by Hope Stone
Her energy shifted slightly, but she’d already decided to be mad. “Well, I want to hate you, but you make it hard to.” She cracked a smile.
I took the high road and flashed her one back. “See, not so bad after all. I will do my best to give you some cases that can get you to the next level. Would you consider another branch?”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “Now you’re trying to send me away?”
“No, actually, I might have something for you. But you have to lay off.”
She heaved a sigh. “Okay, I could use the extra money. My mother’s having a heart transplant next month.”
The lightbulb flashed, and the sudden change in demeanor became clear. “Give me some time. I think I can create a role you’d like.”
Colt
The smell of the sweet California grass had me in a good mood. My girl Bella and I were in the barn. Both of us were feeding the horses and cleaning up. I stared at the clumps of pigeon poop as I looked down at the barnyard floor. The pigeons had formed their little nest at the top of the barn attic. I found it surprising, as normally they liked caves. These cute little gray fluffy babies caught my eye from time to time.
Bella loved them. The chickens were another story. I had to shoo them away from time to time because they were a little too curious. I watched her as she hummed and fed the Palomino horses hay. They chomped happily and neighed back, the horses’ version of talking.
“Daddy, I think we should name the little birds.” Right after she said it, a little fluff ball wobbled on its little legs next to Bella, desperately trying to flap its wings and fly. He couldn’t fly yet.
I pointed behind her feet. “Well, there’s the first one. Name that one.”
She turned around, and I thought the chick might try to fly away, but it didn’t. It stayed put. Bella picked it up in her tiny hands and peered at it. To my surprise, it tucked its wings in and sat peacefully in her hands. Not only a horse whisperer but an animal whisperer.
“Let’s call you Flappy because you flap your wings a lot, trying to fly.”
I arched an eyebrow at her, and Moonlight raised her nose in approval, stomping the ground.
“Oh, you approve, do you?” I fed her a carrot, and her large teeth made quick work of it. Nearly took off a few of my fingers, but I managed to get them out of the way fast enough.
Bella petted the chick with two small fingers, and it chirped as well as it knew how. After a little while, she put it down. The mama pigeon swooped down and bobbed its neck back and forth around the chick. She led her little one away from us humans. Maybe she was worried her chick would get trampled.
I stroked Moonlight’s nose, and she butted my hand. She knew in my other hand, I had an apple, which was a little trickier to feed her. I wanted to keep all my fingers.
“Bella, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Daddy. What is it?”
“What do you think about building an arena out here? Maybe we could teach people to ride.”
She sucked in air and spun around, her brown ponytail swinging with her. “That’s a great idea, and I could make new friends!”
“I might need to get a couple more horses later, but we could start small. We have that trail back out here.”
“I want you to do it. That sounds like fun.”
I put my hand out flat and let Moonlight take the apple. She stomped her hoof in her stable, her beautiful mane flicking across the bridge of her nose.
“Moonlight likes the idea, too,” Bella said.
I looked carefully at the horse. “I don’t think Moonlight will be the one to ride. She’s too wild. Only you, Grandma, and I can ride her. She’s very selective about people.”
Bella giggled as she hugged my leg. I ran my fingers over the top of her hair.
“No.” Bella shook her head at me.
“No to what?”
“Grandma can’t ride her. She doesn’t ride anymore, remember?”
I stopped for a moment.
“Yes, I do remember. I’m just so used to her riding. She was pretty good on horseback in her day.”
Moonlight was eyeing me, hoping for more snacks, but I had none to give.
Bella twisted her hair in her hands. “Really? She seems to like baking cookies now. That’s all she does.”
Bella swung in a circle, making herself dizzy. She plummeted to the barnyard floor from the spinning. In examining my daughter, for once, I felt content. Everything was coming together for Bella and me. I touched my pants pocket. My phone was vibrating, and I answered it without looking at the screen.
“Hello, Colt speaking,” I answered.
“So professional.” Instantly, I worked out it was Amber.
“Hi, sweetness. How’s my girl?”
“Colt, why are you keeping things from me?” She wasted no time being angry. I just didn’t know what about.
I glanced over at Bella. She was dancing around the barn, and the horses were watching her. “Tell me why you’re upset, baby. I don’t understand.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you would get Hector a job with the same club that sent you to prison?”
I sighed with relief. “I can clear that up. I planned to tell you when I saw you. Diego runs the motorcycle repair shop, and your brother loves bikes. It’s the perfect fit for him. He and Diego got on like a house on fire. Diego wants to teach him about bikes. It will keep him out of trouble.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want the cops bringing any more heat to him or you. He’s on parole just like you.”
“You have to trust me more. Diego is not involved with the illegal side of the business. That’s Vlad and his Russians. Diego has nothing to do with that.”
“It doesn’t matter. He is affiliated with the club and its name. I really don’t know how I feel about the situation.”
My moment of contentment was fleeting, it seemed. “Baby, I’m willing to take Hector under my wing. I will look out for him.”
