Page 77 of The Cowboy's Bullfighter
But Pete was holding him hostage by not hiring anyone.
“Now, Brooks?—”
“No. Pick someone. Now. Today.” Dammit. His phone rang, and he checked it. “Sorry, Pete. Gotta take this.”
He hit the button and walked away from the source of his black mood. “Hello?”
“Uncle Brooks?”
“Well, hey there, Miss Lucy. What’s up?”
“Are you coming home ever?” She was crying, and Brooks so didn’t like that.
“Now, honey. You know I am. I just…”Am being held hostage by this idiot.“Things got a little hinky, but it won’t be much longer. I’ve just got to get this guy to make a decision and pay me my money. Now, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“I just—We miss you, and Ricky’s being all weird, and he got a job—like a real job. And the piano teacher lady is mean, and she says that I’m stupid, and I’m not stupid just because I can’t do this like the boys can. She’s just mean, and I’m not stupid! But I don’t want to say anything to Uncle Coop because she’s the only one who’ll come out here to give lessons, and everybody else is better at it. I want you to come home so that we can have the horses, so that I’m okay. I’m good at being with the horses.”
That liked to break his heart. “Oh, honey, you’re good at a lot of things?—”
“Don’t treat me like I’m a baby!” she snapped. “I know that I’m not as good at stuff as everybody else. I’m not like, uh, what did they call it? Johnny is an idiot saver?”
“Your brother is not an idiot savant.” Brilliant, and a little odd, sure, but that was how brains worked.
“Well, whatever it is that he is, I’m not. And you should see Mason on this damn piano. He just knows how to do it. Then there’s Mina. She’s cute and everybody thinks she’s the best and adorable. I got all brothers and then one sister and everybody’s better at everything but me. And I want you to come home so that there’s another horse lover here!”
“I want to come home too. I really miss you and everyone and Coop. Look, I tell you what, I have a job for you.”
“You do?” She sniffed hard, and she blew her nose, the sound loud in hisears. “What?”
“Miss Pansy is needy, kiddo. Real needy. I know you’ve been working with Coop, keeping them fed and in and out of the barn, and loving on them. But Miss Pansy needs more than that. She needs to work in the ring a little.”
“How can I do that without riding her?”
He explained to Lucy how she could take Pansy out on a lead, with Coop or Ricky to keep an eye out for her, and work Pansy on her turns and stops. By the time he was done outlining all that, she had stopped crying and was giving him her ideas.
He was going to have to get Coop to take her over to Kase’s to ride again, and soon.
“Okay, kiddo. So you can do that?”
“Uh-huh, I can do it. Are you going to tell Uncle Coop it’s okay? He worries. He worries about us a whole lot. You’re going to be home for spring break, right? And Ricky’s birthday? Uncle Coop says if you’re home, maybe we can go camping. Or if it’s too cold for camping maybe even skiing.”
“Don’t you worry, young lady, I will be home. I will be home by spring break. I hopefully will be home in just a couple of days. Now, can I talk to your Uncle Coop? I want to be able to let him know that that’s cool for you to have her out in the ring.” And he wanted to find out what the fuck was happening with this piano teacher bitch that made his oldest girl cry.
“Yep, he’s paying bills. Just a second, Uncle Coop, it’s Uncle Brooks for you.”
“Thanks, sweetheart. Go get your reading done real quick, would you? Hey, old man, how you doing?” Coop sounded a little grumpy. A little distant, but not bad. Maybe he was just busy.
“I told Lucy that she could take the horses out in the ring, not riding them, but leading them. Maybe you could take her to the Chiara’s to ride again? She needs something to do.”
“She’s got a ton to do, but I hear you. She can take that mare out, yeah, but I don’t feel comfortable with her taking the stallion out, so…”
“No, no, Pansy is fine.” He had to remember that Coop was not really a rancher. He was a bullfighter with land and beagles. “She is awful upset, you know?”
“Yep. She and Barbara Meadows got into a tiff today about the piano lessons. Barb just doesn’t seem to get it through her head that everybody’s starting from scratch. So the little ones don’t know what they don’t know. And Mason is like some natural, and Lucy’s just not. I told her she didn’t have to take the damn lessons if she didn’t want to.”
“She just worries that she’s not good at anything, man. And maybe Barbara isn’t a good fit for her.” Shit, Coop was growly. Brooks didn’t blame the man. He felt the same way…
“I think she needs to stick it out for a little bit longer. I did talk to Barbara, though, and told her to never call my kid stupid again. Ever.”
