Finding the Broken Cowboy

by Cassidy Hanton

  "How come you don't know how to ride?"

  There was a passing shadow across her face that made him wonder before she answered him. "Mother would not allow it," she said simply.

  "How come?"

  Beatrice shrugged. "I suppose she was frightened I would get hurt. One of her younger sisters lost the sensation in both her legs after falling off a horse."

  Nathan took a moment to digest her words. "That is unfortunate, but one cannot live in fear."

  "I agree," Beatrice replied instantly.

  While Beatrice petted Bailey, her demeanor completely changed. Not only did her frown, the one Nathan was responsible for, disappear but she seemed more relaxed than ever. Something that was not entirely related to him, he realized.

  Also, this was the first time she spoke to him without reserve or disdain, and he rather enjoyed the exchange. Nathan would just have to find different ways in the future to engage her until she completely forgot about her animosity toward him.

  A brilliant plan Nathan, as ever, he complimented himself. "Are you ready to ride now, Miss Beatrice?" Nathan asked her, sensing that was the right time to advance her learnings.

  "Oh, yes, please." Beatrice replied with that same radiant smile which made Nathan smile in return. He was doing that quite often as of late, and he found the experience rather pleasing.

  Chapter Twelve

  Beatrice never imagined riding could be so exhilarating. She couldn't wait to actually learn to ride well enough so she could go riding beyond the confines of the circle or ranch entirely. The scenery was rather picturesque here on the border between Montana and Idaho, with the majestic Rocky Mountains all around, that she wanted to take full advantage of it.

  Mr. Walsh wanted her to mount the horse like a man, and her first reaction was to refuse. There were so many arguments she could use to defend her position. It wasn't decent, she did not own appropriate attire, she wasn't a man, yet none of that actually mattered. Times were changing and the only thing that was actually stopping her was herself. Unfortunately, Mr. Walsh saw right through her.

  "Are you afraid?" He taunted. Or at least it sounded like that to her, so she straightened up. You can do this Beatrice, you are not afraid, she shook her head and let him help her up.

  Every thought disappeared from her mind as she mounted the horse. It felt divine. Bailey was such a fine horse, listening intently to everything she was saying or doing as Mr. Walsh instructed and responded accordingly. Beatrice only wished she had enough foresight to bring him an apple or something as a treat.

  You did not want to learn how to ride, remember? A small part of her reminded her, dampening her mood ever so slightly.

  No, stop that, she scolded herself, banishing such thought. She was having such a splendid time regardless of how it started, and she simply wanted to enjoy it. God knew Beatrice needed that.

  And it was all thanks to Mr. Nathan Walsh. That notion did not sit well with Beatrice, so she quickly banished that thought as soon as it appeared inside her mind.

  While she was on the subject of Mr. Walsh, she simply could not understand his motives. He acted completely different during this visit. Mr. Nathan Walsh was cordial, well-mannered and highly focused on teaching her how to ride. Beatrice could see no faults or hidden motives behind it, which was impossible and thusly driving her completely mad.

  "You are doing splendidly, Miss Beatrice," Mr. Walsh complimented. They were making rounds in the space designed for training horses. Mr. Walsh was firmly holding the reins, walking beside her as she rode Bailey, trying to give commands with her legs.

  As she noted, Mr. Walsh's demeanor changed toward her, not in its fullest; there were still remarks that showed his true character. However, he was trying really hard to convince her he was a gentleman. Overall, Beatrice could not help but think of him as rather quaint, which was different from the image he showed her the first time they met. Or the second time, she added to herself.

  The question that arose was, which Nathan Walsh is the real one? Beatrice was at a loss since she did not know the answer to that question. His behavior now was confusing. This must be some kind of a ploy, she insisted stubbornly, refusing to be charmed. Beatrice would thank him for the lessons but would not continue to see him.

  "Miss Beatrice, do you believe to be ready to try on your own, now?" Mr. Walsh asked, snapping her from her daydream.

  On my own? "Of course," she replied instantly with confidence. The prospect of actually riding on her own made her forget about everything else.

