Chapter Six #4
He never wanted her wearing anything that wasn’t his, or the men in their unit. Again, he forgot that she was a catch, and a treasure he’d mishandled.
Yeah, he’d have to change that too.
Hopping onto the massive bed, he took the place in because it was something to see.
The bed was massive, and once more, that screamed Callen. His attention to detail proved that he, the older brother, could take a lesson from his baby brother.
Because Callen knew how to foster his relationship with Elizabeth. There was a fireplace, and a bearskin rug. There were deep jewel tones befitting a queen, and little pieces that screamed Elizabeth.
Like the swords over the fireplace, on a crest with a giant Raven. It was earthy, but cozy.
It was homey, but gorgeously decorated.
From the colors on the wall to the fur throw that was covering the very specific feather down comforter…
This was a room created for Elizabeth, and not the men. His brother and Chris had made sure to make that perfectly evident. This was for their love—not their personal comfort.
Yeah, he was a douchebag to not want to be part of this. It was a hard lesson to learn—that was for sure.
Looking at his watch, he knew that his wife was somewhere.
Now, he just had to find her.
If he was Elizabeth, where would he be?
Oh, he knew.
As far from him as humanly possible.
Still, he wasn’t giving up until she personally told him to kick rocks.
So, the hunt was on.
Heading downstairs, he heard a beep, and it was very familiar. They had something similar in all of their homes.
It was the security system. In fact, it sounded like it was coming from the console at the door.
Heading toward it, he saw a message on it, and that meant his arrival was NOT a surprise.
Well, damn.
Touching the screen, it opened up a message for Ethan.
‘We are in town shopping. We’ll be back later. All is well here, and she isn’t aware you’ve arrived. Fix this mess. Mom deserves better. Michael.’
Honestly, had anyone commented on his marriage, he would be a raging lunatic, but Michael had a special connection to Elizabeth, and she really did consider him her son.
On top of that, he wasn’t exactly wrong. This was a mess that he needed to fix.
Oh, and he would.
Bet.
On.
It.
How the man knew he was here…
Well, that had to be when he’d turned off the security, Michael had to have been alerted. On top of that, he’d seen a car moving down the mountain, and he hadn’t thought anything of it.
Now, he saw that it had to be them. There were no other structures up here but the castle, and the land attached to it. Callen and Chris owned the whole damn mountain, apparently.
Since his wife wasn’t here, that gave him more time to get acquainted with the place. It appeared that he was going to wander the grounds and wait for his wife to come home.
Besides, he was curious what the place was like.
Moving out the door, he was enthralled with the courtyard. It looked like something out of a movie with the white stone walkway, surrounded by the greenery.
Because it would be silly not to enjoy it, Ethan moved around it, enjoying the mini maze of boxwood hedges. The white cobblestone pavers against the dying leaves that had blown around, and the dark green were lovely, and made him focus on fall.
It was rare he enjoyed a walk in the fall weather. Last year, they’d gone for a bike ride after welcoming Gene into their family, but that was the last time they’d gotten a chance to take a moment as a unit.
It had been one of the last moments he’d enjoyed before the year of hell, with everything exploding around them. Now, it was fall again, and Ethan wanted to make memories.
With Elizabeth.
Yeah, he was so glad he came here.
Heading out of the gate, he saw the big barn, and he knew Graham was an animal lover. Callen had mentioned that he might rival Elizabeth when it came to collecting animals.
Once more, he regretted not giving her that, too. If there was a barn, she should have something to fill it.
Right?
Her happiness mattered, and he’d neglected that. So, he popped inside to learn a lesson while there. What did you put in a barn?
Well, he got his answer.
In one stall, there were goats.
Lots.
Of.
Goats.
There were white ones, a particularly bold black one, and a few with patches of multi colors. The entire time, they were hopping around and climbing on the things inside the stall, like it was a playground.
Well, goats had to goat, he supposed.
When one jumped and missed the bale of hay, it was so comical that Ethan laughed.
The sound must have caught them off guard, because then, the most ridiculous thing happened.
They all fell over like they were dead.
That made Ethan laugh even harder.
“Oh, shit,” he said, amused as he opened the gate to pick one of them up. It was stiff and playing dead, but as soon as he held it, it came ‘back to life’.
It was so stupid that he fell in love with it.
“I know my wife found this amusing,” he said, enthralled by how sweet the yellow-eyed goat was as it climbed into his lap, and the others headed his way.
They crowded him, and Ethan did the only thing he could.
He began petting them.
When something touched his head, he looked up, and there was a black horse eating his hair.
“Hey,” he said. “Who are you?” he asked, reaching up to pet the silky coat.
Between the horse and goats, this place was going to blow his kids’ minds. Charlie loved horses, and before they had to lockdown to be safe, she had lessons on weekends with Christopher Anthony. Horses had been the reason she recovered from being nearly abducted.
Callie, the FBI head shrink, his boss, and friend, had told them to lean into equine therapy, and it had worked. It had also helped him.
He’d gotten to ride with his daughter and see her absolute joy and love for animals.
In that, he saw that she was her mother’s child.
That was for sure.
Getting up, he managed to escape the goats, and he headed to where the horses were. There was a plaque outside each stall. On them, there was a name.
The black horse was Hamlet.
“Hey,” he said, finding some carrots in a bucket. He fed the horse one, and it nudged him.
That made his heart happy. For the first time, in a very long time, he felt weightless, like this place sucked out all the bad, and gave him joy.
Petting the horse, and hearing the goats call for him…
Yeah, he liked it here.
Going into the stall with Hamlet, he scratched him by the ears, and the horse bumped his face with his own.
“I think I like you,” he said. “You’re a gorgeous guy,” he said, seeing he was male. “Will you let me put a saddle on you?” he asked. “Want to go for a ride?”
The horse neighed at the ‘R’ word.
Clearly, he did.
Oh, well, it appeared he was going to go inside and see if any of those boots fit him. Since it was a nice day, and he had time to waste, he was going to take a little ride.
Once back inside, he checked out the boots by the door, and one of the pairs was his size. Going to the tablet, knew what he needed.
Clothing.
Ethan hadn’t packed nearly enough in his rush to get the hell out of there and to his wife.
At the tablet, he took a chance and left a message for Michael.
‘Can you get me some things in town? I’m not packed for horses and chopping wood.
I’m staying, but don’t tell her I’m here.
I want to see if she wants to see me first. As for fixing the mess, that’s the plan.
I’m not leaving Scotland without my wife, and I don’t care how long it takes.
Thank you for being worried about her. I love you, EJ. ’
After leaving that message on the control panel, he headed back out, borrowing the boots. Once in the barn, he got the horse ready.
It was a damn good thing he’d been with Charlie when she had her lessons. He’d been on a horse more than once with her, holding her in front of him as she learned to ride. What he’d realized was you could take the man off the rez, but you couldn’t take the Native out of the man.
He was a horse person.
Apparently.
Once he got Hamlet ready, he climbed onto the back of the horse and was amused.
He came all the way to Scotland to ride a horse, when he was five miles from a reservation where his daughter took her riding lessons.
Granted, it was a reservation he’d been kicked off not once, but twice in his life.
Oh, and unless he made the ‘correct’ decision about choosing his role as Shaman or in the FBI, he was booted again.
Yeah, he had some soul-searching to do regarding that, too. For Ethan, it was never easy.
Now, life was definitely trying to tell him something.
Now, he just needed to figure out what.