8. Eight
Eight
Cash
A rare laugh filled space as I retold the encounter with Abi from the night before. Lachlan and I leaned up against the metal gate as Quinn mounted Charming and trotted around the arena. I could see in her face she wasn’t having it. This was her first time back on her horse. Her injury was still bothering her even with a few physical therapy appointments under her belt, but all I could see was my friend laughing at me. And this man didn’t laugh.
“Abi really told you to fuck off?” Lachlan asked, the chuckle still deep in his throat.
“Yeah, is that so hard to believe?” I turned back to Quinn. “Move to a gallop Quinn! You’re too stiff,” I shouted as she passed us.
She shook her head and kept her focus on the horse under her.
“Loosen up. Remember your position.”
“No,” Lachlan continued as if I didn’t just shout across the arena. “And it’s damn funny.” He laughed again.
I shook my head and gave him a slight eye roll before turning my attention back to Quinn. I had to focus. I had a job to do. The least of my worries should be why Abi was acting the way she was. I knew why she wasn’t talking to me, even if I tried to joke it off. Five years of silence was too long to pretend like we were still friends. As many times as I thought about reaching out to her in those years, Carolyn would remind me that the phone worked both ways—a saying I grew to hate—and that if our friendship meant anything, Abi would reach out. I was stupid enough to believe her. Then I had my accident. My life stopped the second that horse fell on top of me. Once his entire weight centered on my leg, breaking bones and tearing muscles, I knew it was plastered all over the internet and pro rodeo channels. If you followed the rodeo at all, you knew that Cash Callahan was out for the year—possibly forever. In the back of my head, I knew Abi had to have seen that and despite everything, maybe I thought that would have been enough for her to reach out to me, if she wanted to.
But nothing.
Lachlan visited me in the hospital. So did Rhett, both coming to comfort me and make sure I was ok. Neither one of them mentioned Abi.
At that point, I assumed we were done. The friendship between Abi and me had faded the second Sylas fell off that bull. The second I didn’t truly come to the funeral. The link broke.
Even with all of that pent up and buried deep inside that small box in my mind, I had to move forward. Forget it. And a way to do that was to train. Put my attention somewhere else. For now, that comes in the form of a brunette on the white horse whose posture was still too stiff.
“It’s like she’s never been on a horse before,” Lachlan commented.
Glancing his way for a split second, I pushed myself off the gate, the sting of light pain hitting my left leg before I could even acknowledge the force was too strong.
“She had the weight of her horse on her. Of course she's hesitant to get back on.” I opened the gate and stepped out onto the dirt. “Quinn, head over here.”
“How long did it take you to get on the back of a horse?” Lachlan asked. I turned to look at him, furrowing my brow before completely ignoring the question and turning back to Quinn.
He knew the answer to that.
Too long.
“Charming’s out of practice; I’ve been riding Hook too much.” Quinn said as the horse came to a stop in front of me.
“He can feel your body. You’re too stiff. What’s going on?” I placed my hands on my hips, looking up at her as Charming lowered his head to lick something on his leg.
“I’m fine,” she grumbled.
“No, you’re not. Hop off and walk him around the arena. You two need to get back on the same page.”
Quinn looked as if she was going to protest but eventually did as she was told. She led Charming over to the mounting stairs and slowly got off the saddle.
“She’s nervous.” Lachlan stated the obvious as soon as I approached the gate.
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“I’ve fallen off more horses than I can count.”
I glared at my friend, knowing damn well he was more solid on the back of a horse than he was on his feet. That man was more comfortable in the saddle than on the Earth.
“I don’t get it.” I heard a female voice from the inside of the barn. “He seems nice, why don’t we like him?”
I did a quick glance over Lachlan’s shoulder into the stables. Kyla came into view, a straw hat on her head and her arms folded across her chest as she followed Abi.
“He’s an asshole, that’s why,” Abi replied, a quick snap to her tone.
“According to your story, you’re the one who threw a brush at him.”
“He deserved it.”
“Man, you really pissed her off,” Lachlan whispered before patting my shoulder. “Have fun with that.”
I turned back to the arena, glancing at Quinn as she hugged Charming’s nose and walked him around the arena, the slight limp still in her step.
“Walk three times around, then ride. Slow. Let’s not push it,” I hollered.
Quinn gave me a thumbs up before returning her attention to the horse, and I left her alone in the arena to make my way into the barn.
“Come on Abi,” Kyla drew out. “Rhett talks highly of him, so does Lachlan—”
“Doesn’t mean I have to tolerate him. I have two showings of the stables today and then a horse moving in this afternoon. You’re still picking up Stetson, right?” Abi emerged from the tackle closet, only to stop once her gaze hit mine.
Kyla turned, a smile on her face as soon as she figured out I was behind her. “Oh hey Cash,” she said.
I tipped my hat. “Mrs. Hartwell.”
Kyla let out a small chuckle. “You gonna help us clean up the stables?”
“It’s clean,” Abi said, zero emotion in her tone. “You’re busy anyway, right Cash?” She turned to me and for the first time since she asked about Carolyn, she made eye contact.
