Chapter 2
Teddy
“No.” I would do anything for my sister, but what she was asking of me was insane. “I’m not taking one of your charity cases onto my ranch.”
“ Our ranch.” Veronica replied with venom laced into her voice. “And you’re being a dick. Ariel is not a charity case, she is my friend, and she needs it.”
“I could care less. She didn’t interview. Does she even have experience working on a ranch?” I take my hat off and rub my head. Stress is all I know these days. Tension is forever living in my head, my shoulders, most of my body. Hell the only place I don’t feel tension is my dick. Taking on a friend of Veronica’s is going to cause even more.
“She’s a fast learner. And I’m not asking. This is a family ranch. I can hire anyone I want.”
“Maybe if you’d actually spend time working here, I’d be more agreeable.” I felt the wind from the slap before feeling the sting. I was an asshole. Have been for a long time. I just don’t care. The slap works to make me feel guilty. Veronica, like us all, had been through hell, and working at her charity is what makes her happy.
“You better clean up your act before she gets here. I will not have you scaring her off. She’s been through enough.” I sigh.
“Fine, just keep her away from me.”
“Done.” With that she walks away. Dad and Harley are still here, shaking their heads at me. It brings even more guilt. After all we’ve been through, I wish I could be different. They worry about me. I know they do. Even after eight years, what happened affects me, and it makes me act like someone I don’t want to be. I just can’t let myself be happy. Being happy seems like a betrayal.
Huffing, I walk outside to do my job.
Our ranch is home to retired racehorses. We keep them comfortable during the last days, weeks, months, years of their lives. We never know how much time they have, so we keep them as healthy as possible. Some we use to give riding lessons, and some we use for therapy. We get a lot of clientele with the therapy horses. We offer lots of different services for the therapy. Some take walks with the horses, and some Braid the horses mane. My personal favorite is “training therapy”. Some people, like me, crave control. When things get out of hand, we can go pretty berserk. Training horses treats patience and allows the person training the horse to let go of some of that control, and give it to the horse. I’ve seen a lot of people heal on this very ranch. If only I could.
An hour later, I see Veronica pull up with what seems like hundreds of grocery bags. “You know Thanksgiving isn’t until next month right?”
“Yeah you asshole. This is stuff for Ariel’s room. I want her to be comfortable, and to know she made the right decision.” That gets my attention. I was always too curious for my own good. When my mom was still here, she loved my curiosity. “Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it also helped discover the most beautiful stories.” She was always going on about how if people weren’t curious, then we would live a very boring life.
“What’s her story anyway?”
“None of your business. Her story is hers to tell if and when she’s ready.” With that, she takes the bags inside.
I might not want this girl here, but she already has me curious, and she’s not even here yet.
FUCK.