Chapter Eight
THE SLUGGISH MORNING yawns slowly into existence as the ranch collectively aches from the activities of the night before.
Despite many of the ranch workers attending the party, everybody had to still get to work the next day - Jeremy is no exception.
Hangover intense, but he’s also mentally fatigued.
Sharp images cutting through a hazy night and he distinctly remembers things he wishes he could forget.
Chain smoking cigarettes throughout his morning duties, Jeremy has the urge to quit while he’s ahead.
Instead, he gets back in the Gator to head to the stables.
Marie looks like death warmed over, slumping against one of the pins.
Neither greet the other, Jeremy groggy as he gets Asher tacked up.
Riding out of the stables, Jeremy dares to say he feels a raindrop land on the back of his hand.
Looking up, the cloudy sky from last night has given way to an overcast day.
Work is an absolute slog, Jeremy getting back from a short roundup with Jose and feeling like he’s about to keel over.
Letting Jose loose at lunch, Jeremy steers Asher toward the back of the property.
Behind the riding arena, there’s a shade tree that Jeremy’s used for a nap spot from time to time.
A nap is almost a requirement today, feeling like he deserves one after the brutal night.
Dismounting Asher, he swings her reins over a nearby branch before sitting on the ground and leaning his back up against the trunk.
Tilting his hat down so it covers his eyes and makes his sight dark, Jeremy is quickly slipping into a light slumber.
“Sleeping on the job?”
Jeremy grumbles to himself as he lifts the hat again with his knuckle and watches as Yana approaches on her dapple grey steed. He rubs his weary eyes, mumbling, “I can’t catch a break.”
“What gives? I didn’t see you again last night,” Yana makes a show of staying by getting off her horse.
Sitting up, Jeremy rubs his sore eyes as he tells her, “Yeah, I left.”
“Why? What happened?” Yana pries.
The memory of Clark having sex with a random man gives Jeremy the shivers, deflecting by saying, “What, are you tuning into the next episode? My life isn’t some show.”
“C’mon, you know it’s not like that,” Yana’s brow scrunches, genuinely offended, “I’m your friend. And this just so happens to be a very active time in your life. So, please, tell me.”
Jeremy chews on that, finally saying, “I think it’s about time I quit.”
“What? No,” Yana sits down beside Jeremy, asking, “What happened?”
“I- They-,”Jeremy tries to collect his thoughts before continuing, looking off into the distance as he says, “Ryan was right, Clark and Laurelai were swinging.”
“What! No way.”
Jeremy nods.
“And you, what? Walked in on them?”
He nods again, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the vision.
“Woof,” she leans back, “Sorry about that.”
“And then I ran into Barry, inside. So thanks for that little tip,” Jeremy adds.
“Yeah, he may or may not have found us after you left. He was really persistent. I’m sorry,” she smiles weakly.
Not having the energy to be mad with her, Jeremy shrugs, “It’s okay. I just feel bad that he saw me with Merle.”
“You mean you talked with Rezai? Really?” She instantaneously becomes more interested, readjusting and leaning into Jeremy, “What did he say?”
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Jeremy speaks a great fear aloud, “I think he loves me.”
Yana blinks, silently in shock. Then she shakes her a head a bit and asks, “What makes you say that?”
“He asked me to come live with him in LA,” Jeremy squirms, “And then we almost kissed, but Barry was watching so we stopped. That’s when I left.”
“Woah, woah, back up,” Yana turns her body so she’s completely facing him, “Rezai wants to have you as, what? His kept man in California?”
Jeremy leans his head back on the tree trunk, groaning, “I mean, that’s basically what he said, yeah.”
“And what did you say?” Yana urges.
“I told him I had to think about it, of course,” Jeremy huffs. He bites his bottom lip before continuing, “But I’m seriously considering it.”
“I mean, I totally would,” Yana says, “Rezai is, like, an artist. And famous. And hot. And rich-”
“Yeah, I get the idea,” Jeremy interrupts her from going on, thinking out loud, “But this is crazy, right? We spent, at most, two nights together. What if he’s wrong and I end up high and dry, alone, in Los Angeles?”
“Rezai wouldn’t do that,” Yana says assuredly.
“What makes you so sure? You know him personally?”
“No, not personally,” she clears her throat, “But I’ve listened to a lot of his interviews. He’s brutally honest and a total genius. No way he’d lie like that and then screw you over.”
Jeremy recalls Merle’s kind smile as he held his hand and led him into the ocean. He shrugs, “Maybe.”