I looked at Abi raising an eyebrow, tempted to rub the back of my head where I could still feel the contact from the brush.
“Quinn’s here for another hour, then I’ll take her to PT.” I never once broke Abi’s eye contact. “I’ll be back tonight though, to make sure the horses are ok.”
“That’s Rhett’s job," Abi snapped, reminding me as much as she was reminding herself.
“Yeah, but I can help. Two showings today? For?” My attention went to Kyla, hoping she would be more talkative.
She nodded. “Boarding horses, right Abi?” She turned to Abi.
“Obviously,” Abi mumbled.
She locked eyes with me, boring into me as if to silently tell me to…what were the words she said so graciously yesterday? Fuck off?
I narrowed my gaze and gave her a slight smirk before turning back to Kyla. “I’ll get out of your hair.” I motioned towards the arena, taking a few steps back before finally turning my entire body.
“Abigail Acosta,” I heard Kyla whisper sharply. “What the hell has gotten into you?”
“PT isn’t working,” Quinn complained as we got to her hotel after her appointment. “Training isn’t working. Nothing is working, Cash.”
I shut the door to her hotel room, watching her stumble to the bed before plopping down head first onto the mattress. “Quinn, you’ve trained once and have had two appointments. It takes time.”
“It shouldn’t,” she groaned into the mattress, before turning her head to look at me. “Just pull me out of the running.”
“Do you think I’m going to let you give up?”
Violently moving her arms, she pushed herself up on the bed. “It’s going to take longer than ten weeks for this to heal. That’s already a huge chunk of time. I won’t be able to make it to the NFR like this,” she screamed—actually screamed—so loud that it echoed in the small room.
Narrowing my gaze, I folded my arms over my chest and glared at my client.
“Don’t look at me like that.” She lowered her voice, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, her face wincing as her leg bent a way she didn’t mean. A natural move that anyone would do and think nothing of it, but for Quinn…for me….that move would hurt like hell. She placed her palm on her leg and pressed.
“You’re not giving up on this. You’ve had two PT appointments and one training session with me. This is the beginning of a long journey, and if you give up now,” my voice was getting louder and louder with each word, just pulling the memory from my own experience. I gave up. I wouldn’t let her. I inhaled, steadying myself. “You’ll never get on a horse again.”
Quinn’s bottom lip quivered. “How…” she began before a small breath left her lungs. “How long did it take you to get back on a horse?”
“Longer than I’d like to admit.” I loosened my body, hoping not to come off as a father figure who was pissed. She had a dad back in Montana; she didn’t need her trainer coming down hard on her. “But you didn’t have as extensive an injury as I did.”
She gave a small nod. “It still counts.”
“It does. Any injury counts.” I sighed, sitting down next to her on the edge of the bed. There were parts of my life Quinn didn’t need to know. The extent of what happened in my accident was one of them. “It will work, you just have to keep getting back in the saddle.”
Quinn breathed a small chuckle.
“Don’t give up on me Quinn.” I placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
Her gaze hit mine, eyes wet with tears that refused to fall. She was tough, but I could see little by little this was getting her. She was forcing herself not to break.
“What else did you do? When you had your accident?”
What did I do? Physical therapy, acupuncture, got divorced, lost my friends…
“The same, with added acupuncture,” I said instead. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. I’ll find you an acupuncturist.”
“Needles?”
“You scared of needles?” I raised a brow.
She shook her head. “No I just…ok.” She slouched. “I’ll try anything at this point. I don’t want to lose my spot in the NFR.”
I smiled. “There’s my girl.”
“Don’t let me give up Cash,” she said, softly.
“I won’t.”
It was dark by the time I pulled back up the ranch. The lights in the kitchen and a few rooms upstairs in the main house were still on. I made my way directly to the stables, knowing very well that Lachlan was most likely already hiding in his cabin near the edge of the property. All I had to do was check on the horses, and then I’d get to do just that.
Hide.
“Your name suits you, doesn’t it.” I heard Abi laugh as I stepped inside the stable. I slowed my pace not wanting to take her off guard again. “Charming. You are very, very charming.”
She stood in front of Charming’s stall, his nose right up to her as her hands brushed along his mane. She scratched behind his ears and lightly kissed his nose. He bobbed his head up and down in approval. I slowly approached her, making sure I made enough noise for her to know I was there.
“He’s a great horse,” I added.
She stiffened and turned a quick glance at me. “You’re making it a habit to eavesdrop on me.”
I frowned. “Nah, just here to check on the horses.”
“That’s—”
“Rhett’s not here,” I interrupted.
Abi gave me a side eye before petting Charming one more time, kicking herself off the gate to turn to the other horse. It was a new one. A gray speckled horse that was waiting impatiently for her to go to their stall. She bent and picked up a bucket before taking a few steps to the stall’s door.
“Rhett’s with Kyla. Date night,” she added.
“Ah.” I raised my chin and took the last remaining steps towards Hook’s stall. He was already taken care of and had everything he needed, but he clearly wanted more attention. “So it’s not Rhett’s job?”
