And then ran straight back in. ‘Could you watch Poppy until I get back? I shouldn’t be—’
‘Go!’ he laughed. ‘I’ve got Poppy.’
Sierra took off at a run. She flew out the front door where Shadow was dozing and onto the porch. The dog was up like a shot. She yipped and danced around Sierra, excited by the frantic dash.
Sierra didn’t stop when she saw the new swing, hanging from the oak tree. She smiled. And she ran faster.
She hopped into the Jeep with Shadow, started the engine, and tore off towards the barn.
It was close to six-thirty when she pulled up, but while the rest of the wranglers were working away in relative silence, bringing in the horses for the morning, feeding, grooming and mucking, Benji was nowhere to be found. She searched the barn, running the stalls and popping her head in each one to check, but when she couldn’t find him, she stopped in the staff room, and saw Skye sitting alone, nursing a cup of coffee.
‘Hey.’
Skye looked up at her, and Sierra knew by the way the other woman’s eyes instantly shuttered that she was too late. ‘Boss.’ Skye’s greeting was chilly.
‘He left already?’
‘About five minutes ago,’ Skye replied.
Sierra reached into her pocket for her phone and then just closed her eyes when her hand came up empty. ‘Can you call him?’ Sierra asked, her tone frantic. ‘I left my phone at home.’
Skye nodded slowly. ‘Sure.’ She took her phone out, pulled up Benji’s contact, and then raised it to her ear while Sierra paced back and forth like a newly caged Mustang. After a long three seconds, she said, ‘It’s just ringing.’
‘Shit.’
A loud nicker had Sierra turning to the barn entrance. Ty was being led out of his stall for some pasture time, but he’d obviously heard her voice because the horse was refusing to budge even as José tried to lead him forward. He tossed his big head in excitement and tried to look back to where Sierra stood.
Slowly, in a daze, she said, ‘If he answers, tell him to wait for me.’
‘Okay. But—’
Sierra didn’t hear whatever Skye had been about to say. She ran. She snatched Ty’s lead rope from José, looped the loose end through the halter ring and tied it into makeshift reins.
‘Ah … Sierra?’
José clearly thought she was having a mental breakdown, but Sierra knew that the only way to catch Benji was to cut across Hunt land to the main entrance. ‘Sorry, gotta go,’ she said, and using nothing but her muscle memory, heaved herself onto Ty’s back.
It took her a good ten seconds to find her rhythm on the horse’s bare back, another five for her to find her courage, but when she used nothing but her body to push Ty into a trot down the dirt road, her heart settled. The thirty-four odd years she had on horseback Before kicked in as if she’d never taken a break. She stroked Ty’s mane, said, ‘We’ve got this, boy,’ and then she urged him into a canter, and then a gallop.
Skye watched Sierra and Ty gallop down the dirt road, Shadow sprinting at their side, with her mouth open. ‘Did you … Did you see that?’ she asked José. ‘She just … She just vaulted on and …’
He just laughed. ‘Yeah. She used to ride bareback all the time.’
Skye leaned against the barn door and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I’m gonna learn how to do that.’
José shook his head on a laugh and nudged her shoulder with his. ‘I don’t doubt it.’ He sighed. ‘I really hope she convinces him to stay.’
Skye nodded, and then she picked up her phone and kept trying to call Benji.
When Benji reached the main gates, he stopped the truck and turned off the engine. He opened the door and slowly climbed out to soak in the ranch one last time.
In the horse trailer, Diablo snorted, and the sound was so indignant, so frustrated, as if the horse was saying ‘We’re going the wrong way’. Benji just tapped the side of the trailer, said, ‘I know, buddy.’
He walked to the big, iron gates, left open for guests, and glanced up at the hanging letters that proclaimed:HUNT RANCH.
His heart bled, and the whirlwind of emotions exhausted him. He wasmeantto be there. Home. With Sierra. How could he know that in his heart even as his mind rationalized that it was time to move forward, to move on? Why did one part of him have to die just to keep the last flickering embers of himself alive?
Benji leaned both arms on the thick, wooden fence post, hung his head, and exhaled a huge breath. This was far worse than choosing to leave his parents, who had never done much to deserve his loyalty or love. This was choosing to leave not only the one person he’d always wanted to be with, but his chosen family too. His home.
