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The building was generous, with light, airy stalls for each of the ranch’s dozen horses. At the rear of each stall was a gate, so that each horse could — weather permitting — take a stroll in a small, private paddock. Right now, most of the horses were out at the corral, taking in a little more space. All except two.
“Course, I don’t blame you for pooping,” he said, addressing the horse in front of him with kindness.
Sunrise — a gorgeous and intelligent golden palomino — was a relatively new arrival at the ranch, and was also Chuck’s favorite horse. He had a gentle, sensitive nature, and always seemed to be listening intently to Chuck, no matter what the old grouch was droning on about.
Since Takis had decided to run the Ranch as — among other things — a vacation spot, he’d also begun to take in hurt or damaged animals, almost like a shelter. Sunrise was one of those animals. A former racehorse, he was blind in one eye after an accident. It made him nervous and — sometimes — a little skittish and aggressive. Chuck could relate to that. His wounds made him angry, too.
Chuck reached out and gently stroked Sunrise’s muzzle. “Good boy.”
Did horses grieve? He knew that Sunrise had been affected by his damaged vision, but did he feel the loss in the same way a human would?
“Be nice not to feel grief.” Chuck took a cube of sugar and offered it up to the horse, who matter-of-factly gulped it down.
“Talking to the horses again, brother?”
“Sneaking up on people like a creep again, Duke?”
His brother let out a small chuckle. “Now, come on. You know that never went to trial,” he joked. Duke was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a stalker.
“You here to help? There’s a shovel over there,” Chuck gestured to the corner of the stable.
“Just swinging by to tell you that Takis has fixed a date for the grand opening.”
“Oh?”
“Yup. We’ve got two months to get this place ready.”
“Two months?” Chuck couldn’t hide his surprise. “If he thinks that we’re going to be ready to take in guests in just two months, the guy’s out of his mind.”
“Ambitious, I’d call it.” Duke was chewing. He had a love-hate relationship with tobacco. Chuck hoped that this was just regular gum.
“Dumb.”
Duke paused a moment. Considered. “Chuck, you should come with me and Trent to The Silk Patch.”
“Not interested.” The Silk Patch was a BDSM club in Butte, which the two other North brothers had been trying to drag Chuck along to for ages.
“It’d be fun. You could cut loose, and see what all the fuss is about.”
“I said I’m not interested in BDSM.”
“I’m starting to think that you’re not interested in sex,period.”
Chuck sighed. This wasn’t the first time Duke had pursued this line of inquiry. “Whatever.”
“Seriously. When was your last girlfriend? High school?”
“Don’t have time.”
“Think you’re just too good for them all?” Duke stepped closer and peered into the stall next to Sunrise’s.
“Nope. It’s not that.”
He couldn’t tell Duke the truth. Couldn’t tell him that he’d been smitten with the same girl for ten years. Couldn’t tell him that no one else had ever made him feel the way she had, even though nothing had ever happened between them. It was so dumb it was embarrassing.
“What’s the deal with this ugly fucker?” Duke eyed the dark horse in the stall ahead of him.
“Thunder? His deal is he’d kick your ass.”