  Nathan Walsh smiled in return. "That's the spirit," he said. With a little adjustment, he gave her the reins he was holding, showing her how to do so the proper way.

  Beatrice tried really hard not only to not show any fear but also not to actually feel it, and she succeeded, focusing on all the positive things she was experiencing. You can do this, Beatrice, she cheered herself.

  "Let's repeat the same pattern, but do it on your own now," Mr. Walsh commanded, and she nodded in agreement.

  "Here goes nothing," she mumbled mostly to herself, giving the horse a little nudge, clicking with her tongue as Mr. Walsh taught her to.

  Beatrice wanted to jump from joy as Bailey followed her lead, yet contained her excitement, and not just because she was on horseback.

  "Keep going," Mr. Walsh encouraged, not that she needed it.

  Beatrice made several laps on her own. Her body ached somewhat terribly yet she did not mind one bit.

  "You are a natural, Miss Beatrice," Nathan complimented from behind her. He was giving her space to ride on her own while remaining close by, and she was grateful for that.

  "That she is," Beatrice heard another voice. Without turning, she knew her Uncle Tom joined them. The two men greeted one another.

  "I know how to ride now, Uncle Tom," Beatrice said proudly, feeling silly while wearing the most ridiculous of smiles.

  "I can see that," he replied in the same manner.

  While her uncle and Mr. Walsh conversed, Beatrice continued to ride in circles.

  "Let’s see if we can go a bit faster," she told Bailey, feeling quite exhilarated.

  If only mother could see me now, Beatrice suddenly thought, and the notion surprisingly did not make her sad. She chuckled, trying to picture her mother's reaction to this undergoing. Sarah Foster would have a fit seeing Beatrice on a ranch, riding a horse. On the other hand, she knew her Dad would be beyond proud. Benjamin Foster always encouraged his daughter to be fierce, to do, see, experience as much as possible.

  Alas, he was also quite enamored with his wife and tended to forfeit his opinions in her favor when Beatrice was concerned, and Mother wanted her to be a proper lady that knew how to entertain and please others above everything else.

  Beatrice realized she did not want to fit inside that norm anymore. Maybe I never did…

  "Bailey, shall we pick up the tempo?" She nudged the horse and they were off. Beatrice squeaked in delight and surprise, she hasn't quite expected Bailey's reaction to be so fierce, as if was waiting for such command all this time. Maybe I overdid it, came a sudden thought and Beatrice was inclined to listen to it. Two men instantly jumped to her aid, but Beatrice was faster.

  "Whoa, Bailey," she commanded, and the animal instantly stopped turning his head toward her to whine a bit, which she found endearing. Soon, she promised the animal.

  "Beatrice, are you all right?" Her uncle wanted to know as Mr. Walsh said, "That was perfect. You are a natural, indeed. The two of you clearly bonded." Beatrice was flattered to hear that.

  "Why, yes, but maybe it was enough teaching for one day," her uncle replied.

  "Nonsense," Mr. Walsh said back.

  Beatrice observed the two men speaking about her, deciding the best course of action as if she wasn't even there. She sighed in exasperation. I pray they do realize I might have an opinion as well.

  "Miss Beatrice, any thoughts?" Mr. Walsh took her by surprise by asking.

  Truth be told,
Beatrice did want to continue; she did not want Nathan Walsh to be proven right, so she said instead. "Thank you kindly for today. I do believe Uncle is right. I am getting a bit tired."

  Nathan Walsh narrowed his eyes; he did not believe her, and she continued. "It is time for me to retire, I am starting to ache from all this exertion," and that was not a lie. "But I thank you profusely, Mr. Walsh."

  "It was my pleasure, Miss Beatrice."

  Mr. Walsh came to help her dismount, but she jumped off on her own, feeling quite proud of herself.

  Naturally, she never did such a thing before in her entire life. She panicked thinking her dress would get caught up, get in the way and prevent her, maybe even hurt her, from jumping off. Praise the heavens she landed on her feet majestically, if she could say so herself. Suffice to say, Beatrice was quite satisfied she managed it without making a fool of herself in front of Nathan Walsh. The fact that she caught him off guard was a bonus.