“What’s stopping you? Huh? The county rodeo?” Yana laughs.
Jeremy smacks himself in the face, heart throttling as he remembers, “Oh, shit. That’s coming up, isn’t it?”
“Mhm, right around the corner,” she eyes him, “I’m surprised you haven’t been training for it yet. You always get so serious whenever it comes around.”
“I’ve been busy this year,” Jeremy grumbles.
“Okay, so that’s obviously not it,” she muses, “What about Barry? You have feelings for him, is he what’s holding you back?”
Admittedly, Jeremy does like Barry. He feels safe with him, but he’s not sure that’s enough to stop him from leaving.
“Or,” Yana gasps, “Clark Radison?”
A sharp pain stabs through Jeremy’s heart at her mentioning his full name. His feelings toward Clark are so complicated, there’s no way he can explain it all to Yana. His smile is pained as he turns to his friend and says, “I should get back to it.”
“Oh,” Yana watches him as he stands up, “Alright.”
Jeremy gets back on the saddle and trots Asher away.
He exhales shakily once his back is to Yana, full wave of emotions overtaking him.
He hates that he saw Clark in such a predicament.
And disturbed that Clark would even partake in that activity.
But moreover he is deeply, terribly, horribly jealous of the man that was underneath him.
The lasso loops around the roping dummy that’s shaped like a cow’s head. Jeremy rides Asher back to the dummy and unhooks the rope, riding back along the length of the arena and charging once more with lasso swinging overhead.
Merle hadn’t come yesterday and that had gotten Jeremy to thinking that maybe the whole thing had been a hallucination brought on by drunken stupor.
That seems more plausible than a famous director sweeping Jeremy off his feet.
And that was just the issue, he shouldn’t wait around for someone.
Jeremy was going to win the prize money at the county rodeo, take the winnings with the cash he’d made on the movie and make his own way out of Limerick, Colorado.
The open gate and barn door bathes muted sunlight into the riding arena as Jeremy practices, the day continuously cloudy like the day before. A shadow races into the rectangle of light, the silhouette calling out, “Munday! You there?”
It’s Jackie, running into the arena on foot. He canters over to her, asking, “What’s up?”
“A runaway horse!” She’s out of breath as she points out the barn door and shouts, “One of ‘em got loose from Marie! Clay’s already out there trying to round her up, but-”
Jeremy is already racing out of the riding arena, galloping across the ranch to go and help Clay.
The horse wrangler will need another skilled hand to herd the runaway back to the stable.
Jeremy spies Clay pretty quickly near the center of the ranch, chasing the freed horse.
A small crowd has formed, interested in the action but staying out of the way as Clay and Jeremy come from both ends to stop the bolting creature.
This chestnut bronco is one of the new horses Yana has been training, neighing wildly and rearing on his hind legs as he’s cornered against a partition.
“Damn! He’s spooked for sure! We need to calm him, quick!” Clay calls out as Jeremy and him try to circle their horses around the crazed bronc. The circumstances leave Jeremy little option.
“Stand back!” He yells to Clay. Standing up in his saddle and getting one foot over, Jeremy kicks off Asher’s saddleback to launch himself at the bronco. His torso lands on the horse’s back, throwing his leg over and wrapping his arm around the thick neck to stabilize himself.
The bronco neighs wildly, immediately beginning to buck.
The first small buck throws Jeremy back, one hand grabbing onto the horse’s mane to stay on and the other swaying in the air above him for balance.
He squeezes his thighs against the bareback horse and grips onto the mane for dear life, hooking his feet underneath and holding on as the horse bucks.
He has to stay on until the bronco calms down, that’s the only way they’re going to get the horse back in the stable.
Focused, he maintains his balance over the horse’s center of gravity as the bucking continues.
The horse stops kicking his back legs and neighs once more, going back on its hind legs.
Jeremy leans forward instead of backward, holding on tight and pushing on the horse’s head to get him back to the ground.
It works, the horse getting back on all four hooves while throwing his head from side to side.
Jeremy leans forward more, rubbing down on the neck to calm the horse.
Clapping explodes from around Jeremy. He looks up at the crowd that has formed and watches as his coworkers applaud his performance. Clay rides up beside him, “That was some fine work, Munday.”
“Thanks,” he’s turning his head to Clay but stops as his eyes land on another face in the crowd.
Riding the once wild bronco over to the crowd, he asks, “Merle? What are you doing here?”
“I told you I’d come and visit, didn’t I?” Merle smiles, “That was quite a show.”