-Tris POV-
I make it back to the ranch at about noon on Sunday. Without pausing, I head into my apartment and jump in the shower. I smell like the bar!
After I'm out of the shower and dry off, I dress in jeans, boots, and a button down, long sleeve shirt. I head out to walk around the barn and look at the horses. I want to relax and spending time with horses helps me do that.
I stop at different pens to pat necks and talk to the horses as I slowly head toward the barn. I'm sitting on the rail of one pen just watching the horses, when I hear, "What are you doing out here?"
Startled, I turn around and see Four. "I think a better question is why are you here? I didn't think you worked on Sundays, except for feeding until my grandpa is back on his feet."
Four nods toward the far pen. "I wanted to check on the yearling."
-Four POV-
Tris looks beautiful sitting on the fence looking at the horses. Zeke had given me a heads up when she left his place. I had assumed that I could get here and check the yearling and leave without seeing her. I really don't know what to say to her. Once again it's like I'm back in high school and can't talk to girls. Well, no. Actually it's that I don't know how badly I screwed up last night and I'm not sure I want to find out.
--Flashback to last night--
As I pull into the bar's parking lot, I see Tris' truck parked there. Well, I guess that means I have to look forward to singing tonight. Fuck, I hate losing. Well maybe beer will get me in a better mood.
I stroll into the bar, barely looking around. I walk right up to where Zeke is. He smiles when he sees me. Smirking a little he says, "So, are you looking for Tris?"
"Yes and no. I saw her truck but I'm looking for a beer."
Zeke just nods and goes to fill a mug. He sits it down next to a half filled mug already on the bar. I kind of glance at him in question. He knows that I usually sit in back, away from everyone. He recognizes the unasked question and tells me, "Tris is sitting here."
With that I sit down on the barstool in front of the filled mug, choosing to ignore Zeke's smirk. I grab my beer and look around trying to find Tris when I see her dancing. It looks like she is with Edward. What the hell is she doing dancing? Just then the song ends and they break apart. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding. I see Tris leave Edward and start walking toward the bar. Before she is off the dance floor, someone pulls her back. Fucking Eric! I start to stand up when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I glare over to Zeke who is standing there looking way more serious than he ever does.
"Stay sitting here. If you break the bar again, especially fighting Eric, you will be banned. I was barely able to talk Tori into letting you back in after last time."
I don't say anything, but keep glaring at him.
"They are just dancing. Look for yourself."
At that I look over and see them dancing. Where Tris had been smiling when she danced with Edward, she has a scowl on her face now, but they are just dancing. As I watch them I keep clenching and unclenching my fists. God, this song cannot end fast enough.
Once the song does end, I watch carefully as Tris manages to get away from Eric. I take a couple of deep breaths trying to get myself to relax. Before I know it, Tris is sitting next to me taking a large drink from her mug. When she finishes, she turns to me, smiles, and asks, "So, when are you going to sing for me?"
Zeke looks between us, glancing back and forth. After a couple of moments when neither of us speak, Zeke finally breaks the silence and asks, "Sing? Four doesn't sing? He barely talks."
Tris does a quick laugh and tells Zeke, "Four lost a bet and has to sing a karaoke song tonight."
"Four lost a bet?" Zeke asks incredulously. "He never loses. At anything."
I don't say anything. I just stand up and walk to the stage where the karaoke machine is. It takes me a minute to find a song that I like and that I won't completely butcher. Once I find one I take the book over to the DJ and tell him that I want to sing. The DJ nods.
Once the song currently playing ends, the DJ calls out to the bar, "Tonight will be open mike karaoke. Starting us off is Four!"
God I hate losing, but I will pay up. I start singing. I can't believe I'm doing this. I can tell that everyone in the bar is looking at me, but I only have eyes for Tris. How has someone that I have known for less than 2 weeks wormed their way into my mind so thoroughly? Everything about her seems to draw me to her. Ugh! Get yourself together man! Finish this song and suck it up.
The music winds down and I leave the stage. I'm ignoring everyone yelling at me and just walking back to the bar. I fully plan on plopping my ass back on that barstool and drinking. I mean really drinking. I know I can crash at Zeke's. As I get closer to the bar, my eyes are again drawn to Tris. She is sitting there smiling and clapping at my performance. As I get closer to her, rational thought seems to leave my head. Without thinking about what I am doing I reach out, grab her face, and kiss her.
Holy shit, what the fuck did I just do?! I need to get out of here and regroup. Without saying anything, I turn around and head toward the door. About halfway to the door it hits me that Eric was slobbering all over Tris. I turn around and look at Zeke. "You'll make sure she gets home safe, right?"