  "It was mighty kind of you to visit us today and tutor Beatrice," her uncle added.

  Nathan Walsh inclined his head. "Anytime," he replied, generously.

  Before they started walking toward the house, he had something else to add. "Furthermore, I leave Bailey in your care, Miss Beatrice."

  Niece and uncle both started to protest at the same time, but Mr. Walsh was adamant. Didn't he say Bailey was his favorite horse? No. She must have heard it wrong.

  More words were exchanged, yet they were at an impasse. Not wanting to cause additional drama, Beatrice accepted the gift; she was already in love with Bailey, so the horse stayed. Nathan Walsh promised he would certainly come again to visit Bailey and to further advance her riding skills, and Beatrice could not say how it happened, but she agreed to that as well.

  No matter how hard she thought about it, she could not explain why any of this happened. Mr. Walsh declined her uncle's offer to stay for some refreshments, saying he had some things to attend to on his ranch.

  If he was so busy why did he come in the first place? Beatrice had to wonder. Watching him leave in a carriage with Ben, courtesy of Uncle Tom, Beatrice felt more confused than ever. She could not fit these two different sides of Mr. Walsh together. How did Mr. Nathan Walsh incorporate himself in my life, she asked the heavens in exasperation, and more importantly, why?

  Nathan was mighty proud of himself for what he accomplished today. There were a few minutes during his visit to the Thunderbolt Ranch where Beatrice actually conversed with him without contempt or reserve. A few moments indeed… It was still far better than the way she acted previously, seeing him at Madame Mab's dinner party.

  This is progress, he concluded. A rather fortuitous turn of events thanks to Claudia Foster who unintentionally suggested riding lessons, and he was going to treat it as such.

  "What is wrong with you?" Josef asked in all seriousness. "And where is your horse? Is that Ben driving off, from the Thunderbolt Ranch? Why is he giving you a carriage ride?"

  Nathan looked at him stunned. "That is a hefty list of questions," he replied, having no intention on answering any of them. He was having such a lovely time with Beatrice today; Nathan was not going to let anyone ruin his good mood. Not even Josef.

  "There it is again," Josef exclaimed pointing at Nathan's face. "Are you ill?"

  The question confused Nathan. He did not feel ill. So he said as much. "No."

  Josef shook his head, slowly as if he did not believe him. "You have a mighty strange expression on your face."

  Nathan frowned, and Josef grinned in return. "That's more like it. Now you look more like yourself."

  Nathan scowled, wanting to roll his eyes at his friend. He was pulling his leg, as always. I should have known.

  "Don't get me wrong," Josef continued in false seriousness. "It is good to see a smile on your face, my friend, that is very different from your usual smirk."

  My usual what?

  "I am just curious to find out what put it there in the first place. Or should I ask who put it there?" He corrected himself.

  Nathan folded his hands across his chest. "I am starting to get worried about you. You are delusional and prone to fashion stories, maybe you should have been a litterateur," Nathan jibed back.

  "You are deflecting," Josef accused. Nathan shrugged. Of course, he was going to play coy. At least for now. For some reason, he wanted to keep his dealings with Beatrice private.

  "Are you here for a reason?" Nathan asked, changing the subject, not in the subtlest of ways, yet he did not care.

  Josef eyed him suspiciously, before deciding to give up with his scrutiny at the moment. "I just wanted to see if you were in the mood to accompany me to town for a drink or two," Josef answered him.

  "No," Nathan replied without a thought.

  "Thought as much," Josef sighed, yet it was a highly exaggerated motion so Nathan knew he was not so hurt by his decline. "It's very sad when one cannot celebrate his name day with somebody," Josef whined.

  Name day? Nathan asked himself in confusion and slight alarm. Is it possible I forgot? That would make him a rather rotten friend, but then something else occurred to him, a memory from not so long ago.

  "Today is not your name day, you fool," Nathan snapped back. "We celebrated it about two months ago."

