He holds my eyes, urging me silently to go ahead. Sighing, I pick up my fork and dig in, chewing and swallowing awkwardly in the silence that follows. Silas doesn’t move an inch other than to swirl his glass around still.
I can tell the moment it gets too much for Cal. A quick glance in his direction shows him fidgeting, something he only does when he is uncomfortable, and I have to wonder if he may be a little afraid of Silas.
It shouldn’t give me as much satisfaction as it does, but I can’t deny the way my stomach flips in that giddy way, the one where it makes you want to laugh out loud because you’re not sure what else to do.
“Tell me about the Appaloosa,” Cal demands, picking up his beer to take a swig.
“Dottie,” Silas corrects. “Her name is Dottie.”
Cal’s face scrunches up, “You’re here to train my horse, not name it.”
“And how do you suppose I train her?” Silas asks, “Names are given for more than bonding purposes. It’s a consistent word that she’ll grow to recognize more than any other word she’ll ever learn.”
Cal’s eyes roll hard. “Fine, what do you propose forDottie?”
“For now, we are working on trust. She’s an anxious horse; likely it’s because she has had little interaction with people away from her mother, and you brought her here and threw her in the deep end, which did more damage.”
Cal scoffs, “All my horses are in perfect health. It’s just that one.”
Silas gives him an incredulous look but doesn’t bite. Cal has never hurt any of the horses on this ranch, but he also doesn’t have their best interests at heart. If they can’t make him money, they get sold; it doesn’t matter to whom. They are fed and groomed and have their space, but that’s the bare minimum provided to them. I try to make connections with them all, give them a person they can trust and mostly it’s worked but Cal’s become stricter on how often I am allowed out in the stables which means I haven’t spent as much time as I’d like with them.
The Appaloosa is new here, barely even a few months, but I knew she was going to cause him trouble. I thought he’d just sell her, but then he hired Silas to train her, and that has a lot to do with her breed, the coloring, and the fact that people are already talking about her. He sees the dollar signs she can bring him.
“I will get her to where she needs to be, but it takes time.”
“You said two weeks,” Cal’s jaw twitches.
“For the basics. Which is fine; I can give you a step-by-step guide on how to keep up her training.”
“They said you were the best,” Cal sneers, “Or is this just one big con?”
“Cal,” I try, but the look he swings my way has my mouth snapping shut.
Something bumps against my foot from beneath the table, and a glance down shows Silas’s booted foot pressed up to mine, a subtle touch of comfort.
“You can believe what you want, Calvin. There is a reason I am the best at what I do, I have years of experience under my belt. By all means, if you want to do it yourself, I will leave.”
My teeth press together hard enough that pain radiates through my jaw.
It’s best if I just avoid him. His time here is temporary, and I have a feeling the more I spend time with him, the harder my life will become. I have to protect myself even if standing just a little in his orbit gives me a sense of peace I haven’t felt in years, which is crazy in its own right. I have had a handful of exchanges with this man, and yet there is something inherently safe about him. Maybe I’m just delusional, latching on to the first person who has shown me an ounce of kindness.
They discuss Dottie for another hour, leaving me to escape and clean up, but the moment I hear the door close behind Silas sometime later, I know I’m about to pay for everything that happened earlier.
I hear Cal before I see him, and I steel myself, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.
Chapter Six
Rosie sniffles into the phone, her big blue eyes glazed and spilling fresh tears down her cheeks. “But I miss you.”
“I miss you too, bug,” I tell her softly, but my voice feels raw. It’s a feat to keep myself steady and calm for my daughter after how this evening played out.
My dislike for Calvin has grown into something violent. I want to fucking hurt him for how he treats his wife, wipe that smug fucking smile right off his face.
“I will be home soon,” I promise her, though I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be returning, not when Iwant to tear this place apart to find all of Calvin’s dirty secrets so I can take him down.
“Tomorrow?” She squeaks.
“I can’t tomorrow,” I tell her, “But soon, and you can call me anytime you want.”
