Page 8 of Fallen Cowboy
Why in the blazing hell did she have to grow up and become this gorgeous woman that would drive every man insane? That wasn’t fair to me. She shouldn’t have done that.
I felt the horse nudge my shoulder and I looked back at Rainbow who was giving me a hell of a stink eye.
“Don’t you go telling on me, young lady. And don’t you go getting mad at me. I haven’t done anything.”
She nipped at my shoulder, calling me out for the lie she clearly knew, and I chuckled as I rubbed her nose.
“Markus is already going to call me out on my bullshit; I don’t need you to do it too.”
I led her back into her stall, giving her a rub down, then treating her with an apple before closing her stall door. I made my way down the barn, checking on the other horses beforewalking out, spotting Markus in the pen with one of the new horses.
I made my way over, leaning my arms on the railing and resting my foot on the bottom beam, watching my best friend work with the horse.
For as far back as I could remember, both Markus and Anelise were in the saddle, working and riding with horses as if it was their very lifeline. And most of those wild, beautiful beasts took to the pair as if it was nothing, listening to their commands with such ease that it always blew my mind.
I was good with horses, no doubt; grew up around them as well. But never looked, nor felt as comfortable in the saddle, as they did.
Watching Markus with them, even now, was almost a whimsical sight. Hell, watching Anelise in one too, was a maddening sight.
When she told me today to take MaryBeth, I was both happy, and sad. Happy she trusted me enough to take her daughter out, but sad because I hadn’t seen Anelise on a horse in ages, and I could only picture the sight now.
“Stop daydreaming, old man.”
I looked up and smiled at Markus before nodding my head to the horse he was on.
“He looks comfortable enough.”
“Only with me. Or with Anelise. He won’t let anyone else on him. Not sure what has him so skittish. I saw you with MaryBeth. I’m surprised Anelise let you take her.”
“Me too. But I got MaryBeth to calm down enough, so maybe that’s why.”
“She has the love of horses that her mother has. You done for the day?”
“Yeah, checked on the others, they’re good. Then Thomas was just about done mucking the stalls.”
“Great, I’m going to put Thunder here back, want to grab a drink at Joes?”
I wanted to say no, it would probably be the smart thing, but I couldn’t tell my best friend that. So, instead, I nodded and made my way to my truck to wait for him.
“Wanna hear something funny?”
I lifted a brow at Markus as I took a pull from my beer. He sat across from me, playing with his own bottle as he waited for my response.
“What?”
“Thomas told me something this morning that shocked me.”
“Yeah, what was that?”
“You kissed my sister.” I fought to keep the beer in my mouth and not spit it all over him, which only caused him to grin. “That’s not the funny part. When we were growing up, she had the biggest crush on you. When she got pregnant from that loser, I almost wished it were you. Not that you wouldn’t stay by her side, but because that means we would have been closer. You wouldn’t have just been my best friend.”
“Are you saying you give me permission to date your sister?”
He laughed as he finally took a drink then shook his head.
“I don’t need to give her permission, she’s a grown ass adult, if you couldn’t tell. She’s also strong-willed, stubborn, driven, smart, beautiful, and sassy as hell. I think that’s a born trait in any part of Texas, actually. But she’s a cowgirl through and through. She helps with the ranch management, she helps Cook, and when she can, she helps with the horses.”
“Why are you sharing this, Markus?”