  "Of course," Josef replied unrepentantly. "Hey! I almost got you, which means I am right," he deduced triumphantly.

  "Right?" Nathan parroted.

  "You are hiding something, something of importance, from me," Josef threatened with his finger.

  "Josef," Nathan tried to deflect again yet Josef interrupted him. "You can act like a fool for as long as you like and know I am taking no offense, however, I will learn the truth one way or another."

  Nathan did not know how to reply to that. However, the thing that Nathan did know was that he wanted to prevent Josef from snooping about. He needed time to sway Beatrice to see him in a different light, to understand why it was of such importance to him in the first place. And he certainly could not do that with Josef following him around like a hound dog.

  On the much more positive note, it was going to be highly amusing to see who would prevail at the end, him or Josef in their endeavors. Normally, he would not bet against Josef, he could get rather focused when properly motivated, yet this time so was Nathan. This is going to be fun, on so many levels, Nathan mused.

  "There's that smile again," Josef commented and Nathan couldn't help but smile even bigger.

  "You know what?" Nathan asked rhetorically. "Let us go now and get that drink, or two," he imitated his friend.

  Nathan's words completely caught Josef by surprise which only put Nathan in an even better mood. Suddenly, he felt like galling Josef in return just the way he tried him mere minutes ago.

  "All right, let's," Josef stumbled, clearly not sure what or how this was happening.

  "You know I will win at the end?" Josef said as he composed himself, and Nathan could not keep it together any longer.

  "I know you can most definitely try," he replied between laughs.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Beatrice woke one morning feeling quite energetic, dare she say happy even. For the past couple of days, she rode every chance she got and that filled her with all kinds of feelings. For some reason, it was even tolerable being in Mr. Nathan Walsh's presence

  She could not understand what the cause of such transformation was, however, she was not going to question it. Beatrice was having a good day and that meant taking full advantage of it, because if she learned one thing in her life, it was that you had to make every second count, live to the fullest since you could never know which day was going to be your last. Or your loved ones’…

  "Good morning," she singsonged, entering the kitchen and greeting everyone present with a kiss on the cheek.

  Uncle Tom eyed her, wearing a small smile himself. "Someone woke up in a good mood," he commented sending a look to her aunt, who nodded in return ever so slightly. Beatrice chose to ignore that exc
hange.

  "Indeed, I did," she replied honestly, accepting a plate of food from Elaine before settling down to eat.

  "Would you care to ride with me today?" Her uncle inquired. "I have some cattle who strayed away that need to be brought back," he explained.

  Usually, Beatrice would jump from joy hearing such an offer, today though she had different plans for herself. "I would love to," she started. "But, I was thinking to ride to town today. Dolores," which was the name of Foster's cook, "offered to teach me how to make that sweet apple pie of hers."

  "That is very generous of her. That recipe has been in her family for generations," Aunt Claudia commented.

  "Indeed," Beatrice agreed, feeling more than grateful. "I just need to purchase some extra ingredients," she concluded. Knowing her lack of skills, the first couple of tries were going to be disastrous, so she wanted an abundance of ingredients at hand simply so she could continue to practice without starving everyone to death.

  "My, my, look at you, you are becoming a true western woman," Uncle Tom complimented, and Beatrice smiled in return. She could hardly believe it herself, but it was true, she was rather enjoying her life here on the ranch.

  "I do not like the idea of you riding to town alone," Aunt Claudia protested.

  "I will be quite alright, Auntie," Beatrice was quick to reassure her. "My riding skills improved immensely."

  "That is the truth," Uncle Tom allowed. "Nathan Walsh proved to be a fine tutor," he added, still Beatrice ignored that last remark.

  Her aunt and uncle thought he was coming to the ranch to court her, and that was not the case. Beatrice did not know what was happening with that man, yet she was not going to dwell on it either. She was grateful for the lessons but in her mind, that was small compensation for all the slights he caused her in the past.

  A path to redemption was hard and long, and Beatrice wasn't even sure that was what Mr. Walsh was trying to do.

  "Would you like me to accompany you?" Elaine offered, snapping her from her musings.