“Not tonight it isn’t.”
I watched her as she entered the gray horse’s stall, giving him a slight pat on his neck before moving to muck out what was there, before she rose up and wiped her forehead with her arm.
“Who’s this?” I asked.
She cleared her throat before turning to the horse. “Gemini. We’ll be boarding him for a few months.”
“I take it the showings went well today?” I asked, leaning up against the stall door, crossing one ankle over the other.
Abi left Gemini’s stall and took a deep breath. “What are you doing?” she asked, staring me down.
“Making conversation.”
“Why?” She sounded exasperated. Tired. Over everything—and having me here was the icing on the cake.
Too bad for her, I wasn’t going to give in that easily. We used to have a strong friendship. We used to be able to talk about anything. And looking at her now, seeing how much she changed in the five years, I desperately wanted to talk to her. I wanted that friendship back. The one I used to hold so close.
“Because it’s polite. You’re in the stables by yourself. Don’t you want company?” I pushed myself off the stall.
“I’m not by myself. There are horses.” She bent and picked up a bucket, avoiding my eyes.
“Horses can’t talk with you like a human can.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’d rather have any other human in this stable with me right now.”
“Alright Abi,” I said, louder than intended. “I get you don’t want me here, but let’s face it—I am, for a while so maybe…just maybe, we should be friendly?”
“Friendly?” she parroted. “I don’t—”
“Tolerant, then. I’m gonna be around. I’ll be in this stable every day while I’m in town. I’m helping Lachlan with things around the ranch, and three times a week I’ll be training Quinn. I’m going to be here whether you like it or not,” I bit, sounding harsher than I intended.
Abi chewed her bottom lip and gave me a quick nod. Her body relaxed just a fraction as she stepped towards me, that small quiver still in her chin as she chewed on her lip.
“I didn’t mean to sound rude,” I added, making sure to lower my tone, not liking the melancholy that showed on her face.
“No, you’re right. We can be…cordial.” She rolled her eyes again after the word slipped off her tongue.
“You’ll talk to me?” I raised a brow. She opened her lips to respond, but I quickly added, “Without rolling your eyes?”
She met my gaze, and I grinned, seeing how badly she wanted to roll those blue eyes again. She took a breath. “Well, I won’t throw any more brushes at you.”
I chuckled and lowered my chin. I got a joke out of her. It wasn’t all lost. That spark we used to have was still there. The knot in my stomach loosened. “Alright, that’s all I ask.”
She blinked a few times, her eyes rapidly moving from her shoes, to me, back to her shoes as if she was trying to form the words, thinking about exactly what to say that wouldn’t pull her back into our old rhythm. Finally, she gave me a curt nod before bending to drop the bucket on the ground.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said, placing both of her hands on her hips. “For throwing the brush at you, and calling you an asshole.”
“You called me an asshole?” I smiled, giving her a slight tease.
“Oh, come on, you’re not going to pretend you didn’t hear that earlier.” She pinched her brow as she spoke, her shoulders relaxing as she loosened up.
I smiled again, this time wider. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I felt as if I was getting her back. Maybe just a tiny bit.
“I did,” I admitted as I took a step towards her, “I’m sorry I called you a grumpy cowboy.”
She dropped her arms. “Kyla called me out on that, too.”
“I like Kyla.”
“She likes you too.” Her lips twitched, but she stopped the smile before it spread.
Changing the subject, I gestured towards Gemini behind her. “How many horses you got now?”
“Just the four. Your three and this guy. We had two showings that went well. One mare moves in on Friday.”
“And Rhett’s taking care of them?”
She nodded, but let out a long sigh. “He’s supposed to, yes. Lachlan keeps him busy most days, and he still trains because he’s planning on returning to the circuit next year. But mainly it’s been me.”
“What about Wyatt?”
She let out a laugh, and damn it was just as perfect as I remember it being. “You know my brother. He’s gone right now at a rodeo.”
“That I do.” I stroked Gemini’s nose. Sweeping my gaze around the space, I took in the large stables, mainly spotless despite the few odds and ends that needed to be picked up before Abi called it a night. It was late. Stetson was most likely already asleep, and I knew she would be getting up early. Lachlan was busy on the field, Rhett had odd jobs and Kyla to keep him company, Wyatt was out of town. Who was helping Abi?
“I can help out when Rhett can’t,” I said softly, carefully looking up at her to see her reaction.
“You’re paying us to do that,” Abi protested.
I looked at her, noticing again how tired and worn down she seemed. How broken. My heart ached, wanting to reach out to her and comfort her in some capacity. I could do this one thing for her, if she’d let me. “Let me help,” I all but whispered.
Our eyes met for the briefest moment, and I swore I caught a glint in there in the blue, something more than she was willing to give. She shook her head lightly, raising her chin high, letting out a sigh before giving in.
“Fine. You can help. But I’m not discounting your rate.” She shifted then, walking away from me.
“I wouldn’t ask you to,” I called after her.