Zeke kind of stutters a "Yes" while he looks dumbfounded. With that, I walk out of the bar. I don't make it far. After the door closes, I stumble up next to the wall and lean against it. What the fuck did I just do?
--End Flashback--
Tris looks at me and then looks back toward the pasture. I can see her eyes darting around. It is like she is trying to figure out what to say. Since I still don't know what to say, I let her try and gather her thoughts. Finally she turns back toward me and says, "We need to talk about last night."
I step forward and lean against the fence next to her. I sigh as I reply, "Yeah, we do."
We both stand there for a minute or two looking out over the pasture. One of the horses comes up to us and we both pet her. I finally break the silence. "I'm sorry. I had seen Eric being his usual asshole self when you were dancing and it really set me off. As I was walking back to the bar after singing, all I could think about was that I didn't want him or anyone else bugging you."
"So the kiss was because you were jealous?"
I stand there and start rubbing the back of my neck with my right hand. "Yes. No. Sort of. Ugh! Tris you have driven me crazy since the day you drove up here. It just all coalesced last night to the point that I acted before I thought."
"Four, I'm only here for the summer. My grandpa is already up and walking around with just a cane. A couple more weeks and he should be back to normal." Tris looks at me again and continues, "I'm not looking for a fling or a one night stand."
"I understand. Can we overlook this and still be friends?"
She smiles at me before saying, "Yes, as long as you mean friends and not friends with benefits."
This makes me laugh. Pushing away from the fence I reply, "I meant friends. Well I have some chores to finish at home before I need to come back for the evening feeding. I'll see you later." She nods at me as I spin around and head toward my truck. Turning back and looking at her still sitting on the fence, I wonder if I was lying to her or to myself.
\~\~\~\~\
After I have finished my Monday morning feeding and chores, I head into the house to talk to Sally. I need to head out to check the cattle and ride the fence in the bigger of the outer pastures. As I enter the house, I hear Sally, Tris, and Jack all talking. They are all sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, but look at me when I step into the room.
"I'm going to take the rest of the day to ride fence and check on the cattle in the big outer pasture."
Jack nods as he says, "Let me know how much longer you think they can stay out there on the current grass. We still have two months until the monsoons hit. Everything is really dry."
"Will do," I answer and then a thought hits me. "Tris, you haven't seen that part of the ranch. Do you feel like spending the day in the saddle?" I smile at her as I ask. I catch a hint of a smile pass over Sally's face before she can return her expression to normal.
Tris looks at her grandparents before asking, "Do you need me to do anything today?"
Sally looks at Jack. He shakes his head so Sally tells her, "No sweetheart. Go have fun."
Like before I go grab a rifle and a box of bullets. I walk back into the kitchen to see Tris setting her coffee cup in the kitchen sink. "I'll meet you in the barn." She smiles and nods so I head out.
I grab two horses. They are both three year olds that need the exercise and the lesson that this ride will give. I tie them both to the hitching post and head to the tack room. I come back with my saddle and two bridles. I'm almost done with my horse when Tris shows up with a saddle on her hip. She quickly saddles the other horse then looks at me. "Ready?" I ask. She nods and then swings into the saddle.
I mount my horse and head toward the house. Once I get to the backdoor, I dismount and start to head inside. Sally opens the door right before I get to it. She hands me a full set of saddle bags and two canteens. "Thank you," I tell her.
"Be careful and don't have too much fun with my granddaughter."
Before I can respond, Sally goes back in the house with a smile on her face. I just shake my head as I walk over to Tris' horse and hook the saddle bags on the back of her saddle. I then hand her one canteen and get back on my horse. Turning him toward the pasture gate, I whistle and yell, "Rusty." As I open the gate, the dog runs through with Tris following right behind. Once I am through the gate we head out riding side by side with Rusty running in front of us.
As we ride away from the house, I tell Tris, "Both these horses are about halfway through their training. Therefore, do not let him get away with anything. Be consistent with your commands. If a command is not followed, repeat it until it is, even if you need to stop to make it happen."
Tris begins to look concerned. She glances down at the reins in her hand and then back to me. "Is there anything that I should make sure not to do," she asks.
I shake my head. "Just give clear commands. Whenever you get used to riding one horse, you know that horse and the horse knows you. Most of the time you barely need to provide a command and the horse knows what you want because you have worked together so much. In this case, be consistent and clear. That's all."
Tris shifts in the saddle and looks back up to me. "Are you sure you want me on this horse? I mean I don't want to mess anything up."
