Firecracker (On Hold)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Justin's P.O.V.

I'm up at 4:30am so I get ready to face the day. I slept well, after I thought long and hard about how I'm going to deal with the Ariya situation. I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to this day, but it needs to be done. Someone has to break this cycle she has going on and I'm probably the only one brave enough, or maybe stupid enough, to do it. I don't suppose anyone will ever get this opportunity again, so I best make the most of it.

Mike is setting up the coffee machine when I go down to the kitchen, so I say, “Hey. I need you to work with Todd today.”

“No problem. Everything ok?”

“Yeah. Well, I'm dealing with the Ariya situation today, so I'm probably not going to be around for a while. I'll see David for all the vaccinations first, but then Ariya and I are heading to the back barn. Y'all need to make sure the horses are done. The ones we took out on the drive can go out to pasture for a few days. Grab a couple of the young horses in and work with them. Leave the cattle to rest after David has been. You and Todd can check all the fences as well. You think you can do the feed run as well?”

“Sure thing. How are you dealing with Ariya?”

“I'm going to talk to her first. Like, really talk to her.”

“Going to the back barn doesn't sound like you're only going to talk. Should I check in on you, to make sure no one is dead?”

“No. No one is going to die. She can't kill me and I'm certainly not going to kill her. I'll call you if I need anything. Once we get in the barn, we won't be coming out until she's dealt with some things.”

“Doesn't sound good. Just let me know what you need. We'll make sure the barn is sorted out.”

“Thanks.”

Lou appears, so we stop talking and I go upstairs to get Ariya.

David turns up a 8:00, just as we finish cleaning all the stalls. I send Todd, Lou and Mike to grab the young horses in, while I keep Ariya with me.

David greets me and then flashes Ariya a dazzling smile. “J, you didn't tell me you had such a pretty little ranch hand. Howdy, ma'am, I'm David. What's your name?”

Ariya rolls her eyes but doesn't answer. Instead, I say, “David, this is Ariya. She's a bit of a firecracker, so you might want to lay off the sweet stuff. She won't fall for it.”

“Wow, you don't mince your words there, J. I was just being nice.”

Ariya pipes up, “Don't bother. I'm not a nice person, so I won't appreciate it.”

David looks shocked at Ariya's words and then he chuckles, “Dude, good luck with that one. She's honest though, I like that.”

“Shall we get through the vaccinations? I've got a calf I need you to look at as well. He cut his leg pretty bad so I need you to check it out.”

“Sure thing. You want to do that first?”

“Sure. Ariya, you'll probably have a better chance of getting the calf. You want to try first?”

She shrugs and grabs a rope before going out into the herd of cattle. Both David and I are shocked that she can just walk through the sea of animals without them paying her any attention. I mean, they literally don't even look up from grazing.

As we watch Ariya, David says, “You've got your work cut out with that one.”

“You have no idea.”