Page 16 of When the Storm Breaks
Brody was quiet for a few minutes, his gaze calmly following the horse who was running right for the fence and looked like he was about to jump it. Brody snapped the rope against the ground, and the colt stopped dead in its tracks. Brody approached the colt and lay the rope over its shoulders, sliding it back and forth and pushing his body against the horse’s side until he had him up against the fence.
What was he doing?
Seconds later, I exhaled a breath of relief when Brody clipped the lead rope onto the horse’s bridle and led him through the gate like nothing had happened. He set him free in a paddock behind the round pen where a few other horses had gathered to watch and closed the gate, leaning on the fence to watch the wild mustang canter away with the other horses.
“Hey Cowboy,” I said when he joined us.
“Viv.” His eyes narrowed with suspicion and he crossed his arms over his chest. His dirty blond hair was matted down with sweat and curled up a little where it met the collar of his T-shirt. Despite the sweat and his surly attitude, I still found him downright edible. “What’re you doing here?”
“Just looking for you.”
“I’m busy,” he said brusquely. “If you need something, call Kate.”
O-kay. Looked as if I wouldn’t be getting charming Brody today.
Dismissing me, Brody talked to Wade about the colt for a few minutes, then Wade said his goodbyes and left, and Brody turned his attention to Patrick.
“You want the bad news or the good news?” Patrick asked him.
“Don’t tell me. My house needs a new roof.”
“Afraid so.”
Brody muttered a curse and ran both hands through his hair, holding the back of his head. “What’s the good news?”
“I’ve got a good crew that can start next month. Thought I’d put Ridge on one of my crews. It’ll do him some good to do some honest work.”
Brody’s eyes narrowed. “You wanna put Ridge on a construction crew?”
“School will be out.”
“Unless he’s in summer school,” Brody muttered.
“Summer school? What the hell? How could you let him fail—”
“He’s not going to fail,” Brody said through clenched teeth.
“I told you you should have let him live with us.” Patrick crossed his arms over his broad chest. “That boy needs discipline and a firm hand.”
“I’ve got it. Don’t worry about Ridge. He’s my responsibility. And take it easy, you hear me? You’re working too hard. We don’t want you having another heart attack.”
Patrick scowled. “My ticker’s just fine. Work keeps me going. Retirement would have driven me to an early grave.”
Brody snorted. “Your retirement lasted all of three months.”
“Four. And it nearly killed me having all that free time on my hands.” With that, Patrick said his goodbyes then strode away, leaving me alone with grumpy Brody.
“Do you need some help?” I had to jog a little to keep up with him as he strode to the barn.
“Nope.” I waited for him outside the tack room where he grabbed a handful of bridles and some lead ropes then stepped aside to let Chris pass with another bale of hay. “I’m moving the horses to the back pasture,” Brody told him. “When you’re done unloading, I’ll need you to clean up the manure then mow it to three inches... second thought, make it four inches.”
“You got it, boss man.”
“Stop calling me that,” Brody grumbled before he stalked away.
Chris winked at me and we shared a smile before I trailed Brody to the last double stall at the end.
“Are you still here?” He wouldn’t even look at me.
