“The guy really fucked her over.”
“Bastard,” I mutter under my breath. “I should’ve killed him when I saw him in the club.”
“And what good would you be to Shannon behind bars?” Ruth asks.
I hate to say it, but she has a point. “Do you always have to be right?” I tease.
“Only when I know I am.” She laughs. “You’re looking great, by the way. Keets said you looked like shit yesterday.”
“Yeah, well, today is a new day. What can I say? I feel amazing.”
“She definitely agrees with you,” Ruth says slyly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Shannon,” Ruth explains. “She’s clearly been good for you.”
“Oh, well, uh, yeah, I guess she has.” I can feel myself flush.
“Ohh, the big, bad Ethan Stone is blushing!” she teases.
“I am not,” I say, covering my face. Men don’t blush.
“Sure,” she draws out. “So, where is the invalid?”
“At the stables,” I answer as she serves a customer. “She wanted some alone time with her horse.”
“Zeke’s up there,” Ruth tells me with a smile. “He’s got a real fascination with the horses.”
A stab of guilt shoots through me. “How is he?”
“You could always ask him yourself,” Ruth answers, but I shake my head.
“He won’t even talk to me.”
“Well, have you tried to talk to him?” she counters.
I hang my head in shame. Trust her to make me feel guilty.
“I’ll take that as a no,” she states, crossing her arms with a frown.
“Look, give me a break, okay?” I say hotly. “First I get a son who looks like he’d rather kill me than call me ‘Dad’, then Shannon won’t give me an answer on my proposal, and now I’ve got you breathing down my—”
“Back up.” Ruth says, holding up one hand as she stares at me incredulously. “You proposed to Shannon? Why the hell would you do that?”
I rake my hand over my head. “I don’t know,” I confess. “It was dumb.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“I guess I thought I was trying to help her. Some guy said her dad owed him a lot of money, and she has to either pay up or sell Saddles to him.”
“What?!” Ruth screeches. “She can’t sell Saddles; it’ll kill her!”
“I know,” I agree, nodding. “That’s why I suggested we marry. That way, my money becomes her money.”
“And she’ll have enough to pay him off,” Ruth finishes for me.
“Exactly.”
“But she won’t give you an answer?” Ruth presses.
I shake my head. “Not yet. I don’t know what else to do.”
“You need to ask her again,” Keets declares as he comes out of the office. “You’re doing a good thing, man.” He slaps my shoulder comfortingly.
“I don’t feel like I am.” I feel miserable.
“Look, the worst thing she can say is no, right?”
I nod. “I guess you’re right.”
And that’s exactly what I’m afraid of.
Opening the stall door, I push the wheelchair back as Lady slowly moves forward. I follow behind her as she ventures out into the corral and lifts her head up to the sunlight.
Sadness threatens to overwhelm me once more as I watch my beautiful horse. I’ve been to Hell and back, but she witnessed Daddy’s accident first hand. Many people might think ‘oh, she’s just a horse,’ but even a horse can only go through so much before they fall apart. She walks over and puts her head down to me. I stretch out my fingers and gently stroke her long nose. What must it have been like, to witness such a horrific accident? Do horses experience similar emotions to humans? I’ve heard that’s true. If so, she must have been terrified when those hunting dogs attacked.
I miss riding her, I can’t deny that.
A slight movement to my right catches my eye, and I turn my head in time to see a young blond-haired face staring at me from around the side of the stables. Zeke. I smile as I turn the wheelchair around. “Hey, Zeke,” I greet, motioning him over. He slowly steps out from the side of the stables, his eyes wide as he looks at Lady. “This is my baby,” I explain, petting Lady on the nose once more. “Would you like to pet her?”
He nods as I push the wheelchair back a little and he creeps slowly over, his hand outstretched.
Lady must sense his discomfort, because she whinnies and tosses her head as she takes a step toward him, putting her nose down and bumping against him. “She likes you.” I giggle, as he strokes her nose. He gives me a small smile, and I feel my heart swell. It’s a small thing, but it’s a start.
“Do you ride her?” he asks in such a quiet voice that I almost miss it.
My heart skips a beat and breaks, just a little. “Not anymore,” I say sadly.
“Why?”
I debate on how much to tell him, but ultimately decide to tell him the truth. He listens carefully as I talk about my dad, nodding occasionally. When I’m finally finished, I sit back in the wheelchair, exhausted.
He’s silent for a long time, and I begin to worry that I may have pushed him too far, too fast. Finally, he lifts his head and looks at me a little shyly. “Can I ride her?”
I’m taken back by his request, and more than a little humbled. “Of course.” I respond, nodding.
I spend the next thirty minutes teaching him how to saddle Lady then watch as he sits atop her proudly while she walks around the corral, a huge smile on his young face. It’s a bittersweet moment; I want to ride her again more than anything.
He leads the horse back to me and carefully jumps down. I smile as he sits on the grass beside my chair and pulls at the individual blades with his fingers. “So, how’s life at Ruth’s?” I ask as casually as I can.
“It’s great,” he replies enthusiastically. “Ruth is so funny, and very pretty.”
I smile at that. I’m pretty certain every man in the world, both young and old, thinks Ruth is beautiful. “So, do you think you can find it in your heart to come home?” I watch his face carefully as I ask the question, looking for any clue as to what he’s thinking.
“Dad hates me,” he says, shaking his head.
“Oh, sweetie,” I exclaim, touching his arm gently. “Your dad doesn’t hate you at all. He just hasn’t been a father before, so this is all so new to him.”
Zeke nods in understanding. “It’s new to me, too.”
“Will you come home, and give him a chance?”
To my surprise, he doesn’t say no straightaway. “If I go home,” he says slowly, “will you be there?”
“I will, for a while,” I answer.
“Can I ride Lady?” he asks, patting the horse’s nose once more.
I can’t help but laugh. “As often as you’d like.”
He seems to think about it for another moment then slowly nods. “All right,” he agrees. “If you promise you’ll be there, I’ll go home.”
“I promise,” I say, unable to wipe the smile off my face. “You won’t have to do this alone. You have a whole town behind you, and we look after our own.”
“But I’m an outsider,” Zeke tells me, suddenly looking fearful. “Won’t they hate me?”
My heart goes out to this poor boy, screaming out for just a little bit of love and understanding.
“Let me tell you something,” I start, adjusting myself in my wheelchair. He looks at me, interested. “Your mother was born and raised here, and so was your daddy.”
“They were?” Zeke’s eyes are huge, as though he finds it hard to believe that such a story could be real.
“Yep.” I nod. “Not very far from here, actually.”
“How do you know?” he asks.
“It’s a small town,” I explain. “News travels fast. Your momma and daddy loved each other very much when they were younger,” I continue, though imagining Stone as a lovesick teenager isn’t an easy feat to accomplish.