I heard her sigh through the phone in discontent. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to process everything. So much is going on, and we’re up against so much. Sometimes I don’t know what to do, that’s all.”
“I know it’s hard, but I have an idea about something. I want to run it past you. Will you come for dinner tonight? Please? I need to kiss that beautiful face of yours,” I replied with softness.
“Yes, but it better be good, Colt.”
“It is. You’re going to want to be involved, too. Let’s give us a chance. Give it some time. You’ll see the man I am.”
Amber
My insecurities were flaring up. It seemed like every time I tried to move forward with Colt, something popped up that made me question him. I wanted to trust him implicitly.
I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and put on jeans and a black top, ready to head to Colt’s house. As I got ready, I put on some music to decompress from the day.
I’d made some calls to Merced USP that day.
“Warden Smith, have you looked into any information I gave you?”
“Well, I have. I see that it can work. There’s a federal grant that would be ideal if we could swing it. We could look at upgrading a few things. I just don’t have the administrative manpower to do it.”
“That’s why I’m calling. What about a prison liaison? Someone to help you in that department? An advocate for the jail, on a paid basis, of course.”
“Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you. They would have to guarantee a result if I paid them. I only have a small kitty of funds.”
“Have a think about it and let me know.”
I was thinking I might be able to get a job and a pay raise for Lucy to help her with the situation with her mother. I sighed as I applied my makeup. I was just about ready to go when I saw Hector’s phone number.
“Hey, little bro! How are you?”
“I’m good. My head is spinning, though. I’m learning a lot at the repair shop.”
“Okay, that’s goo
d news. Please tell me you’re not shipping any illegal parts or anything like that.”
“You have to trust Colt. He put his life on the line for me that night. Man, that guy would have killed us.” He stopped short like he’d revealed too much.
“What…what did you say?”
“Nothing, Amber. Just leave it alone. It’s done now. Diego is legit. Colt is legit. You don’t have any reason not to trust him.”
My belly was burning. I knew he wasn’t telling me something. In a way, I wanted to know, and in another, I didn’t. I eased out a breath and decided to let it go.
I drove over to Colt’s and rapped on the door. As soon as I saw his face, I melted into mush.
“Hi.”
One look is all it took with him. He scooped me up and into him. He planted a kiss on me that made me lift one foot off the ground, just like the movies.
“Baby. You mad at me?” His soulful eyes searched mine for the answers.
“A little, but I think I might be getting over it quickly.”
He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Come in, it’s chilly out there.”
“A little.”
Bella ran into the room when she heard me open the door. She beamed like the ray of sunshine she was.
“Hi, Bella. How are you?”
She placed her hand in mine and led me to the kitchen table. Colt watched as we interacted.
“Glass of wine? I’m cooking tonight,” Colt said.
“Wow. You are? What’s on the menu?”
He grinned a little. “Well, we’ll keep it kid-friendly. Uh. Don’t get too excited. It’s an easy meal. Homemade pizza.”
“That sounds delicious. My favorite kind. Do you want any help?”
“You can pick your toppings if you want. Both you and Bella.”
Colt had a plethora of options in little bowls on the open island bench. Mushrooms, bell peppers, pepperoni, ham, pineapple, cheese, chicken pieces, chilies, and a few others.
“I’m going to have the chicken, BBQ sauce, and mushrooms,” Bella said proudly.
“Is that all you want on your pizza?” Colt asked.
“Yes. That’s all I want. I love BBQ sauce,” Bella replied. Her mind was made up.
“Okay then, little trooper. Simple pizza for you, coming up.”
Colt wrapped his well-toned arm around me and kissed my lips softly. The bristles of his lightly stubbled chin tickled my face.
“I’m going to have ham, pineapple, mushrooms, and bell peppers,” I confirmed with a smile.
“Okay, we got a loaded pizza. I’m going to have a pepperoni pizza. I’m a simple man.”
It was nice to see this sexy hunk of a man performing the most domestic duties. I found it to be a huge turn-on.
“Okay, you have to leave the kitchen. You have to get out of here.” Colt swiped the dish towel at Bella and me.
“Okay, okay. I’m leaving, Chef.” I conceded with my hands up.
He laughed, and so did Bella and I. It was these little blissful moments that led me to believe maybe we would be okay.
“Bella, can I ask you something?” I thought with the subject I was about to broach, it was best to just rip the Band-Aid off. “How do you feel about your father and me being friends?”
Her warm eyes looked at me for a while, and she smiled a little. “I like it. Daddy is happy when you’re here, and you like horses, so it’s fine by me. Grandma told me that you would be a good woman for Daddy.”
Shocked and delighted at the admission, I found the conversation proved to be less painful than I had thought. Bella skipped off to her room, and I realized that Colt had heard every word.
“She loves you like I do,” he said. “I’m glad you asked her, though. I’m not that good at that stuff sometimes.”
I matched Colt’s penetrating gaze. “You’re better at it than you think you are. Sorry that I snapped about Hector earlier. It just took so much to get him out of trouble that I don’t want him getting in it again.”