This makes me chuckle. "Tris I have seen you ride. You're a good rider and you use your whole body. A lot of people get lazy and only use their hands. You don't. You will be fine. I wouldn't have picked that horse for you if I didn't think you could handle it." The smile that graces her face as she digests my words makes me feel warm inside. What is this girl doing to me?
As we have been talking, we intercept the pasture fence. I turn and ride along it. I look over to Tris and nod toward the fence. "We'll ride along the fence. Keep your eyes open for any breaks in the fence."
Everything is good for about fifteen minutes then we hit a really rocky area. The fence goes right through it, so to check the fence, we need to ride through it too. Tris stops her horse and looks at me. "How do you want me to take him through this? Do I let him find a path or do I tell him where to go?"
This really makes me smile. I love how her mind works. "Let him find a path, but also keep him going in the direction that you want. If he hesitates, reassure him and nudge him to keep moving."
I watch Tris as she and the gelding maneuver through the rocks. She is leaning forward slightly with loose reins, letting the horse pick his footing. Every now and again, I can see her give leg pressure to encourage him one direction or another. I don't think she realizes how good of a rider she really is. This starts a thought to grow in the back of my head. I wonder if I can get her to do it.
We have been riding in comfortable silence for quite a while. Tris has been looking at everything as we ride. She seems so happy to be out here. This doesn't surprise me. I love being out away from everything with just a horse and the dog. However, today I'm having a mental argument with myself. Part of me thinks I should leave well enough alone and just stay my normal quiet, reserved self, and enjoy the quiet. The other part of me is enthralled with Tris and only wants to spend time with her, learning more about her. Finally I get tired of talking to myself so I speak up, "We're going to be out here all day. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
Tris glances over at me. She shrugs and replies, "There isn't much to tell. I'm 22. I have an older brother. I just graduated, but you know that."
Her short synopsis makes me laugh. "Tris, I think we have already established that you are very good at leaving details out, but that has to be the shortest life story I have ever heard."
Tris seems to be thinking over my words. Finally, she sighs and tells me, "Yeah, I don't like talking about myself. That's something I have noticed about you too. I don't know anything about you." As she says this a smirk crosses her lips. "Tell you what, Four. You can ask me any question, but you have to answer it too."
Huh? She's tricky. I roll this option over in my head. I really want to learn more about her, but I don't want to talk about some things. A thought skirts my consciousness. "Okay, but we each get two passes."
"We?"
"Well with what I do know about you, you'll want to ask questions too. So, we," I say as I indicate both of us with my hand. "You can pass answering two questions." When I see her smile at my words, I add, "And, no rephrasing the question and asking it again." The guilty look that quickly passes across her face makes me chuckle. This girl is definitely going to keep me on my toes.
Neither one of us says anything for a moment or two. I direct my horse around a bush in our way and break the silence. "Well, to put us on even footing, I am an only child. I'm 24, and while I have taken some college classes, I haven't graduated. Where did you really grow up, since I don't believe you grew up in Denver?"
"Castle Rock. It's a little town just south of Denver. But when you tell people 'Castle Rock' no one knows where it is. It's just easier to say Denver. Since I already know that you grew up around here, why don't you tell me where your place is?"
"I actually have a little place just the next valley over from your grandparent's place. They were my closest neighbors growing up."
I can see her slightly nodding as she takes in this information. "So that one little road that splits off the driveway goes to your place?"
I just nod before asking, "Tell me about Castle Rock. I can't say that I have ever heard of it."
"It's an old western town. It was founded in the late 1800's. The town is about 50,000 people. This area actually reminds me of it. The vegetation, etc. is similar. Even the elevation is about the same. It's at about 6,200 feet. It's just next to Denver, but about as far as you can get in terms of feel. The biggest event in town is the rodeo in the summer." As she talks, she gets a wistful look. I begin to wonder if she is homesick. I have to keep reminding myself that she isn't here for long.
Silence settles over us as we ride along the fence. I want to know everything about her, but at the same time, I'm not sure what to ask. Does she have a boyfriend? God, I never even considered that! Is she going back home after the summer? What music does she like? And, on and on. Maybe I should keep it simple. We are just friends, right? "What's your favorite color?"
She looks at me surprised and laughingly says, "Black. You?"
"Blue."
She scratches her chin and then asks, "Did you play sports in high school? I didn't. Horse shows took up all of my time so I couldn't."
I rub the back of my neck before answering. "Yeah. I played football and baseball."
"That's a very short answer. Were you any good? What positions did you play? Did your team win your division or anything?"
