Cowboys & Nightmares

Chapter Eleven

"Let me guess: you thought I was mute?" His dimple became more prominent on his cheek as he smiled.

My jaw was on the floor. "Well, yeah..." I was amazed. How in the world could he go a whole day without speaking? Who knows how long it'd been since words had floated from his mouth? "Do you go that often without speaking?"

He chuckled now, a mellow tone like copper bells. However, his eyes darkened, as if my astonishment at his voice was keeping him from frowning. "It's been awhile since anyone besides Joe and Boss have heard me." But the mirth quickly returned as I finally realized that my mouth was hanging open, and I audibly shut it. "Besides," he continued as he finished preparing the coffee, "The horses don't need to hear a voice. They communicate through body language, and they respond best to it, as well."

I nodded as he handed my mug to me, questions buzzing in my head. However, as I remembered why we were drinking this early in the morning, they quieted, and I stared into my mug. "No one has ever woken me up before," I admitted.

He gazed at me over the rim of his own cup. "...Why do you have those dreams?" He asked. Then he seemed to realize what he'd said, and set down his mug. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I just-"

"It's okay," I said. "My mom was very particular about how I was to be raised. She wanted me to be a true lady, give up my tomboyish fantasies, and settle down with a rich man who had a good last name."

My co-worker snorted. "We all see where that went, now don't we?"

I chuckled as well, shaking my head. "Well, that's how it started, at least. As long as the boy's lineage was important, and he had a good amount of money under his belt, Mom wanted me to be hooked up with him right away." Again I shook my head.

Dune gave me a sideways glance as he reached for his mug again, bringing it to his mouth. "I take it that didn't end well."

"The first one was Seth." I could remember his eyes the first time I met him, eerily similar to Ronnie's. "He was kind at first; always taking my side, courteous, watching over me..." I left the sentence hanging.

My companion didn't move. "But he became too protective, didn't he?"

I sighed and nodded. "It started about a month in. I was hanging out with my neighbor, who had been my best friend ever since I could remember. Typical Wednesday night, we were watching our favorite mini series, sharing a bag of popcorn. Seth walked in, uninvited, grabbed me by the arm, and drug me out. He said he'd better not catch me there again, or there would be consequences."

Now Dune shook his head. "Who would do something like that? He knew your neighbor was your friend, he had to have."

"He did; he knew Jonathan was my closest friend. But he was jealous." I bowed my head, remembering the change that took place. "After that, he was my shadow. He would insist on being with me every day, dawn to dusk. I wasn't allowed to hang out with not only Jonathan, but any of my guy friends. Even meeting some of my girl friends at the local café was a rarity. He at first insisted, and I simply obliged. But finally, about three weeks after, things started getting tense."

"You wanted your freedom. No one would blame you for that." Dune gave another sideways glance. "Did you break up with him, then?"

I shook my head, realizing that I still couldn't talk about what had happened that one night. "Long story short, he was arrested, and is still awaiting trial." I took a long pull from my coffee, needing the distraction to keep from falling apart. Dune simply waited, as if he knew how delicate the subject was.

"After that," I continued, "the dreams started. And as Mom pushed me to date more guys just like Seth, the dreams got worse. If she dropped me off to stay the night-"

"Wait." He lowered his mug look me straight in the eye. "Your mom would drop you off at the guy's house to spend the night?"

I nodded. "She probably figured that if I got pregnant, I would be forced to marry him- which I would, by her." Dune shook his head and took a long drink. "But nothing ever happened. I would fall asleep before they even got into the room, and the dreams would start. When he would come in, I'd be crying, thrashing, kicking; some thought I was possessed." I chuckled, remembering one family that had a priest come in and cleanse their house-but not me. "Finally, I got under Mom's radar, packed my bags, and hid out at Christie's. Boss was offering the job in the paper when I pulled in, so I called." I shrugged and tilted my head. "That's it."

Dune gazed at me, his blue eyes dark with concern"I don't know why a mother would do that, except for greed." He thought a minute, swirling his coffee gently. "There's no reason a girl should go through something like that. Especially you, Rylie."

I smiled sadly, turning to gaze at the two horses running through the green field on our wall. "The only good I see that came out of it is that I came here. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent the last few weeks here with you, Joe-"

"-Or Ronnie." Dune's face twisted, a sneer lifting his upper lip. For a moment he seemed to shut down, and finished his coffee without another word. He stood and placed his mug in the sink, and I followed suit. When I was beside him, he spoke again. "There's nothing I'd enjoy more than to give him a swift kick off of the property."

I snorted. "I'll hold him for you."

He chuckled deeply as we headed for the door, one arm draping over my shoulders. "I'm pretty sure every one of our friends would like to do that. But if that was the case, I'd let you help me kick him."  

^^^

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!! DUNE O' FRIGGIN BRANDY HAS A VOICE!!!!! OH MY GAWRSH!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

You guys have no idea how long I have been waiting for you to hear him speak!!!!!! GAH! I love Dune so much, and he has been dying to be heard vocally for eleven chapters. And now he can SPEAK!!!! Hahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!

Also, not as super exciting as Dune speaking (*another long squeal and gushing moment*): what do you think of Rylie's 'origin story. What do you think Seth did that she can't talk about? What would give her nightmares? 

Welp, one week until Christmas! Whee!!! I love the holidays so much! Hope everyone has their shopping done. I will see you o nChristmas Eve with another update (hopefully!)