What I do know is I’m so damn done having this conversation. That man doesn’t appreciate me or anything I do. I’ve been thedutiful wife making his breakfasts, his lunches, washing cow shit out of his laundry, keeping the house tidy from his personal tornado and I am so fucking done being the perfect little wife for a man child.
I’ve told him what I need subtly, I’ve given hints, and when that didn’t work I sat him down, held his face, and spelled it out for him. Things got better for about a month then slowly slipped back.
I need something to change and my actions, not his, are all I can control.
My phone pings from the table next to me.
Hubs:Shit. Sorry babe. I forgot.
Something about his complete lack of caring pushes me over the edge.
Me:I can’t do this anymore, Calvin. I am so fucking tired.
Hubs:Of course you’re tired. You should still be sleeping. Why don’t you go back to bed and text me when you wake up?
God, could he be any more dense? As if I’m talking about being literally tired.
Me:No, Calvin. I’m tired of being your mom. I want to be your wife.
Hubs:Trust me, babe, I definitely don’t think of you as my mom. >
Sighing heavily, I switch my phone off and leave it on the table. I do not have the energy right now.
As soon as I finish this cup of coffee, I’m packing my bag and getting out of here.
I need to feel like I can breathe again.
Murray and I are walking around taking in the options we have for a new cattle horse. But I can’t stop checking my phone for a text from Juliette.
“What do you think? There aren’t many here. Must be the weather comin’ in.” Murray writes down the number of a horse he likes on a short list.
Usually we both write down our numbers and compare before the auction starts the bidding, but my list is empty.
“Yeah, pretty slim pickin’ today.” I slip my phone back in my pocket to stare out at the options.
“You alright today? Your mood is going downhill.” He slaps my shoulder. “Does my buddy need a snack?” He asks in a baby voice.
I shoot a glare at him. “I’m fine.”
Before he can ask more about my mood I am saved by a commotion ahead of us. We both look toward the sound to see a white mare kicking her feet in the air at the man she is with. He is screaming at her, trying to whip her into doing what he wants while he staggers himself.
I look at Murray, who looks back at me. We both say “We need her” at the same time.
Sometimes you see the worst of the worst at these auctions and I’ll be damned if I let that horse go home with him. We walk around finalizing our numbers for cattle horses, not letting the commotion we saw deter us from our mission. Henry, the ranch’s owner, would never be mad at us for buying a beaten or abused horse.
The auctioneer walks out to the podium, a silent announcement for the start of the auction.
I check my phone one more time. Still a blank screen showing the photo of Juliette and I from years ago. God, was that the last time I took her out on the town? I knew I should’ve picked up my boots this morning. I knew it’d make her madder than a wet hen, but I was simply out of time. She’s never ignored me like this all day though. She always cleans it up, gives me shit, I’ll kiss her and things go back to being fine.
The bidding starts and I let Murray handle everything. My mind is too distracted to be the one trying to win a bid.
The cattle horse we want comes up. A beautiful Arabian. He’s a deep chestnut brown with a black mane, a good lineage and a good breeder. I expect there to be a few bids on him.
Murray’s paddle flies into the air and I see three other bidders as serious as we are after the lower budget bidders are out. Two are out pretty quickly and now it’s a war between us and another ranch. However, I know that ranch doesn’t have the money to go much higher so I have faith that we’ll win. Two more bids and I’m right. Watching the ranch hand from the Blue Skies Ranchshake his head, the auctioneer ends the bids and the horse is officially ours.
A few horses later is the white mare that we saw. Murray gets his hand on the paddle ready, waiting to see if anybody else is going to bid on her. It’s unlikely based on the behavior that we saw. No one wants the horse with behavior issues. With her history of abuse she will be hard to train.
The auctioneer opens the bidding for her. Someone raises their hand and offers an absurdly low amount. No one else bids. Murray raises his paddle and more than doubles the bid on the white horse. The other bidder shakes his head. He was only in it for a cheap horse.
