I take a deep breath and shake my head, “I’ve got this, just go away and I’ll clean it up.”
She stops and leans against the mop, “No way, if Daddy comes in here and I’m not helping I’ll get an earful.”
Taking another deep breath, I crawl back to the baseboard and mumble, “I hate whiskey.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MASON
WATCHING MARLEYworking with her horses is always a sight to see. She rehabs abused horses that have been re-homed and the trust between the horses and her, no matter what they have been through, is nothing short of a miracle.
It’s almost like the horses know she has been through her own abuse and trauma and can trust her.
She can walk into an equine marketplace and even the grouchiest, meanest horse will let her walk right up to it. The hardest part for her is having to choose.
She just got a new horse yesterday and was up with the sun this morning to be in the stable. She’s in the middle of the paddock nearest her stable when I walk across the yard to her. The chestnut gelding she’s in the paddock with is watching me as I get closer, his fur is twitching all over his shoulders and back.
She turns around to see what he is looking at and a smile spreads across her face. “Hey, what are you doing out here?”
The closer I get, the horse’s ears get stiffer and point backward, he doesnotlike me. “I thought I would come say good morning, I don’t get to see you enough.”
When I step up to the wooden fence of the paddock and lean on the top rail, the horse stomps his foot and his head jerks up. Marley gives him the freedom to be disagreeable if he wants to but loosely holds onto the reins. “I’m just glad you were here to decorate the tree this year, it’s never the same without you.”
She’s not looking at me as she talks, she’s rubbing the nose of the gelding that almost looks like he wants to protect her from me by the way he’s hanging his head so close to her.
Her smile is still there but I can hear the sadness in her voice and I grimace as guilt floods me. “I know, I’m going to try and be here every year from now on. I can’t promise, but I’m gonna try.”
The pony jerks his head again and stomps and she shushes him, clucking her tongue at the same time. She doesn’t turn around when she says, “How’s Sloane this morning?”
Aw fuck.
Sloane has actually been avoiding me again, I haven’t seen her much since I pulled her away from Kinley a couple of days ago. Even when I try to find her in the house she seems to sense my presence and ducks away, I know this because I can still smell her scent in the room I think she’s in.
I shrug my shoulders even if she isn’t looking at me to see it, “Don’t know, I haven’t seen her today, you’ll have to ask her.”
She presses her lips to the nose of the pony and he lets her as she rubs her hand along his chin and throat, “Don’t think I don’t see how you look at her, or how you relax when she’s close to you.”
Not really knowing what to say, I’m not going to lie to my sister and it’s no use trying to deny it because she knows me as well as I know myself. Setting my chin on my fist that’s on the top rail, I choose not to say anything.
She walks the pony to a part of the fence that’s shaded by a big maple tree and loops the reins before she walks over to me. She crosses her arms on the top rail and sets her cheek on her hand, her eyes smiling, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen my big brother look at a woman like I see you look at her.”
I mirror her and turn my head to set my cheek on my fist, “The type of life I lead is not woman-friendly, Marley. I’m gone too much and I need my focus to be on the job when I’m out with the team.” I don’t mention that little spark of unease when I think of losing a wife like Dad and Gray did. I keep that fear buried.
Her lip tips a little on the one side, “You know, therearewomen out there that can handle the type of life you lead. Otherwise, all military men would be single.” She extends one of the fingers on her hand close to me and pokes my arm, “And don’t forget that you have a family here that will always take care of their own.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket right then, but I still look at my sister because I’ve never thought of it that way. I look down to see Callum’s code name on my phone, “I have to take this, Marley.”
She winks at me and pushes off the fence as I walk away to take my call, “Hey.”
“Hey, I got some background on your girl.” He says and I hear gunshots in the background.
“You at the range?”
“Yeah, I brought the kids for some target practice.”
Callum has been married since before he left the Seals to start his own security company, he has a son and a daughter, “They any good?” I joke.
“Addy’s aim is exceptional, she’s practicing with the rifle today, that girl is a wizard with any type of gun and the crossbow. Emmet prefers handguns.”
