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When I’d learned that Black Hills Ranch wasn't as prosperous as it’d once been, I hadn't cared about that in terms of my job, but I'd been very nervous about taking on a position that clearly needed someone with a keen business sense. Curtis, while still sharp, seemed to struggle with running certain aspects like managing the finances. Unfortunately, that wasn't an area I excelled in either. I’d told Curtis as much when he’d hired me, but he hadn't seemed to care. I'd been reading books about business, accounting, and computers in my spare time, but I'd never been very good at any of those things. I was good with my hands. And I was good at reading horses. But books?
Not so much.
While the ranch was still running in the black, the ranch hands were starting to notice that things were being quietly sold off, presumably to help ease some of the burden. And I'd noticed that Curtis was looking more and more tired every day. Since I lived in the main house on the second floor, I knew the older man didn’t sleep well, and I could only assume it was because of the stress of running the ranch. I’d tried taking on as much as I could, but Curtis was a proud man and had insisted that everything was okay. So I was constantly looking for other ways to cut costs and bring in more money. Fortunately, word was starting to get out that I was a natural with horses, and while the people of Eden would never trust me with one of their animals, people from all over the state were starting to reach out with requests for me to consult on their problem equines.
Curtis had told me that any money I made training horses in my spare time was mine to keep, but I was putting it all back into the ranch. I only hoped it was enough to keep the ranch going until Curtis and I could figure out what was causing the money to go out faster than it was coming in. It hadn't seemed like demand for any of the Sterling quarter horses had decreased, but since that was the ranch's bread-and-butter, I couldn't figure out what else it could be.
I pushed thoughts of the ranch aside for a moment as I stepped into the stall to greet Millie and her baby. The foal stirred when he heard me coming and then staggered to his feet. But instead of darting behind his mother for protection, he eagerly approached me and nuzzled my hands. I'd been working with him every day from the moment he'd been born because I didn’t want him to see me as a threat but as a source of protection and kindness.
"Hey, handsome," I said as I ran my hands over his fuzzy body. I spoke nonsense to him more so he could get used to the sound of my voice than anything else. I was still midsentence telling the little colt how gorgeous he was when I heard footsteps headed my way. They were heavy and fast, so I already had a good idea of who it was going to be.
"Xavier, where are you, you son of a bitch?" Brooks yelled. The foal flinched beneath my hands. I kept my temper in check so I wouldn't startle the baby or his mother. But Brooks was doing a fine job of that all on his own by continuing to call out for me. It was all I could do to keep my back to the stall door instead of striding into the aisle and confronting the asshole again.
It took just seconds for Brooks to find me, but that was all I needed to let the mask of indifference settle into place…
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Brooks snarled from behind me. Every instinct was screaming at me to turn around so he couldn't attack me from behind, but I couldn't give that much away. I'd already shown far too much emotion out in the driveway. If I had any hope of getting through this with my job intact, I needed to keep my temper in check. Hell, it wasn't even about my job, it was about my freedom. Brooks Cunningham might not live in Eden anymore, but he was still a powerful man. The Cunningham name made him so.
I’d learned enough from my mother to know that even though the Cunninghams had sold their ranch and permanently moved to New York shortly after Brooks had left for college, James Cunningham still owned half of Eden. The residents of the town might not have respected the man, but they knew enough not to get on the wrong side of him. And it wasn't like I was a source of pride for Eden. Maybe if I'd been Curtis's son for real, like he sometimes called me, it would've been a different story. But I was still many, many rungs lower down the ladder than Brooks Cunningham would ever be.
