I hear horseshoes hitting the ground behind me. I lift my hat up slightly and look over my shoulder.
“Jake, you should be doing your homework,” I say to my brother as he pulls his horse Willow next to mine.
“All finished brother,” He replies, pulling on the mares reins. I look at him, giving him my best ‘are you sure’ look.
“Yes! All done,” he exclaims.
“Well, all right then,” I reply, placing my hat firmly back on my head.
My brother may be two years younger than me, but I sure forget it sometimes. Being raised by us made him grow up a little bit too quick for my liking.
Jake’s the youngest out of our parents’ kids. As soon as he was born, he was dragged around with me, Colter, my girl and our friends. All of our parents have been best friends since forever, so we all grew up together. Jake got the short straw by being the youngest by a small country mile.
“Mama’s looking for you,” he says, looking up at me from his own cowboy hat.
Damn, there goes my peace.
“That so?” I ask. He nods.
“Apparently some letter came through, looks pretty fancy,” he says back at me.
I know exactly what letter that could be.
I’ve been applying to colleges over America, even one in Canada for safe keeping. I’m desperate to learn about business from a top school.
Even though I knew enough about it from my parents and their friends, I want to learn the real world of it. What makes it tick and most importantly how I could make it work for this exact horse ranch that I sit upon.
How could I make this place better? It has so many opportunities. I want to grasp it within my reach and have the best possible outcome.
I make sure to keep my grades at the best level I can, taking an AP class in Math and English to be sure. My very long stint on the football team as the centre back could mean a potential scholarship to any of the colleges I apply for, taking pressure off my parents to pay for school.
I like football, don’t get me wrong; but it’s not a career choice for me, all but a skipping stone to where I truly want to be.
Mabel and I always had this dream that I would run the Bennett Ranch, and she would split hertime between here and Riggins ranch, being our gem behind all of her crazy ideas that could make the world turn a little bit easier.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I start. “Race ya!” I shout at my brother before kicking Storm into a run, and then a gallop.
“Hey,” my brother calls behind me. “No fair!” he shouts as I hear Willow’s feet hit the ground well behind me.
He may be my little brother, I love him, wouldn’t be without him, but was I fuck about to let him win a race on horseback!
Although I’ll give the kid it, he’s always been a natural with them. Especially the ones who have been brought in damaged. We never know what has happened to them in their life, but Jake seems to have a way with them.
They trust him. It’s an amazing quality to have. He was so patient with them. He takes after our mom in that respect. The horses always love her; she’s so gentle and kind.
She also has the patience of a saint.
The amount of times Colter and I had given her a run for her money, turning up at stupid times of the night, or that one time we crashed the ranches buggy into a ditch my dad was trying to fill.
She never shouts, never raises her voice. Only ever gave us an eyebrow lift and that was it, we knew we had fucked up.
I’m more like my dad, stern and know where he’s supposed to be, although I’ve inherited my mom’s famous eyebrow lift. I’m known to do it a lot with my friends.
Reaching the stable, I won the race by only seconds as Jake and Willow run behind me and Storm. I let out a huff.
“That horse of yours is getting faster, I swear,” I shout over my shoulder towards my brother.
“Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game,” he laughs, giving his girl a well deserve pat.
