“That’s some impressive riding there, son,” an older gentleman commented. “I bet you were riding a horse before you could walk.”
Brodie chuckled, taking the compliment in his stride. “No, sir. First time I got on a horse was about two years ago when I was doing exactly what you’re doing—experiencing life on a ranch with my old college buddies.”
After the gaming app, Trumpeting Turtles, he and his friends had created during their senior year at college had taken off, money hadn’t been an issue for him. It became even less of aproblem when a big tech company offered an obscene amount of money for it. But he wasn’t one to sit on his ass and coast through life, doing nothing but counting his cash.
He’d tried lots of things and, for a while, had enjoyed being a paramedic, but after a few years, he’d started to lose himself and experience burnout with all the death and destruction he’d seen. When he and his college friends had gone to a dude ranch, the second his ass hit the saddle, he’d experienced a sense of peace he hadn’t felt for a long time. Now he had the best of both worlds, working at Alexander Dude Ranch and volunteering with Hunt VFD.
The adrenaline rush he received from fighting fires, and the other numerous things they did as volunteer firefighters, filled his need to give back to people. He’d finally found the perfect balance. A balance he’d wondered if he’d ever achieve.
Life was pretty damn good at the moment.
He ignored the part of him that yearned for someone he could come home to. To have that someone special his parents and college buddies had.
And why the hell did an image of Cerise Robinson, with her glittery eyes, pop into his mind? He shook it off, concentrating on the job he was being paid to do.
“Well, knock me over with a feather,” the older man continued. “You’re a natural.”
He nodded his acceptance of another compliment. “Thanks. I fell in love with ranch life on that trip, so I found a job that taught me what I needed to know, and here I am.”
Brodie tapped the brim of his hat before wheeling Whiskey around so that he could take up the rear of the group. They were going to drive the small herd to the northeast pasture where a lunch spread would be waiting for them. Then they’d amble back to the ranch house. The guests would do another activity while he and Jed went out to inspect the fences. There were never-ending jobs on a ranch and, like he’d told the older gentleman, he loved working on whatever task his bosses wanted him to handle.
The gentle sway of the powerful animal beneath him lulled him into a relaxed frame of mind and he let himself think about Cerise. It had been two days since the accident, but he hadn’t forgotten about her or their encounter at the hospital. Many times he’d picked up his phone to ask Mitch about her but stopped himself. He didn’t want to come across as some sort of creepy stalker dude. But he’d been drawn to her in a way he hadn’t been drawn to anyone in a long time.
Before the app he and his buddies designed had taken off, he’d been seeing a girl, Benita, for a couple of years. He’d been beginning to think she was the one for him, even though there were times he felt like something was missing. Then she’d dumped him because he was spending all his time working to finalize the app before launch day. Once it was obvious it had taken off and they were making a boatload of money, she came crawling back. He’d quickly worked out what Benita was doing and had shown her the door before she could make herself comfortable in his new apartment.
Brodie sighed. Why the hell was he thinking about that time? It was in the past and he was one to always live in the present. They crested the small hill where there were a couple of long tables set up, piled high with food. He noticed the tall figure standing with Jean, one of the girls who worked in the kitchen, setting out some drinks.
Mitch. It wasn’t unusual for him to still help out on the ranch even though he worked most of the time at the hospital. As a veteran recovering from PTSD, working on the ranch had been therapeutic for him when he’d taken a break from being a surgeon after he returned from his last tour. They’d sharedmany conversations over beers during the time Brodie had been working at Alexander Dude Ranch.
Perhaps this was his chance to find out some more about Cerise. He should be able to weave a couple of questions in about her, considering she and Nadia appeared to be good friends.
The next few minutes were busy as everyone dismounted from their horses. He smiled when he heard the collective groans of the guests and saw a few rubbing their backsides. He was pretty sure the massage therapist they had on site would be having a few visitors later that day. Which wasn’t unusual and was the reason they employed a masseuse—to ease the guests’ discomfort and sore muscles.
Once he settled Whiskey in the shade of the tree and the horse was happily munching on some hay Mitch and Jean had brought out, he headed over to the main table.
“Looks good as always, Jean.”
She smiled as she heaped some pulled pork onto a plate and handed it to him. “Thanks Brodie. Enjoy.”
He added some potato salad, corn, and bread to his plate and headed to the table where Mitch was sitting. “Didn’t expect to see you here today. Didn’t you work last night?” he asked.
“Yeah, but I needed some time with the horses. I’ll head home soon and crash. I don’t have to be at the hospital again for another two days.”
Brodie looked closely and noticed the dark circles under his friend’s eyes, which suggested he’d had a rough night.
“Does Nadia work the same shifts as you or are you on alternates?”
Mitch swallowed his mouthful. “The center is pretty good with putting us on the same shifts, but sometimes I get called in to perform an emergency surgery.”
Brodie shoveled a forkful of potato salad in his mouth, weighing how to bring Cerise into the conversation without it sounding weird.
“Nadia and Cerise were impressive at that accident we all got called to the other night. Do they work together a lot?”
“Not a lot, but they’re best friends. Nadia lived with Cerise when she first moved from Boston to Kerrville. Nadia loves that girl, glitter and all.” His friend’s eyes softened as he talked about his fiancée.
“I was surprised to see Cerise wearing glitter eyeliner the other night. She said the medical center doesn’t mind.”
“They’re pretty good about it. Besides I’ve never seen it streaking down her face so I think once it’s on, it stays on.” He shook his head. “The first time I took Nadia out on a date after the tornado, Cerise had ‘glitterfied’ Nadia. That shit was everywhere.”
