Chapter 4
4
Caleb
“ Y ou know me. I’m not going to just chase some girl I don’t even know.”
“But you said she was beautiful,” Mateo prodded. “And I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time.” His knowing grin was more infuriating than anything else. He shook his head as he cinched the saddle around his horse.
Caleb brushed off Mateo’s comment, opting to focus on saddling his own steed. “It doesn’t matter if she’s beautiful. For all intents and purposes, she’s a stranger. She could even be a criminal.”
Mateo laughed. “A criminal? You can’t be serious. You don’t even know her.”
“Exactly. Why should I waste my time trying to figure out if her morals align with mine when she could be the exact opposite of what I’m looking for? It’s like you with these dogs you’re training. People come to you knowing that you will give them exactly what they want, and they don’t have to worry about getting a lemon.”
Mateo laughed again. “So, what you’re saying is that you’d rather be set up by a matchmaker.”
“ No , I’m saying that why should any of us be willing to put ourselves out there when we have no idea what’s waiting? You could get lucky, or you could end up with someone who is capable of faking their death and blaming you for it.”
His friend continued to find humor in what Caleb was saying despite the fact that he spoke the truth. There were plenty of people who wouldn’t bat an eye over ruining a person’s life.
Mateo ran his hand over the animal’s neck and chuckled again. “If you keep looking at life in that way, you’re going to miss out on a lot of opportunities. What if this woman is your soul mate?”
Caleb snorted. “Soul mates don’t exist in the way you think they do.”
“Are you sure about that? Think about it. When someone special comes into your life, whether by chance or when you’re introduced through friends, it was meant to happen one way or another. And if you ignore it, you’re basically ignoring what the man above has planned for you. You owe it to yourself to check it out. Have you thought about why you bumped into that girl in the first place?”
“Yeah, we weren’t paying attention. That’s not the man above telling me that I needed to meet her. That was the man above telling me I need to pay attention to where I’m going.”
Mateo grabbed ahold of the saddle horn and hoisted himself up. “Suit yourself, but I’m telling you that it’s a bad idea to ignore fate.”
“And what do you know about fate?”
It was at that moment that Mateo gave Caleb a side-eye. There was something he wasn’t telling him, but then why would he? They’d only recently started working together. Mateo didn’t owe Caleb anything, evidenced by the way he urged his horse forward. “Just take my word for it. Sometimes you need to throw caution to the wind and do something that scares you. Otherwise, you might miss out on the best life you could’ve had.”
Caleb huffed, climbing onto his own horse. “Seeing as you’re not hitched yet, I find it hard to believe you’re on board with throwing caution to the wind. If anything, you seem a little skittish when it comes to settling down. I’ve seen the way you flirt with girls but never ask them out.”
Mateo glanced at him once more. “It’s true. I’ve been burned before. I’m careful about who I let get close to me. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t lose out on something great.”
“Okay,” Caleb drawled, “but if that were true, then you’d be more open to finding love. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong.”
Caleb let out a sharp laugh. “Prove it. You sit here preaching to me about how important it is to let people earn my trust, and yet you won’t do the same thing. Either you’re the most hypocritical person I have ever met, or?—”
“Or I have scars and regrets.” Mateo’s happy demeanor shifted to something a little darker. He didn’t meet Caleb’s eyes as he said, “Just because I don’t want to share those stories with you doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. All you have to know is that one day, someone will come into your life who makes you feel like you can conquer the world. And there might be a chance that they hurt you. But there’s just as much of a chance that they will make you feel like…” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head. “Just don’t make the same mistakes that I’ve made.”
“But how am I supposed to know if I’m making the same mistakes as you if you won’t tell me?—”
Mateo dug his heels into his horse and rocketed down a trail, followed by two dogs that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Caleb charged after them, unable to push aside the questions that continued to swirl in his mind. Mateo was always in such a good mood. He could be stern with his dogs, but that was to be expected.
To think that he’d been hurt by someone so bad that he’d let another love slip through his fingers didn’t give Caleb much hope for himself. If someone as nice as Mateo could be betrayed, then anyone could end up like him.
He shoved down that depressing thought and focused instead on watching how Mateo communicated, not only with his horse but also with the dogs that had come along for the ride. One was bred for sheep and cattle herding, while the other was more like a hunting dog.
Both creatures were majestic in their own right. The more they rode, the easier it became to forget about Mateo’s past experiences and Caleb’s nonexistent ones. Their friendship was still new, but Caleb could see himself getting close enough to Mateo to consider him like another brother.
