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He nodded his head against mine, rubbing his beard along my head.
I smacked him and stepped back. “Let me know if you need anything, Ace. I love you little brother.”
He ruffled my hair and followed me outside, staying on my heels all the way to my car.
When I went to shut my car door, he stopped me. “Just…be careful, alright?”
At my confused look he explained. “Obviously there’s more to Nico’s story, and you need to get yourself up to speed on those matters. Weigh the cost with the benefits. Just know that there’s something dangerous out there…and that something has Nico in his sights. And also know that we love you and we’d be broken without you.”
A tear squeezed past my stronghold, and he grinned. “You’re such a girl.”
I slammed the door, then gunned the engine, kicking up dust and smoke around him.
As I turned out of our driveway, I could see him coughing and laughing.
Dork.
When I pulled into Nico’s driveway, I was surprised to see if full.
There were six trucks as well as two police cruisers.
Instead of walking inside where I knew the crowd was, I walked to the barn.
I shook my head as I got close, seeing the huge panel that had replaced the old one.
Nico had told me about all the work he was going to do to the barn so the horses were never put into jeopardy again, and I was relieved.
I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Nautica until I saw her again.
I’d thought that she was sold along with all the cattle we’d had at our place after the deaths. I hadn’t let myself feel how much it bothered me until I realized that she wasn’t gone after all.
After staring at the panel for long moments, trying to figure out how it worked, I finally decided to start punching in numbers.
The first one I tried didn’t work. That was my birthday. The second didn’t work either. That was his birthday. The third, however, did work. It was the day I came home. 05152015.
The door’s lock clicked, and I pushed inside, closing it and re-arming it behind me.
I knew, for a fact, he’d have a cow if I didn’t re-arm it. I didn’t know what he’d do if he wanted one of the horses to come out. It wasn’t as if they were toys that only came out when you wanted them to. All four of the horses, Nautica included, needed daily exercising, as well as pasture time each and every day.
There was no way he was going to be able to arm the entire pasture. He couldn’t keep the horses safe all the time.
Or my brother’s cattle.
Which tended to not like gates when the grass was greener on the other side.
Nautica nickered as I made my way inside, knowing it was me instantly.
I stopped by the large fridge kept in the corner of the room, withdrew the bag of carrots, and walked to the stalls.
As I passed Nico’s horses, I handed them each a carrot.
The three of Nico’s were all roans, and very beautiful.
They were also all female.
Seemed Nico was partial to the females.
They snuffled thankfully, scarfing the carrot as if they’d never had anything so delicious before; something of which I knew differently, since I’d seen the apples in the fridge as well.
By the time I made it to Nautica’s stall, I had to laugh because she was nearly slamming the door with her nose in her exuberance.
“I know, I know,” I chided as I opened her stall door.
She came out gratefully, rubbing her large nose against my face.
It felt like velvet against my skin, and my tears nearly threatened again.
“God, I’ve missed you,” I whispered softly to her.
She neighed then snorted, blowing the hair back from my face, causing me to laugh.
“Beautiful horse.” A deep male’s voice said from behind me.
I screamed and turned, heart pounding to find a large man with blonde hair and a scar on his face staring at me.
He had his hands up in a placating gesture.
“I’m sorry. My name’s Max Tremaine. I’m the one who did all the security on the barn. I was just checking it over one more time before I left,” he said soothingly.
I deflated somewhat. He wouldn’t have been able to get in here if he hadn’t known the code.
“Jesus, you scared me,” I said, resting one hand against my thundering heart.
He smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. Like is said, I was just double checking. Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair. I’ve got to go give the information to Nico about how to get in here. Although, I see that it wasn’t too hard for you to figure out.”
I picked up a hint of accusation in his tone. “He used a special date.”
His eyes narrowed, and his head tilted slightly. “Gotcha.”
Then he was gone.
I listened this time, hearing the familiar beeps that showed the barn was rearmed, before I turned back to Nautica.
She nodded her head up and down quickly, and I smiled.
That used to be a sign for she was wanting to ride, and right now I was willing to give it to her. I needed some time to think on what my brother had said.
That had been the real reason I hadn’t wanted to go see Nico quite yet.
What Ace had said had really hammered home how traumatizing being with a cop could be to a woman.
I would have lot of things to consider if I became Nico’s wife. The main one, though, was having to deal with the fact that my significant other would be putting his life on the line for strangers.
He could possibly not make it home. Then what would I do?
What would happen if I had kids with him?
Would they be able to deal with it?
Was I able to deal with the huge ‘what if’ that always seemed to hang over our heads like a thunder cloud? Just waiting for it to pour down on us?
I contemplated that as I typed in the passcode to the back barn door, leading Nautica out by just her halter.
