Page 35 of Fallen Cowboy
"Is there a reason I shouldn't be, Markus?"
I took the saddle off her, then the mat, before I started to groom her.
"No, just a statement. She needs to be free."
"Yes, something she and I figured out.”
"Come to the game with us tonight?" he asked.
"Are you joking? And risk the chance of seeing the asshole? No thank you."
"You know it’s MaryBeth’s favorite thing. She could use it."
I stopped to look at him, my brow lifted.
"You can take her, I don't mind, Markus."
"I think you need to be out of here. And so, what if you see him? It’s been five days, and it was a false alarm."
"Are you freaking kidding?" I struggled to keep my voice low, not needing to spook Rainbow. "False alarm or not, he made his choice."
"I’m not defending him, he hurt my girls, and I told him not to do that. But you also can’t deny that it was a news bomb that exploded in a way to freak him out."
"Thats usually how pregnancies work. Even when you are married. You can’t honestly plan for them though you may try.Look, I get it. Even if it’s not true now, it still doesn't disqualify how he viewed it. What he wanted or what he didn't want. Sorry, he hurt me a lot more than I thought. And he hurt my daughter."
"I still think you should talk to him before you write him off. He’s not leaving for the rodeo."
I stiffened as he said that. Sure, in my anger I wished him gone, but I'm glad he wasn’t going back to that. That was dangerous and I'm not sure my heart could handle seeing him maimed or something worse, by a bull.
"He has a job here, Anelise, I need him here. So, either you are going to have to learn how to deal with it, sister, or forgive."
I paused with my hand on Rainbow’s side, feeling her steady breaths. Her eyes flicked back and forth between my brother and I and her ears were pushed back, as if she was listening and understanding the whole exchange.
"I know, Markus. I got it. And regardless of what you might think, I can be the bigger person and tolerate him."
"Good to know. So," he said, resting his hand on mine and causing me to look at him, "come to the game tonight. Just so your daughter can be happy."
"Sucker punch," I muttered. He knew damn good and well the card he threw down. I’d do anything for my daughter and her happiness.
And that’s how I ended up here, sitting on the cold bleachers with my daughter next to me and my brother on the other side.
With absolutely no Troy in sight.
Was I happy?
I don’t know.
Was I sad?
Again, don’t know.
I just knew that boiling around in me were mixed feelings. I don’t think I blew up anything, he said something he shouldn’thave. But at the same time, I kind of felt like I did. I mean, if I was in his shoes, would I have been jumping for joy?
Chances would be no.
So, did I have the right to go all crazy on him?
I glanced over at MaryBeth who was grinning like a fool, a smile I haven’t seen on her face in a few days.
