“Mhm,” she says, clearly not listening as she stares out at Brown Sugar in the paddock. The horse is making her way over to us, which is definitely a good sign. She’s clearly curious and not too terrified of her new home.
“I could help you,” I say.
“What?” she asks, snapping to attention. Her whiskey-colored eyes are wary and her head is cocked to the side like a predator assessing the prey in front of her.
I swallow, suddenly wary myself. The scheme I have in mind is just going to dig me into a deeper ditch with the Viper. Just this morning, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to stay here. But I think about what Candice told me about Brown Sugar. I think about how badly I’d like to be involved in helping a horse like that. And I think about what Beau said to me the other night.
Working with rescued horses is the most difficult thing you’ll do, but it’s also the most rewarding.
I want the challenge, and the reward. For too long I’ve been taking the easy way out. I did it the night of the bar fight I got into, but no longer.
“I said, I could help you,” I repeat. “With social media, I mean.”
“And what will you be getting out of this?” she demands.
“You could teach me how to train and work with the rescues. As a thank you.” I level her with my trademark Booth grin, hoping it sweetens the deal for her.
To her credit, she doesn’t budge an inch. Most women fall over when I smile at them like that.
I turn towards Brown Sugar, who is close to the fence, and lean over and put my hand out. In it is a small piece of apple, one I tucked into my pocket earlier. I was saving it for Bally, but he’ll understand. Brown Sugar doesn’t move but I can tell she’s interested.
“Fine,” Candice says. “I’ll teach you how to train our rescues in exchange for your help with social media. But don’t think that makes you exempt from mucking duty completely. Tomás can’t do it all by himself.”
Fuck yeah.
“Fine by me,” I say.
“Great. She’ll be your first assignment,” Candice says, jerking her head towards Brown Sugar. She takes the piece of apple out of my hand and stretches it out in front of her. Brown Sugar immediately ambles over and eats it from Candice’s hand, paying me no mind. “I just hope you’re up to the challenge.”
7
CANDICE
The morningafter Nathan and I make our deal, I take Maggie out for a trail ride. It’s my favorite type of riding to do with her, and she loves it just as much as I do. There’s nothing but me, Maggie, and the Montana mountains for company, and as we canter across the fields and shrubbery, I finally feel like I can breathe again.
I slow Maggie to a walk, and finally let myself think about what working with Nathan is actually going to mean. Out here alone in the wild, I can be honest with myself in a way that I can’t be around most people.
Working with Nathan is obviously going to involve seeing him every day. That, I think I can manage. I was going to have to see him every day anyway and I had resigned myself to that fact. But there’s a very specific reason I don’t want to help Nathan with training.
“He’s been a dick to me since we met, Mags,” I say out loud. Maggie just keeps on walking.
The thing is, there was a time when I was actually excited to meet Nathan. Beau had told me a lot about him, and it seemed like he was as obsessed with horses as I was, which is rare to find in a man. About four years ago, right when Nathan was startingto make a name for himself, Beau and I met up with him in Bozeman for a drink. Newly twenty-one, I was super excited and spent a ton of time getting ready and planning out what I was going to say to him.
I wasn’t interested in him like that—I just wanted to be friends with him. Reining is a sport that I’ve always enjoyed watching, and some of the best riders are reiners. To do it well, there needs to be a monumental amount of care and trust between rider and horse. From what Beau told me, it seemed like Nathan was that type of man.
Beau introduced us and it went downhill from there. I remember the exact way that Nathan looked at me when Beau said, “And this is my little sister, Candice.” His eyes slid right over me, like I wasn’t even there. Like he heard, “little” and “sister,” and decided I had no value to him whatsoever. I’m positive Beau told him that I was a horse trainer, but when I mentioned it, all he said was, “That’s cool.”
And then he launched into a monologue about his most recent win.
When he was done, I tried asking him what type of techniques he’d been using to train Ballantine lately, and he mumbled something incoherent before downing his beer, ordering a shot of whiskey, and going off to flirt with a group of women nearby. He dragged Beau along with him, and I sat by myself at the bar, with nothing but my empty margarita glass and the pitiful looks from the bartender to keep me company. As we were leaving, Nathan made a dickish comment about how I’d spent the night all alone hiding at the bar. So I told him where, exactly, he could shove it. And I called him a few choice names. He called me a hissing viper in response.
I don’t think he meant to humiliate me, but he did. I’d built him up in my head and had built up the courage to talk to him that night. And then he was nothing like I’d imagined. Backthen, I dreamed of working with reining and cutting horses, of teaching Western riders and ranchers how to move away from the mentality of forcing a horse to obey, and towards a more holistic practice. I thought Nathan could be my way into that world. Instead, he made me feel rejected and awkward.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter, because a year and a half later, Grammy got sick and I took over the operation of the rescue when she passed away a few months later. When Gramps followed her out of sheer grief, it was Beau and me against the world. I had no time to dream of training reining and cutting horses or do anything else but keep our business afloat.
But now, Nathan wants me to teach him to train rescues and has somehow convinced me it’s a good idea. I guess I can swallow the memory of my humiliation if it means getting to put him through hell.
That thought brings a smile to my face. I turn Maggie around, and we make our way back to Star Mountain.