"I guess I'm okay. I was quarterback on the football team. We won state both my junior and senior years. In baseball, I played third base. We almost won state my junior year, but we did win my senior year."
"Wow," she says. "That's impressive. Playing third and quarterback, you must have an arm. Did you ever want to play professionally?"
I shake my head. "No, I had no desire to continue. Sports were an escape for me, but not something I wanted to do forever. I actually had scholarship offers for both sports, but I turned them down."
At this, Tris really looks surprised. She then asks, "What were they an escape from?"
"Yeah, I'll be using my first pass now."
"Okay, fair enough." Tris then laughingly asks, "So you were the star jock of the high school? Rocking the halls, doing whatever you wanted. Quarterback with a cheerleader on your arm."
"No, I wasn't like that. I've always been quiet and reserved. Zeke was really the only one to break through my walls. Mainly, I tried to stay out of trouble."
Her eyes raise in question. What did I say? "What do you mean that you tried to stay out of trouble?"
Oh, crap. "Uh, well, I've been known to have a temper at times. Because of that, I've been in some fights." I glance at her to see how she is taking this information. I'm worried that she will be afraid of me now, however, I don't see anything other than curiosity cross her face. Still, I feel that I need to mitigate this information some. "I don't have a temper like that anymore. I've learned to deal better with things."
She actually laughs at this before piping out, "Like kissing me instead of punching Eric?" Oh shit, she put that together quickly.
I start to rub my neck again. I know it is a nervous habit so quickly pull my arm down. "Yeah, kind of like that. Eric and I have a long history, especially during high school. How about you? Any drama in your past?"
Tris licks her lips and is silent for a moment. I think she is going to pass on this question when she answers. "Not in high school. I had a little drama in college. A bad break up. Let's just say that I'm glad I'm not in Las Cruces anymore and I don't have to worry about running into him."
I wonder what she means by a bad break up, but I feel like this is my opening to ask a question that I really want an answer to. "So, do you have a boyfriend now?"
She looks at me and shakes her head. "No. You?"
I barely manage to keep a smile off my face as I answer, "Nope. Never had a boyfriend."
"Ass," she growls. "You know what I meant."
Chuckling I tell her, "No girlfriend either." Looking at her out of the corner of my eye, I think I see a smile cross her face then quickly disappear.
Before either of us can ask another question, our horses crest a rise. Laid out in front of us is a sloping grass covered valley. You can see the herd of cattle far off to the right. The fence extends in front of us for about a mile before it's lost from sight in the shrubs along the next rise. "The fence extends about a mile and a half that way before it turns to the right," I tell Tris. "We can follow it around until we are back behind the herd. We can then check on them before we finish riding the fence."
We continue riding the fence line, asking questions to each other here and there. I still have one pass, so I figure that I am safe with broaching this subject. "Tris, tell me about your parents."
"Well, they are good. My mother mainly does volunteer work. My dad is a doctor. A pediatrician. They were good parents, very supportive. What about your parents?"
"Um, not as rosy as yours," I tell her. "My mom passed away when I was nine. I'm not sure where my father is now."
"I'm sorry you lost your mother, Four."
"I came to terms with her death several years ago. She's actually the reason I still live here. She left me the house and property in her will. I only started coming out here in high school. You know, once I could drive. We lived in town growing up. My father would never set foot on the property." I'm more than a little surprised at myself that I opened up that much.
Tris has a slight grin on her face. I think she realizes that I just told her something very personal. Quietly she asks, "So why do they call you 'Four'? I have assumed that it is a nickname and that you didn't have parents like Frank Zappa."
"Well at least Four is better than Dweezil," I laugh. "Everyone just started calling me that because it was my jersey number. I think Zeke may have started it in middle school. The name stuck. So, is 'Tris' a nickname?"
Tris nods as she says, "Yeah, short for Beatrice. Beatrice Prior."
"Prior, huh?" I say looking at her. "That means Sally and Jack are your mother's folks. Did your mom grow up out here?"
Tris nods before telling me, "She did, but she left for college right after high school and has only been back for visits. My dad never wanted anything to do with living 'in the middle of nowhere' according to him."
As we keep riding, I find a partial break in the fence. We dismount to fix it. While I am finishing up the fence, I see Tris start to pull food out of her saddle bags. She looks at me and says, "We were stopped anyway and lunch sounded good." I nod, agreeing with her.
