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Myself included.
Sadly, he was a shell of a man, living in the past instead of forging his way into a new future. As he pulled up, stopping his vehicle, I walked closer as he climbed out. Then I threw out my hand, waiting as he debated whether he’d shake it.
Then he grinned, which was as rare for him to do as it was for me, accepting the gesture.
“Snake. It’s good to see you.”
“You too, buddy. I wish I was coming here for under more pleasant circumstances.” He glanced at the house, having only accepting my invitation to come in once. Since his return from Afghanistan, he’d kept to himself, becoming more of a hermit than anything. While he’d purchased the ranch butting up to mine, he spent most of his time hiding out in a cabin in the mountains.
The day I’d heard he’d been killed in action, I’d envied him knowing the nightmares were over. What kind of asshole of a man thought that kind of thing? I couldn’t imagine what he’d endured as a prisoner of war, scarred from a horrific fire that had stolen his identity for months and yet there’d been times I’d wanted to be him. Sighing, I rubbed my jaw, hating the awkward tension that had started on a dark day back when we had yet to turn eighteen.
“What do you mean?” I finally managed.
“I found some of your horses on my property this morning.”
“Shit. Another fence needing repair.”
Snake shook his head. “No, there are fresh cuts on the rails. Someone did so intentionally, but it gets worse.”
“What?”
Exhaling, he shook his head. “Three of them were shot. There’s nothing I could do for two of them. The one who’s injured is safe in my barn. I didn’t see your foreman so I did what I could on my own.”
Shot? What the fuck? “Are you thinking poachers?”
“I honestly don’t know what to think. They wandered onto my property before they were hit, though. Not sure if the asshole was going for you or me.”
He eyed me carefully as he always did, hoping just like he’d done before that I had the answers. All I had was guilt and agonizing pain.
Great. First suspicious fires. Now this. “I appreciate you letting me know.”
“I called the vet early this morning. Marshall came out right away. The other horse will be just fine.”
Nodding, I scanned the property. I’d had issues with poachers the first day I moved onto the ranch, but nothing since then. “I’ll come get her later today if that’s okay with you.”
“You should probably give her a couple days.” He stood where he was, glancing toward the mountains. I knew instinctively what he was thinking about, the same thing that had kept me awake many times over the years.
“Yeah, you’re right. How are you doing?” I asked after a few seconds.
“As well as to be expected. I need to figure out what the hell to do with the rest of my life.”
“When the time is right, you’ll know.”
“Yeah, one day. When the shit in my head clears.” He continued to stare in the same direction. “Do you ever wish you could go back in time?”
I’d asked myself that at least a dozen times, only I wasn’t certain what we could have done differently. “Sometimes, but I got to a point I had to let the past stay buried.”
I sucked at lying.
He turned his head, his eyes holding no emotion. It was as if his loss of memory and the time he’d spent recuperating had stripped him of everything he’d once been.
But not the ugly secret.
Karma was a fucking bitch in my mind.
Snake said nothing else before heading to his truck. While I’d been injured while serving in the Marines, it was nothing like what he and his team had suffered through. As he drove away, I glanced one last time toward the area where it had happened.
It.
