Page 20 of Unspoken Promises

I’m fucked.

The sun is low, the air finally easier to breathe into my lungs, and we’ll need to turn around sooner than I would have liked, but we made it to Estrella’s late summer crop of cow’s parsley. I know I shouldn’t, but I let her have a nibble. Letting her have her way makes for a nappy horse, and mares already have too much a mind of their own. But she takes such pleasure in the simple taste of weeds by the side of the trail. I take pleasure out of pampering her.

My mom always said I’d be a good dad. Even from the time we were younger she said I was diligent regarding the animals’ needs. I suppose if I’d ever become one, I’d be the spoiling kind. I lean down over Estrella’s neck to pull a bit ofstuck weed from her bridle and pat her. “Come on, girl. That’s enough.”

I click my tongue and tug lightly for us to turn around. Sometimes she doesn’t want to, but tonight she cooperates. Maybe the heat got to her, too, today.

Which makes me think about Ava’s Doc Martens. Why doesn’t she have any sandals? More clothes? More stuff altogether when she knew she was starting her new life? Maybe she’s a minimalist but she looked a lot more like a runaway just short of carrying her belongings in a kerchief at the end of a stick.

The way she was so witty evading my question tonight should have bothered me, but it only made me more curious.

I still desperately want a right-hand around here and have yet to be able to find someone up to my standards. Not that I’m giving her much of a chance to show me with a simple presentation. Then again, her hack was all I needed to know I might have met my match. But then, there are plenty of perfectly matched heroes and villains. I just wish I knew which one Ava is.

When I arrive back at the stables, the barn lights are on and Santi is there brushing Hector just outside the barn in a slice of fading sun. I throw my leg over the saddle and hop down.

He nods in way of greeting. “Nice out there tonight?”

I nod in return and lead Estrella to the O-ring next to Hector and slip off her bridle, replacing it with a head collar.

“I take it you went out there to think about our new guest?”

“Mmm.”

Santi draws a brush in long lines along Hector’s alreadyclean hair. He pampers the old boy. Just as well. That horse won Santi more than a few buckles back in the day.

“She seems all right to me,” he says. “Sweet even.”

When the hell does Santi see Ava?

It’s like he reads my mind and answers.

“I stopped by there tonight when you guys got back from the Pig. She hasn’t been out much since arriving. I figured I better make sure she’s all right. I have a duty of care and all, bringing her here.” He laughs to himself as if recalling part of their conversation. “She sure is a quirky little thing.”

Quirky. Little. Thing.

I work to ignore the way he’s talking about her, but I can’t, and I find it makes my hand curl into a fist. I tell myself he talks about everyone that way. Santi would probably flirt with the flies on his horse’s tail. And yet, I’d rather he keeps Ava’s name out of his mouth.

“What makes you say that?” I barely managed to hide my irritation.

“Well, she just sort of vomited her visit to the grocery store all over me like it was the best thing she’s ever done. She couldn’t stop talking about Penelope and… aliens?”

I take off Estrella’s saddle and walk it to the tack room, putting it on her stand then join my brother again to brush down my horse.

He continues glowing about his new neighbor. “It’s hard to explain her, but the way she spoke about ordinary life just got me smiling. Like she said it smells nice here in the Valley. And I love those Doc Martens of hers and how her socks don’t match. And she wears men’s cologne? She’s not your typical twenty-something.” He laughs to himself again, and it’s like he’s thinking about how cute she is. “She’s just a one-off. You know?”

Yeah, I know.

“Did you ask her at all about her background?” I ask.

Santi throws his brush in Hector’s grooming kit and offers me a cocked eyebrow. “Why don’tyouask about her background?”

“I did, and she didn’t offer much.”

“Well, did you ask her like a friend or like a detective? I know you. You’re all Sherlock Holmes when it comes to new people. It’s kind of off-putting, Zo. Smile once in a while.”

I did lay into her a little on the way to Piggleton’s.

He slaps his hands against his jeans to get the dust off. “Why don’t you try sharing something about yourself first? And get her out of the goddamn house. The girl is a clear extrovert. It’s torture locking her up like that.”

---