Chapter 35
“You have a funny way of comparing me and farm animals,” I say facetiously.
I sit down in the dirt, the warmth of the fire caressing the skin of my calves as I load another marshmallow onto a skewer.
I raise it over the fire, waiting patiently, rotating it slowly so that it will turn a nice caramel brown.
Daisy and Sawyer disappeared some time ago, claiming they both wanted a snack, and by snack I’d be willing to bet they meant each other.
Rhett takes a seat beside me and we both stare at the flame as it flickers, dancing in the air.
“Ya have a funny way of assumin’ I was talkin’ about ya.” His words are blurred together with a whiskey smile and a laugh. “Don’t worry Jelly Bean doesn’t mind sharin’ her man.”
I squint, glaring at him. Did he just slip up? “I thought her name was Angel?” I question.
For a moment, he has a wide-eyed stare, but he composes himself quickly. “Well, her real name is Angelica, most people call her Angel for short, but I normally call her Jelly Bean. She’s a lady of many names. Just like you.”
“Pretty sure you only ever call me Angel.” My stare remains suspicious.
“Depends on the point in our ever bloomin’ relationship. At first, ya were that hot blonde. Didn’t know ya, but couldn’t forget ya.”
I give in to his charm, smiling when he makes this admission.
“Then ya were Angel, Angel outlaw, and the Angel Of Darkness.”
“You have never called me that. You’re not funny.” But the thought that he has so many aliases for me, even if I was unaware of them, is oddly sweet. At least I seem to always be on his mind.
“I did, just not to your face,” he chuckles, nudging me back.
“Now you’re whatever comes out whenever it comes out.
Angel. Sweetheart. Good Girl…” He wriggles his brows and we both laugh.
“Didn’t mean to make it sound like I was confessin’ I was in love with ya.
I’d like to think if I’d ever did that, it’d be a bit more grand. ”
I respond with a dirty look. “I didn’t think you were confessing your undying love for me, Rhett.”
Actually, I did, but I also thought that was insane, so I’m glad I was wrong.
“Also wasn’t comparin’ ya to a farm animal, but if I was, trust me, she’d be the one ya’d wanna be compared to.”
“Is that so?” My eyebrows draw together in question. I can’t quite see a single reason why I’d ever want to be compared to an animal but also it’s incredibly fitting of Rhett to see them as more than that, so I’m not as offended as I pretend to be.
“Yeah, she’s my heart horse.” The smirk on his face is so warm, I swear, I can almost feel it burning stronger than the bonfire.
“She’s your what?” That’s, by far, something I’ve never heard said.
“My brother, Duke, had this best friend growin’ up—Hailie—who called Angelica my heart horse.
I’d never heard of it before, but basically it’s when ya have an unbreakable bond.
Just somethin’ deeper than a regular horse and rider relationship.
It’s like family.” His stare trails off toward the distance and he pauses for a long second before saying, “The day Angelica arrived, she was scared. Wouldn’t let anyone near her. ”
My shoulder brushes the side of his arm by accident, but the touch feels welcome as he drops his hand from the stick he holds to softly graze the back of mine.
“She paced around the corral for hours. Dad said she’d calm down once she realized no one was gonna hurt her, and that she was just tense from the long drive in the trailer.
That she wasn’t used to so much commotion.
But damn near ten hours later she was still anxious, still pacin’ around, lookin’ like she was scared half to death.
Ma was worried she’d hurt us, so they said we couldn’t go in the pen with her, and, well, since ya know how well I listen to instructions, I’m sure ya know where this is goin’.
” He smiles, looking into my eyes before returning them to whatever he looks at in the distance.
He’s right, though. I know all too well how he’s got a habit of following his gut rather than doing what he’s told. I told him over a dozen times to leave me alone, but he clearly saw something with me. Had he listened, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.
His words drag me from my thoughts. “It was around Easter time, so Ma had out a little bowl of jelly beans, no other candy in sight until we got our baskets, as per tradition. And just like any Ma, she watched that bowl like a hawk.” He lets out a chuckle.
“Didn’t want us ‘spoilin’ dinner’ she’d always say.
” Lacing his pinky with mine, I feel a sense of closeness with him, one that feels even deeper with this sliver of his life.
“I only liked the grape ones. Couldn’t stand any other flavor.
And as she expressed her worry about Angelica being dangerous to Dad, I took my chance at that little rabbit-shaped bowl.
Grabbed a handful and ran out the door.”
My gaze drifts to the fire as he tells his story, and then beyond to where I see Daisy and Sawyer back at the fire and in deep conversation. Returning my attention to Rhett, I can’t ignore feeling grateful to have this moment with him. Just ours and ours alone.
“Duke, was tendin’ to the chickens, so I took a walk over toward the corral.
It was the closest I’d gotten to her since they loaded her off the trailer.
She kept pacin’, didn’t pay me no mind at all.
” His face fills with sadness. “She was more than scared. She had some gashes on her body, the kind they get from owners who think fear’s the best medicine for a wild heart…
Believe it or not, I did as I was told, I stayed out of her space and sat down against the rail, facin’ away from her so she didn’t feel like I was just another set of eyes starin’ her down.
” He releases my hand, leaning forward to poke the fire with the stick he’s holding.
“I started sifting through my jelly beans, tossin’ the ones I didn’t like off to the side.
I was pissed that my little stash only had about three grape-flavored ones, then I realized the rustlin’ that came from behind me moments before had stopped.
I turned to look into the corral, but I didn’t have to turn far.
Right at my side, right where I’d discarded them damn jelly beans was the horse. ”
A smile crosses my lips the moment he says she was there, and I imagine how cool it would feel to have a horse that seemed so lost find its way to you.
“She ate them all. She was beautiful and wild, and in that moment, she was happy. I expected her to go right back to pacin’ around like it never happened, but, shit ya not, she came over to me and nudged me.
Not once but multiple times. She wanted more, but I didn’t have any.
Spooked her before I managed to get upright, and she ran off.
I leaned on the gate, just watchin’ her as she paced again, but then she stopped a few feet away and just stared at me.
I sat there patiently. The same patience I’d use to wait for ya if I have to.
” He leans into me with his arm, bumping me with his shoulder and adjusting his sights back toward me.
“And little by little, she got closer, until she and I were face to face. That day she decided she was mine and only mine. And once that was obvious, Duke’s friend started to call her my heart horse and it just stuck.
She’s the only horse that ever felt so close that I’d be willin’ to bet she was made just for me. ”
His shoulders perk up, his smile looking proud and his self-confidence, though always there, seems more warm at the memory.
Not an unusual sight, but there’s something different about this look, something that makes me feel closer to him on a personal level.
Reaching to his side, he shoves two marshmallows on the stick, jamming it in the flames and catching them on fire.
The look I wear must say it all when he glances back at me. “What?” he chimes out.
“So many things. First, we have skewers, why a stick? Second, why did you just char two perfectly good marshmallows to a crisp? And last, I love that story… It’s…cute.”
“Easy. The stick, because we only have two skewers and if Daisy wants a marshmallow, I’m not gonna be the douchebag standin’ in her way.
Two, burnt, because I like them like that.
Crispy on the outside, gooey in the middle.
No need for chocolate or graham crackers, it’s a one-stop shop.
Plus, it’s fun to set that shit on fire. ”
“Okay, pyro,” I laugh.
“And three. Sometimes there’s more beauty in the small things.
It ain’t always about big flashy moments.
She trusted me because I didn’t push her, the jelly beans were a happy accident, and trust me when I say, beauty can be found in places ya’d never expect.
” He leans in and his lips connect with mine.
It’s tender and perfect. “After all, I found ya in a bar.”