Free’s dark eyes were focused on his mouth.
“I rode a horse every day when I was young. Bought my own when I was twenty. Sometimes, if life wasn’t agreeing with me, I’d go home and ride him. He was a black and white Appaloosa. I named him Ranger. I used to sit in the barn with him for hours.” Hart shook his head, lifting one corner of his mouth. “That damn barn.”
“What.” Free leaned in. “What’s making you grin like that, huh?”
Hart couldn’t believe he was gonna say this, but it was what they were doing, getting to know each other. “My pop had this massive red barn for the ranch horses and there was big loft up top where we stored the hay bales and supplies. Well, sometimes, I’d hear my best friend Billy up in the loft with his girlfriend and I’d have to keep watch for him. He’d get loud and…”
“You’d what…wish it was you and him, instead of her?”
Hart recoiled. “No! Bill was my brother. We grew up together. I wanted to make my own grunts with my own guy up in the loft.”
“Oh.” Free nodded as if he enjoyed the sound of that.
“I wanted to roll around in the hay.” Hart laughed with embarrassment when Free looked at him with an amused glint in his eyes, “Hey. Don’t give me that look. It’s a thing growing up on ranch to fool around in the barn, okay? But, a boy grows up.”
“Of course. So you didn’t have a terrible childhood, but you left home to explore bigger opportunities in brighter cities?”
Hart wished it had been that simple. “Not exactly. I came here the second I was accepted into the SWAT academy.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Teresa was pregnant at the time. I thought the pay would help with her prenatal care. She…she um…had difficulty carrying.”
Free reached across the table and took one of Hart’s hands and held it in his own. “Hey. You don’t have to go into this. I didn’t mean to—”
“No. Len. It’s okay. It was a long time ago.” And it was a part of who he was, as well.
“Still. It’s very personal. Hurtful, I’m sure.”
“Lennox. You told me something extremely confidential and personal last night. A time in your life that I’m sure was painful. And I appreciated that trust. Let me show you that I trust you, too,” Hart confessed. He’d realized that he wanted Free to know the truth. Wanted him to know why he’d had to suppress what he’d wanted and why he’d put up with Teresa’s abuse for so long. Besides, there was no hiding it now. His ex had blown in there last night like a tornado—no warning, and completely destructive—and had put their disturbing past on display in front of his company. He wanted to tell his side.
“Okay,” Free whispered.
He started in, “You ever heard of a shotgun wedding?”
“Bloody hell.” Free dropped his head but quickly lifted it, giving Hart his attention.
“Well, Reese’s dad was the bloody reverend at the wedding and he preferred a Colt Walker over a shotgun.” Hart’s laugh was void of humor. “Nonetheless, his point was made. He married us after I got Teresa pregnant my first year in college. I was still working on my father’s ranch in the summers, while getting my criminal justice degree at Texas Tech. Reese’s family and my family had huge ranches, breeding livestock and stock horses. Anyway, our mothers always pushed us together whenever I was home. It was so damn old fashioned, I know, but they wanted the families to be joined.”
Free opened his mouth then closed it again.
“What were you gonna say?”
“You had an older brother,” Free mumbled. “Why not him?”
Hart couldn’t believe how damn charming Free’s sour statement was to him. Telling this story wasn’t going to be as bad as he thought. “True. But Mike was already engaged to his high school sweetheart who he’d loved since grade school. So next in line was me.
“All I ever wanted to do was be a cop, though. A good cop, not just a beat officer who wanted benefits and a steady paycheck. I knew I wanted to make a difference. I knew I wanted go full career, not marry early. In high school I would intern in the sheriff’s office, and from that moment on I was hooked.
“Law enforcement was what I wanted to do. Sheriff Roberts was the best mentor. He was the law in an ultraconservative town, yet he didn’t let hate and prejudices go unpunished. I learned all I could from him.”
“He sounds awesome.”
“He was…is. He’s retired now, of course. Living the good life in Castle Hills with his daughter and grandkids. I get an email from the old goat every now and then.”
Margery came back to refill Free’s hot water for his tea and Hart’s coffee. “Breakfast will be just a couple more minutes, fellas.”