A cattle guard at the base of the driveway kept the livestock in much the same as mine used to. Only I didn’t see any of the cows that used to be such a big part of the farm.
“No cows?” I asked.
“Two. Only milking ones, though. With none of the kids wanting to work the farm, the cows were sold out slowly but surely. That’s mainly the reason our parents moved out. They didn’t see a reason to be here if they weren’t raising cattle,” he explained.
I nodded in understanding. The place was mighty big for an older couple with no reason to be there anymore. The upkeep alone was astronomical.
He opened the door to the barn, and I looked around in surprise. “Wow, you’ve updated this, too.”
He nodded and showed me what he’d fixed and remodeled. “There’s an apartment off this side of the barn. It’s not in use anymore, though. Natalie moved out about two years ago.”
Natalie was two years younger than Nikki and I, which would put her at about twenty four. It was a surprise that she moved out, though. Nico would’ve let her live here as long as she wanted.
Something large started to make a racket at the far stall, and I raised my eyebrows at Nico. “You have a new colt or something?”
He shook his head, a private smile tipping up the corner of his lips. “No, I’m sure it’s your fault that she’s going crazy.”
I followed behind the excited Nico, coming to a sudden stop when I saw what was inside.
“Nautica,” I whispered.
It’d been eight years since I’d seen my beloved horse. Eight long years that I’d thought she’d been sold along with the livestock we’d had on our land.
I looked at Nico, my eyes leaking, and said, “You kept her?”
He nodded. “Yeah, we’ve just been waiting for you to come home.”
I burst out crying, walking to the edge of the door and placing my hands up against the stall door.
Nautica pressed her velvet nose up against the bars and whickered.
I giggled and reached down to work the lock open.
The other horses hadn’t had the bars on their stalls like Nautica did, and I knew why. Nautica was an escape horse. If you built it, she could get out of it, no exceptions.
Although, it looked like Nico had figured out exactly how to keep her in her stall when she wasn’t outside.
Once the door edged open, Nautica pushed her nose through and clopped up next to me.
I curved my arms up and over her silky black coat, laying my head down on her thick neck.
“I’ve missed you,” I whispered fiercely.
Houston wasn’t the best place for a horse. I’d lived in an apartment the entire time I’d been gone, working two jobs just to stay ahead of everything. I’d gone to school when I could.
What little money I had saved would go to the boys for their college educations.
I was proud to say that none of us had debt, but that had come at a price. One that meant I couldn’t have what I wanted. One of those being my horse. The one that’d been my pride and joy.
Nico’s hand reached up and ran down Nautica’s nose, scratching her between the eyes with his blunt fingernails.
She gave a snort, blowing a few hairs off my face, and I giggled.
Nautica was still the spitfire she used to be.
“Oh, Nico. You’ve just made me one very happy woman,” I said, turning into his arms.
He hugged me back, and I felt Nautica’s large head butt me in the back, looking for attention.
I let Nico go, so beyond happy that I couldn’t stand it.
“You so deserve a cookie,” I said over my shoulder.
He winked. “I’ll settle for dinner. To celebrate your graduation.”
Something passed between us in that moment. A long time ago, he’d made that same offer, and something horrid had happened. This time, I’d make that dinner if it was the last thing I did.
“Deal.”***The first thing I did when I got home was tell my brothers about Nautica, and they were just as ecstatic as I was. They’d never had a horse of their own, unlike me. So, I’d shared Nautica with them.
Everyone was thrilled, that is, except for my youngest brother, Darby, who was an ass no matter what happened.
“You’re kidding, right?” Darby asked in disgust.
Ace glared at him. “Don’t be an ass. He could’ve sold her with the cows like we’d told him to. We’re lucky he didn’t.”
“He should’ve listened. That could’ve been an extra two thousand dollars that we could’ve used to buy clothes and food,” Darby snarled.
Although their foster parents had been nice, they weren’t the wealthiest on the block.
There’d always been more month at the end of their money, and they had lived nearly paycheck to paycheck.
The boys had all had to get jobs once they were old enough, and I helped them where I could, too.
It’d never been enough, unfortunately.
Which had been a large factor in the deaths of their foster parents.
They’d neglected themselves to feed their kids, and in the end, when their immune systems had become compromised, and they’d both died within a year of each other.
Leaving everyone alone.Chapter 3You know you have the key to a man’s heart when you have the keys to his truck. ‘Cause there’s no fuckin way he’d give those up if he wasn’t planning on taking payment in orgasms later.
-Life LessonNico
“No, mamá, I will not bring her to your house for dinner. We have a date. One that doesn’t include my family,” I growled into the phone.
It was a futile gesture. It’d be happening with or without my consent. I just had to be smarter than my mother.
“Hijo, I don’t really care what you do with yourself, but she’ll be coming to my dinner table tonight. You just wait and see,” my mother declared.
I sighed, long and loud.
If I didn’t bring her, my mother would just go over my head and ask Georgia directly. Which meant I needed to act like I was, or keep the phone away from Georgia.