While we sit down and eat, Rusty lays in the shade near us. We are just finishing up when he sits up quickly and looks toward the pasture, toward where we last saw the herd. Just as Tris and I turn to look to where he was looking, he takes off like a bullet. 'Fuck!" I mutter and then glance at Tris to see that she has already stood up and is picking up leftover food and stuffing it into the saddle bags. I grab the horses. She throws the saddle bags over the pommel of her saddle, jumps on, and takes off after Rusty. Got to love that girl! She doesn't hesitate in tight situations. I'm right behind her on my horse. Or, I should say I try to stay right behind her. Watching her ride almost takes my breath away. She hugs her horse and instead of going around obstacles, they hurdle them.
Past her, I see Rusty fighting a coyote. Right next to the two lies a calf. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I stop about two hundred feet short of the fighting and jump off my horse, grabbing the rifle as I do. Tris, on the other hand, rides straight through the two. As the horse runs into the coyote and Rusty fighting, the coyote has decided it is time to cut and run. We can't have a coyote out there that is willing to take down a calf, so I don't hesitate to line up my sights and squeeze the trigger. The coyote falls dead but I'm not watching it. At the crack of the rifle, my horse had reared back and was now taking off away from me at a run. Fuck! Neither of these horses have been trained around gunshots yet. "Tris!" I yell. She glances up and sees my horse. Without a word, she takes off after it.
I had only dropped one rein when I had dismounted in a hurry, but even that one rein dragging was slowing down my horse. Every couple of steps, he would step on the rein and it would jerk his head down. By the time Tris got to him, he had slowed to a walk so she easily leaned over in the saddle and grabbed the dragging rein. With that problem taken care of, I turned back to Rusty and the coyote.
I double checked that the coyote was dead. I wasn't cruel. I didn't want the animal to lay there and suffer, dying slowly. After I was confident that the coyote wouldn't cause any more problems, I walked to where the calf was laying. Unlike the coyote, the calf wasn't dead, but it did have a large tear in its abdomen and a broken leg. There wasn't anything I could do for it. I began to chamber another round in the rifle when I thought about the horses. Tris was almost to me and I didn't need a repeat of them getting freaked out. Pulling out my knife, I quickly cut the calf's jugular and then held it down as its heart pumped its life out onto the ground. I heard Tris dismount as I stood up. She handed me the reins to my horse as she glanced at the calf.
"Sorry about the horse running off," I tell her. "I train them to be around gunshots, but I usually do it later in the summer. I take a rifle with me on rides, but 99% of the time I never need it."
She nods and smiles a little. "I guess that means I shouldn't tease you about losing your horse?" The way she says it makes it sound more like a question than a statement.
I laugh a little. "I would have gotten him back, even if you weren't here. He was tripping on the rein and would have stopped." I pause as I see her smirking. "But," I acknowledge, "You did save me a long walk to go get him. Thank you."
I see Tris look at the calf again. "Tris. Tris, look at me," I demand. "The calf had a broken leg and a large wound. We couldn't save it. I killed it so it wouldn't suffer."
Tris nods and says, "Yeah, I understand. I know the why, but that doesn't mean I need to like it. Do we just leave it here?"
"No," I answer. "We already had one coyote that was willing to take down a calf, I don't want to give anymore a taste. Worst case, we can give the bones to Rusty. Best case, maybe we get a veal dinner. Either way, it won't go to waste."
I bend down and pick up the calf. I carefully tie it behind my saddle. I then call Rusty over. As I check him for wounds, I make sure to let him know that he did good. When I stand up, I look at Tris. "Let's just check on the herd and then head back," I say as I mount my horse.
After making the short ride over to the herd, I'm able to see that they all look good and all are accounted for. Instead of riding the fence back, we head straight home. Tris breaks the silence when she says, "I'm starting to really like this gelding. He reminds me of my barrel horse."
This peaks my interest. "Do you still have it?" I ask.
Tris nods. "I've got both my horses. My barrel horse and my show jumper. They're in a stable in Las Cruces."
I actually turn in my saddle to look fully at her. "Why?" I gasp. "Why did you leave them there?"
She looks at me in surprise. "Because I'm only here for a month or two. They are somewhere that they are familiar with. I figured that I would just move them when I settled down at the end of the summer."
This really surprises me. "We should go get them," I tell her. "Anyway, there is a rodeo on the 4th of July. There is barrel racing," I finish with a smile.
Tris also smiles a little thinking about it. "You don't think that would be too much for them to haul them here and then haul them somewhere else at the end of the summer?"
This makes me laugh. "Tris, how many times were they in a trailer going to shows?"
"Yeah," she says laughing, "There is that."
"Okay then. How about we go get them later this week?"
Tris seems to think about this for a little bit and then answers, "Sure, why not? It would be great to have them here. I do miss them."
Good. Thismeans more time with Tris.