with her as I could, and I figured that was what made our relationship healthy. We weren’t tired of each other, and we couldn’t get tired of each other as long as we maintained our communication and our freedom we allowed each other.
And right now, it felt good to be back on the ranch with Ham. Although it had only been two months, the place had changed with the changing seasons. It was late in the year, and we were getting on toward winter. The holidays were coming just around the corner, and I couldn’t wait to share them with Raya.
But right now, I was happy to see that things on the ranch were still running smoothly, and as I gave Ham a bro hug, I told him so.
“Thanks for doing all this. You really are a lifesaver,” I told him.
“You really have no idea,” he said with a wink.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“Well, there might have been more than one reason why Raya didn’t let you come out here before now,” he said sheepishly. “It might have had something to do with the fact that I told her I was doing something for you, and I didn’t want you to come see it until I was sure that it was going to work. I know you put a lot of yourself into this place, and I felt it was only right to do the same. I know you would have done things a little differently under other circumstances, and I figured I had nothing to lose, so why not give it a try?”
“You’re going to have to tell me what you’re even talking about,” I said. “Give what a try? What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean I have to admit, the way Raya was so dedicated to you when you were faced with cancer and all that was inspiring. It told me that it doesn’t matter what you’re up against, you never know what you’re going to beat until you try. I was sure when you broke up with her you weren’t going to get back together, and she proved me wrong. She believed in you. She believed in your relationship, and perhaps that was all that you needed to pull through.”
I watched my friend as he spoke, still trying to figure out what he was talking about. I knew Ham had his wild ideas, much like I myself did from time to time. But, it sounded to me like he and Raya were working on something together, and that left me intrigued. She hadn’t said a word about Ham or doing anything with him, which led me to wonder even more what they were up to.
“Alright, I can see you have no clue what I’m talking about, and I’m not going to leave you in suspense any longer,” Ham said. “Come with me.”
He motioned for me to follow him, and he seemed surprised when I was able to walk right with him as though nothing had ever happened to my leg. He didn’t say anything else about it, and I was glad for that. I didn’t want my leg to be the focus of my life. I just wanted to move on as though nothing happened in the first place.
Sure, some things I couldn’t ignore, but I didn’t have to have this be the defining moment of my life. I had much more important things to worry about than the fact I only had one leg. Raya didn’t care, and if she didn’t, then I didn’t have to make a thing out of it, either.
But, curiosity continued to run through me as we walked into the barn. I had no idea what awaited me, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw none other than Maveric himself standing in the stall. He was pawing at the ground as he usually did, but this time, it wasn’t with any malice or aggression.
In fact, he seemed to be excited to see Ham.
“I – I – how?” I stammered. “I talked to the vet that day and told him that there wasn’t any point to making the horse suffer anymore, and to go ahead and put him down.”
“I know you did,” Ham said. “But you forgot that they had to come get the paperwork from me before they were able to do that since he wasn’t legally owned by you. I understood the reason why we were going to have him put down, but shit, I couldn’t let it happen. Not until I at least tried to work with him and see what I could do for his leg.”
“And you did it?” I breathed. I shook my head, unable to believe my eyes. Maveric was standing right in front of me, alive and well. He showed no signs whatsoever of his leg ever hurting him, and he seemed happy for the first time I’d ever seen him.
