Tacker (Arizona Vengeance 5)

“Getting over your fear,” he says with an appreciative nod.

While I hate to admit I’m afraid of anything, I have to accept his words as true. I was scared of the damn things, but I am getting more used to them.

Glancing down at my watch, I say, “I’ve got a few more hours before I have to get back. What else you got for me to do?”

We’ve actually got the day off today. Our next game is at home and not for two more days. So Coach told us to take a day of rest. He’d probably freak out if he knew I was here doing manual labor on a ranch with a freshly healed fractured wrist. The cast actually comes off tomorrow, and I can’t fucking wait.

But I do have dinner plans with Aaron tonight. Nothing fancy but a good opportunity to continue reconnecting with my best friend. I feel like I have amends that still need to be made for pushing him away after the crash.

“I’ve got nothing but beer to offer you,” Raul says with a smile.

“Gonna have to pass on that,” I say a chuckle. He knows I can’t drink. “But I wouldn’t say no to a bottle of water.”

Raul shuffles down the center aisle of the barn, and I follow. There’s a small room at the end. Inside it is a small desk, mini fridge, and two chairs. A window unit air conditioner chugs away, cooling the interior.

“Welcome to my office,” Raul says with a dramatic wave.

I step in and glance around. There’s nothing on the desk. No computer, no papers… nothing. “What do you need an office for?”

Raul shrugs. “No clue. Nora outfitted the desk and fridge for me. Tried to buy me a computer, but I hate the damn things and threatened to quit if she did. So I basically just come in here to cool off and enjoy a beer once in a blue moon when it gets too hot.”

“That’s legit,” I reply, making myself at home and walking over to the fridge. It’s stocked with beer, water, Swedish fish, and a lonely-looking apple. I nab a beer and water, closing the door with a bump of my leg.

Raul lowers himself into one of the chairs with a slight wince, and I wonder what part of him is hurting. I imagine at his age, while working on a ranch and doing physical labor, probably more than one part of his body is aching.

“You played really well last night,” Raul says, accepting the beer I hand to him before I sink into the other chair. “Even with that damn thing on your wrist.”

“Can’t wait to get it off.” I open the water bottle, then take a long pull.

“You looked light on your feet. Confident, too.”

A smile plays at my mouth. “I feel about a million pounds lighter these days. Guess that translates out on the ice, too.”

“Glad to hear it,” he replies, holding his beer up in a silent toast.

There’s something comforting about sitting in this old barn office with the air conditioner rattling. Raul sips at beer, watching me with wizened eyes. I don’t feel like I have to have my guard up with him, and I wonder why that is. I know part of it is because I’ve worked hard to lower my walls, but there’s more to it.

“It’s all because of Nora,” I say, wondering why I’m in such a sharing mood.

Raul nods, a fond expression on his face. “That girl is special. Knew it the moment I gave her her first riding lesson.”

“How old was she?” I ask.

“About twelve as I remember,” he replies gruffly. “Helen brought her out, explained a little bit about her background to me. Nora spoke English because the European countries all teach it, but because she’d grown up in such a rural area, she hadn’t had a lot of practice with it. The communication was a little hard at first. You could see she’d experienced something horrible because she had that shy, wounded look about her. But you could also see that, deep in her eyes, there was determination.”

I try to imagine her back then… maybe that dark hair in pigtails and struggling with the language a bit. Suffering unimaginable grief and trying to acclimate to a new country and home. Then stepping up to a big horse, determined to master it.

Yeah… Nora’s special.

“She’s the hardest-working person I’ve ever known,” Raul continues, by his tone a little lost in fond memories. “She was so determined to become an American. She wanted to speak fluently by the time her adoption with Helen became finalized, so every time we had a riding lesson, she would chatter the whole time, forcing me to talk with her so she could practice.”

I chuckle, figuring it probably hadn’t taken long for Nora to worm her way into Raul’s heart. I know he considers her to be like a daughter.