Ruby released the lead rope and, using her stick, tapped the horse on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m not hurting her. The stick on the withers or neck lets her know she’s crowding my space. When she gets scared, she closes in on me. I’m trying to get her into her own space.”
Ruby worked the horse up and down the area. The horse avoided the gulley altogether. Ruby gave the horse room to investigate, leading her with the rope. “See that, Brooks? She’s stopped to sniff and get her bearings. That’s good. Now I’m going to bring her in a little closer. She won’t like it much—she doesn’t know what to do about the gully—but she’ll figure it out. I keep sending her closer and closer to the gap and tapping, like this.” She tapped Cider again and then gave the horse time to overcome her fear. Back and forth, back and forth. Then Cider stopped again, put her head down and sniffed around. The next time Ruby led her close to the gulley, she jumped. “There! Good girl. That’s wonderful, Cider.” She stroked the horse again, giving praise. “Good girl. Want to try it one more time?
“I’ll keep this going,” Ruby explained to him. “Leading her back and forth near the gully. And soon she’ll be a pro at jumping over it. It’s a start.”
“It’s amazing how she responds to you, Ruby. I saw a change in her in just a few minutes. Will she go in the water?”
“She’ll go near it and take a drink. But she won’t go into the water. That takes a bit more time. She’s thirsty now, which will work in my favor. But I won’t push her right now. She can have a peaceful drink.”
Ruby let the rope hang very loose, taking off any pressure, and approached the water. Cider resisted for a few seconds. Then, without being prompted by the stick or the rope, she walked over to the bank and dipped her head to lap up water. “See how wary she is? She won’t put her feet in. But she will, very soon.”
“I never thought about horses not feeling inherently comfortable with their surroundings. I don’t know a whole lot about horses, that’s for damn sure. I guess I figured they were naturally at ease with jumping and going in the water.”
“Yeah, I know that’s the perception. But horses, like children, need to be trained to do the things we know they are capable of doing. They certainly don’t understand what it means when we put saddles on them or bits in their mouths. The truth is, when I train the horses, they tell me what they need help with. And I listen and watch. The reason this method works so well is that I give the horse a purpose. I kept sending Cider across that gully and let her figure out how to solve the problem. It’s a matter of knowing what they need and providing it.”
Brooks spent the remainder of the morning watching Ruby work miracles with this horse, completely impressed with her knowledge and the ease with which she worked. When his stomach grumbled, he grinned. “Are you going back to the house for lunch?”
“No. I’m not done with Cider yet. I brought my lunch out here.”
“You’re eating here?”
“Yep, under that tree you were holding up earlier.”
He laughed. “Sounds peaceful.”
She stared into his eyes. “It is.”
“Okay, then, I should get going. Let you have your lunch.”
He turned and began walking.
“There’s enough for two,” she said, a hitch in her throat, as if she couldn’t believe she’d just said that. Hell, if she was inviting, he wouldn’t be refusing.
He turned and smiled. “If it’s Lupe’s leftover fried chicken, I’m taking you up on it.”
“And what if it isn’t?” she asked.
“I’m still staying.”
Ruby’s mouth pulled into a frown as if she was having second thoughts.
“As your friend,” he added.
Her tight expression relaxed, and a glint gleamed in her pretty brown eyes. “I lied. It is chicken, and Lupe packed me way too much.”
“So then, I’d be doing you a favor by staying and eating with you. Wouldn’t want all that food to go to waste.”
She rolled her eyes adorably, and Brooks was glad to see the Ruby of old come back.
She grabbed her backpack, and together they walked over to the tree where swaying branches provided shade on the packed-dirt ground. Ruby tossed her stuff down, but before she sat, he put up his hand. “Wait a sec.”
She stood still, her eyes sharp as he pulled his shirt out of his jeans and began unbuttoning until his white T-shirt was exposed. “Never did like this shirt anyway.” He took off his shirt and made a bit of a production laying it on the ground. Then he gestured to Ruby. “Now you can sit.”
Her expression warmed considerably. “Galahad. You’re too much.”
“That’s what they tell me.”
She plopped herself comfortably down on his shirt so that her perfect behind wouldn’t be ground into the dirt. “Thank you. You know, that’s about the sweetest thing a man’s done for me in a long while.”
“Well then, you’re meeting the wrong kind of men. Present company excluded. And boy, am I glad you’re not into all that feminism stuff, or I’d be dead meat right now.”
She smiled. “Who says I’m not? I believe in the power of women.”
“So do I.”
“But I can also recognize a gentleman when I see one, and I don’t feel like it’s diminishing my role in the world.”
“And this is Texas, after all,” he said.
“Right.”
“And I have developed Southern charm.”
“Don’t press your luck, Preston.”
Brooks blinked. And then he looked straight into Ruby’s spirited chocolate eyes. “Thanks. It feels good to be called by my father’s name.”
“You’re welcome. You’ve earned it.”
He stared at her and nodded, holding back a brand-new emotion welling behind his eyes.
* * *
Brooks headed to the main house that evening, thoughts of Ruby never far from his mind. The more time he spent with her... Okay, forget it. He couldn’t go down that road, especially when the main reason his thoughts had splintered was standing not ten feet away on the sweeping porch of the residence.
As soon as Beau spotted Brooks, he called him over with a wave of the hand. “Come here, son. Meet the rest of the family.”
The three men—all wearing Stetsons in varying colors and appearing younger than Brooks by several years—stood at attention next to Beau. Brooks’s half brothers.
He walked up, and Beau gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Brooks, I’m proud to introduce you to Toby, Clay and Malcolm. They’re your brothers.”
He shook each one of their hands and greeted them kindly. It was strange and awkward at first, but Beau’s boys made him feel welcome.
“We’re surely glad to meet you,” Toby said. He was the oldest and tallest of the three. “I’m sorry we missed out on knowing you all those years.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, too. Life took me down a different path,” he said.
Malcolm stood against the post, his boots crossed, his gaze narrowing in on Brooks’s face. “But you’re here now, and we’re glad of it. You look more like Dad than any of us.”
Beau chuckled. “Poor guy.”
“Mom