Page 48 of Bucked Hard

“Rachel. She’s a fine girl. You better treat her right though, or I beat your ass. I may not be big, but I can take care of you if I need to.”

“Jesus, what the hell? You a mind reader or something?”

He crosses and uncrosses his worn leather boots, stretching out under the blue sky as he pops the last bite of his burger into his mouth. As he chews he throws his hands behind his head. Then he swallows, takes a breath and turns his kind eyes to me.

“I know that look. You not fooling anyone.” He sits up, his face turning serious. “You hurt her, I hurt you. I’m just sayin’. Okay?”

His straightforward manner and protectiveness does nothing but make me like him that much more.

“Okay.” It’s all I can manage and Enrique nods. The subject is closed.

“Don’t let her get away though. I almost let my Vanessa get away. Thought no such thing as love at first sight. I got smart fast. Thank you, Jesus.” He makes the sign of the cross and lifts the crucifix from around his neck to give it a kiss.

“Yeah?” I pause, contemplating whether this is a conversation I want to have with a dude I’ve known for a couple days.

Fuck it.

“So you believe in love at first sight?” It’s such a bitch question it almost makes me wince, but I see the smile creeping across his lips. He stops fighting it and closes his eyes.

“Oh yeah.” He wiggles one boot and seems to be lost in something beyond my question, making me wait to see if there is more coming. “It’s the best kind. My Vanessa would kill me if I told you this.” He opens his eyes and gives me a rogue grin. “I made her mine that first night. You know what I mean?” He chuckles deep in his throat and shakes his head as he laughs. “Oh, yeah, you know.”

I nod and look down at the dirt, digging the heel of my boot in and making a small hole, thinking about how Rachel felt around me last night.

“Then…” Enrique startles me as he continues. “Then I got stupid, did something stupid and I almost lost her. But it all worked out. Five children later, and working on six. Huh? Yeah?” He sits up with a bark of laughter. It’s clear as day we both know what he means.

“I’m not letting Rachel go anywhere.”

“Yeah? Good. What you doing out here doing field work, anyway? Where you from? You don’t look like field work to me.”

“You don’t look like field work either. You and Vanessa run an antique store. So, I could ask you the same thing.”

“Yeah. Well, I have a soft spot for Jessie.” He nods. “What about you? What are you doing out here?”

“I just needed a break. Came back from out west where I trained cutting horses and hard cases. Rich people with too much money and not enough patience. Horses aren’t that hard to train, you just have to do it in their time and not on your schedule. I’m going to open my own training barn. Gotta find a location, but I needed some time. This seemed like the kind of place a man could pass some time. Hard work will clear my head while I look for somewhere to settle.”

“Didn’t expect to find her though did you?”

“Nope. I sure didn’t.”

“Why’d you leave?” He rests his elbows on his knees and takes a deep draw on his water bottle.

“Oh, family trouble. Not me, but still, just sort of soured things, you know?”

That’s not the whole truth. It was my Dad who pushed me to go. I wanted to stay and take care of them, but he made me promise to start over and not carry the burden of what Leander brought to our family.

“Yes. I know. You got family out here someplace?”

“A half-brother but we don’t talk. Dad passed, Mom’s in a home.” I lick my teeth and let out a long, low breath. I don’t even like to think about Leander, much less talk about him. He was my half-brother and we weren’t anything I’d call close, but he managed to dismantle our family and ruin another little girl’s life.

“Family, it’s a blessing and a curse. You got two chances for the family you wish for. One you don’t get a choice. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. But the second one you make your own. God gives you the right woman and that’s where you need to start, the rest is up to you.”

Before I can answer, we both turn as the sound of an approaching vehicle toward the field draws our attention. It only takes me a split second and I recognize the oversized, black Ford F350 heading our way.

I pop up to my feet, brush the dirt and grass off my ass as Roger pulls the enormous pickup to a stop by the tree.

“Howdeeeeee.” Roger hops down out of the cab and tips his hat at me then Enrique.

“Enrique, this is my friend from way back. Roger Chaney.” I nod back at Roger. “Roger, this is my partner in crime out here, Enrique Torres.”

---