“No need to apologize. I get it. We can work things out. In fact, I want to run something by you. I think I want to start a riding stable here. I think I want to teach people to ride. I might get a couple of older horses.”
“Colt! That’s a magnificent idea. Where did you come up with it?”
Colt had finished with the pizzas and put them in the oven. Now we were just waiting. I sipped my wine and relaxed a little.
“Bella. She has a way with the horses that I’ve never seen before. I want to live a clean life, and I decided not to take up the offer at the repair shop. I know Hector’s there, but it’s not the same as me being there.”
“Okay. So you were willing to put my brother on the line and have him looked at?”
“Whoa. No. I offered Hector a job here on the farm, but when I saw him with Diego, I knew it was where he belonged. I belong on the land, Amber. I used to work with horses in my younger days.” Colt pointed to the shelves. “You’ve seen the pictures.”
I sighed. “Yes, I have. And I know you’re right. Hector has loved bikes since he was a little boy. I do know this.” I drank a little more.
Colt crossed the room in big strides. “This goes back to trust. I would never put Hector in danger intentionally.”
“Forgive me. It’s going to take me a little time to adjust, is all. I believe you, Colt.”
Colt
Once my mind was made up, it was made up. I stood in the middle of the paddock next to the house. In ankle-length grass, I squatted down to feel the soil underneath. Hard California dirt. I had a ride-on mower, so I could cut it low in no time. The trick was how I was going to turn it into an arena. I needed local government permits to run a stable. That would be easy enough. My mind was sifting through what the next steps were.
“What do you think, son?” My father was standing beside me in a rare appearance. He’d become a couch potato over the years.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, that’s what I think. But I have this feeling in my bones that it will work.”
“Son, I think it’s a brilliant idea. That trail right there runs all the way to the mountain, and there are a couple of waterfalls back there, too. Unchartered territory. I’m proud of you. It takes a lot to get me out of the house these days, but this is a challenge I like. I’m going to map out these fence posts. Have you got the requirements yet?”
“No, not yet. Tomorrow. Okay, let’s get to it then.”
My father was a man of action, and still in decent shape in his late sixties.
I walked down to the production part of the warehouse and dusted off the riding mower. I fed her with some gas and rode back up to the paddock next to the house.
“Get it as low as you can. You might need to do two runs over it,” my father said.
“That’s what I thought, too.”
I put on the earmuffs that were attached to the ride-on, started her up, and mowed circularly. It brought a smile to my face to have Dad here, working side by side. It felt like the old days when I was a kid and we had a few horses. As I looked at my dad measuring out the fences, it brought back memories.
“Now, son, this is the first time on the horse. You don’t need to break them like they tell you. You just need to develop a relationship with them,” he had told me.
That was a great day. It was my first day on a horse named Duncan. Duncan was a special horse. He was white with brown splotches all over him. Everybody loved Duncan, and he was the horse I won many events with.
I remembered crying in the barn when Duncan got old and passed away. He had been with me for twenty years of my life. I rode him every day. My father found me in there, curled up with my knees to my chest.
“It’s okay, Colt. Sometimes people or things are taken from you because you don’t need them anymore. Duncan’s spirit is still here. Never forget that. I bet you, right now, he’s stealing apples out of somebody else’s hand up there in horse heaven.”
“You think, Dad?” I wiped the salty tea
rs from my face.
“I know, son.”
Now here my father was, whistling and dancing as he put down markers for the fence. He was a man of the land, and I’d gladly followed in his footsteps. Every now and then, I thought of Charlie. We made good progress for the day, and my chest swelled with pride at the accomplishment.
“Bella coming with us tonight? We have a standing date to play cards.”
“You’re teaching my baby girl to be a card shark?” I squeezed my father’s shoulder.
“Nope.” His old eyes twinkled with a spark as we walked back to the house. “I’m teaching her how to read people and pay attention to her surroundings. It’s a valuable lesson.” My father waggled his finger.
“Yes, it is, Pop. I think Mom is picking her up from school today.”
“Good. She beat me a little too quickly last time.”
“Sounds about right for Bella. She’s a smart cookie.”
“That she is, my boy.”
We’d started when the sun rose, and we were finished when the sun went down. The paddock now looked like an oval that you could run on. The fence posts were standing in position, ready for the next stage.
“Thanks, Pop, for your hard work today. It’s shaping up.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t you let anyone else touch that fence. I’m the best man for the job. Nobody can build a fence like I can,” he proclaimed defiantly. “Make sure you get those measurements. When I drop Bella off, I will finish it.”
“Okay, Pop, sure thing.”
I waved as he got in his old Pontiac and drove off. The mauve skyline of Merced let me know it might be time for a stiff drink. Before I had time to open the front door to the main house, a single gunshot rang out. I heard the horses neigh in alarm.
My heart lurched in my chest. Instincts kicked in. A weapon was needed.
I burst through my unlocked door and ran blindly to the bedroom. I picked up my semi-automatic. I checked, and it was locked and loaded.