They rode deep into the property, farther than Caleb thought belonged to Mateo’s family. Soon they were surrounded by trees and other shrubbery. Birds exploded from trees when they drew nearer. The hunting dog barked wildly, earning a reprimand from Mateo.
Caleb chuckled, hiding a smile as he turned his head. They pulled up into a shaded area, and Mateo turned his horse around to face Caleb. He climbed down from his horse and walked beside the dogs, who panted loud enough that Caleb was worried they needed to get them some water.
Then, as if his thoughts had been enough to make water appear, they passed by the opening in a thicket where a pond had been hidden. The dogs darted toward the water, and Caleb climbed down to walk his horse beside Mateo. He glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye. “Why did you decide to go into training dogs?”
Mateo shrugged. “I guess I was always good with them.”
“That’s not a real answer.”
His friend chuckled, the usual happiness returning. “And why did you start off being a ranch hand? Because you’ve been good at it.”
“No, it’s because I didn’t have any other choice. My parents bought the land, or maybe it was my grandparents. Then we got it, and in order to survive, we worked it.”
“Same thing,” he said with a grin.
They guided their horses closer to the water’s edge and tossed the reins back around the horses’ necks. The only sound that filled the small clearing was that of the animals getting their fill. Caleb didn’t dare bring up love or fate again. He far preferred the more optimistic version of Mateo than the dismal one.
“How about you answer your own question.” Mateo’s statement was enough of a distraction from Caleb’s thoughts that he peered at his friend with confusion.
“What?”
“Why do you want to work with dogs? It’s like we’ve said. Sometimes you’re born into something, and sometimes you’re drawn to it. So why did you call me up out of the blue?”
“It wasn’t out of the blue,” Caleb said, rubbing the back of his neck. “When Hudson got those dogs from you…” He shrugged. “I guess I got a little curious about it. Odin is some kind of dog.”
A smile pulled at Mateo’s lips. “Yeah, he’s one of my best works. That dog is smart as a whip.” He leaned against a nearby tree and cocked his head slightly. “So that’s it? You were curious about what it takes to train a dog to work the land?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? I sense there’s more to this story.”
Caleb turned away with another shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t feeling like I fit in at my place. There’s so many of us. And with Carter taking off, I just figured…”
“You wanted to find your own way.”
He glanced over his shoulder at Mateo. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
Mateo pushed away from the tree and dusted off his shoulder where some bark had come loose. “You’re more than welcome to try it out. I’ll warn you though, it’s not for the weak.” He glanced once more at Caleb like he wanted to ask him something. Then he shook his head.
“What’s that look for?” Caleb demanded.
“I didn’t have a look,” Mateo replied.
“I beg to differ. You wanted to say something, but you weren’t sure about it.”
“Oh yeah?” Mateo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “If you’re so smart, then what do you think I was going to say?” There were notes of teasing in his tone, the lightheartedness returning. “I bet you won’t figure it out.”
Before Caleb could make his best guess, Mateo’s phone rang in his pocket. The sound was loud enough to give Caleb a start. Mateo reached for it and answered with a single syllable. “Yeah.”
The sounds on the other end were muffled by the device. Mateo glanced at Caleb and nodded. “I’ll be right there. Make sure you have warm water and blankets ready.” He hung up the phone and hurried toward the horses. “I have to get back. One of the dogs is in labor. She’s having a hard time, and Roman isn’t ready to do this solo. Can you find your way back on your own?”
Caleb nodded. “Sure. Do you need any help? I’m sure I can keep up.”
“Next time. I need to keep an eye on Roman, and I don’t have the patience to babysit both of you.” He playfully slugged Caleb in the arm. “If I don’t see you back in an hour, I’ll send out the search parties.” He swung into the saddle, whistled for the dogs, then took off at a pace Caleb probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up with.
He climbed up onto his own horse and clicked his tongue, turning her toward the trail when another horse he’d never seen before charged straight past the opening in the trees. Riding that horse was a woman screaming for her life, her brown hair billowing behind her. He shot a look in the direction that the woman had come, and far behind her was another rider hollering something he couldn’t understand.
Caleb dug his heels into his horse’s flanks and leaned forward to chase after the runaway horse. He stood in the stirrups, hovering over the saddle enough to make the ride less of a jolt to the senses. It took less time than he’d expected to catch up. She glanced over at him, and recognition filled her terrified gaze. Her glasses were missing, and her green eyes pleaded for him to help her.
He urged forward just a little more, and his deep, booming voice seemed to be all it took. “Whoa! Whoa!” The woman continued to pull on the reins, albeit a little too hard—causing the horse to rear upward.
“No!” He shouted, but it was too late. She slipped off the back of the horse and landed in a patch of flowers with a thwump.