Page 46 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
“Why do they do it? Have all these foster kids and stuff? It seems like a hard life,” Brooks said.
Oh, that was easy. “Ryder says it’s his calling. He has a lot—money, love, stability—and it would make him less of a man if he didn’t help. I like that about him. We’re of a mind on that. When you got more than you need, you give it and help people who have less than they need. The simple fact is we’re all just dirt at the end whether you go out in a golden casket or a pine one. At that point, you’re just dust. And all that’s left behind is what people remember you for.” Coop shrugged. “I just want to be remembered as a good man.”
“You are a good man, Coop. Trust me.” Brooks grinned at him, winked. “I’m a good judge of character.”
“Ha! A good judge of horseflesh, maybe.”
“That too.” Brooks just shrugged. “I have no idea what I’ll be remembered as.”
Coop pulled in at the trailer sales place. Hell, in a town this small, they sold trailers, cars, boats, and RVs. But everyone knew Leo Hernandez gave a good deal for a solid product.
“I think you’ll be remembered as a good man, Brooks. The rest is up to you. You want to do horses? You do it and be the best you can be at it.”
Brooks nodded at him, looking a little uncomfortable, but his chin had a determined jut to it. “I will. I just have to get hooked up with my first couple of pairs of breeding stock.”
“So how do you go about that?” Coop asked as they walked into the little storefront at the trailer place. “Hey, Leo.”
“Hey, Coop!” Leo bustled over. “What can I do you for?”
“I’m here to pay for and pick up a trailer.” Brooks gave Leo a small smile.
“Ah, you must be Mr. Whitehead. Pleased.” Leo shook hands.
“Brooks is going to be staying out at my place with thekids. He’s getting the barns all tricked out for horses,” Coop explained.
Leo looked back and forth between them. “What kind of horses?”
Brooks glanced at Coop, and Coop worked to keep his face pleasantly expressionless.
“A couple of pleasure riding horses for me and the kids. And I raise and train cutting and reining horses.”
“Well, now, there’s some money there.”
“Yessir.” Brooks waited for Leo to bring up his order, not getting antsy at all. He guessed life in the middle of nowhere moved as slow in Australia as it did around here…
They got it all locked up and hooked the trailer to the truck. Then they worked loose from Leo and headed out.
“How do you feel about Mexican?” he asked.
“I could kill me some,” Brooks shot right back.
“Cool.” He grinned. “So how do you go about picking horses?” He circled back to the question Brooks hadn’t had a chance to answer.
“Oh! Yeah, well, that depends. I need to call a few folks. But I can also take a chance on some auctions in Santa Fe and maybe in Denver…” Brooks warmed to the subject, talking about straws, which were semen specimens from proven producers, and about the kinds of horses he wanted to run for him and the kids to ride and soon enough, they were at Tequilas, which smelled so good.
Most of the kids were young to be wasting money on a Mexican place. They would just ask for chicken fingers or a burger. He’d brought Benji and Ricky a few times, though, when the others went to Kase and Ryder’s.
They sat over chips and salsa, and he had a Coke, so Brooks did too.
He had to admit, he was damn interested in what Brooks had to say. Of course, he also found himself watching the wayBrooks’s mouth moved, the way his eyebrows rose and fell as he spoke.
Brooks had gotten exponentially hotter the longer Coop had known him. That was probably weird and maybe bad. They had to spend a lot of time together after all.
“And then I thought I would get a unicorn or maybe a tankful of sharks.”
“Huh?” Coop frowned. “What about sharks?”
“You were woolgathering, Coop. Was I boring?” A touch of red traced across Brooks’s high cheekbones.
