Sweet Talking Cowboy (4 page)

Briann watched Slade as he retraced his steps as far as his
truck, got in and drove out of sight.  She wasn’t aware of the battle he’d
won.  She was still in the grip of the one she’d lost.  Just that quick, just
that easy, she’d been swept back in time, wanting his touch, his kisses, his
passion.  No man, before or since had awakened the fire in her that the
slightest touch from Slade aroused.

Moving back home might have been the worst idea she’d ever had. 
Briann wasn’t sure she could handle it.  Her next thought was of Aunt Poog.  She
wouldn’t leave Aunt Poog, no matter what happened.  Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike
never hesitated before moving into the big house to care for her after her
parents were killed.  Briann had been eleven and needed them.  They’d always
been there for her.  She had been so selfish to be gone all these years and it
was good to be home again.  Her eyes looked toward the road where the brake
lights of Slade’s truck brightened the darkness as he slowed before turning out
onto the highway.  Somehow, she’d have to learn to deal with these feelings.  Slowly
she walked toward the house, the speckled dog following close at her heels.

Over the next few days life began to settle into a routine. 
There were times Aunt Poog would be busy and without thinking, start to bring
Uncle Mike up, as if he were still alive, but then she’d catch herself and have
to leave the room.  Always later in that same day, she would take the truck and
drive to the cemetery for a while, most of the time taking Speck with her.

Only Poog had seen the dog’s reaction to being at Mike’s
graveside.  Speck seemed to sense that it was as close to his beloved human as
he’d ever get.  From the very first time she took him, he walked up to the
grave and stretched his stout body out along the grave, in the area where Poog
always imagined Mike’s chest would be.  The dog would lay quietly while she
talked to the love of her life, fussed with flowers or whatever she felt she
needed to do at the time.  When she stood to leave, she’d snap her fingers and
Speck would hop up to follow her, but after walking to her side, he always
turned his speckled head with the dark patches around each eye and looked back
at Mike’s grave, then he’d trot along with her to the truck.

As much as she’d hoped to avoid Slade, Briann knew it wasn’t
possible.  He dropped by to check on Poog almost daily and often accepted her
offer to have supper.  She discovered that Slade appeared to have accepted her
resolve to keep him at a distance and he made a conscious effort to keep their
conversations impersonal.  She appreciated that, but it didn’t help that his
mere presence was enough to raise her heart rate and the sound of his baritone
voice etched its way into her dreams.

Briann had been gone from Atlanta for almost two weeks, and
knew she needed to go back to get the rest of her things, most notably, her
five year old daughter.  She’d never been separated from Tris for this long and
even talking to her nightly by phone just wasn’t enough.  She’d irrevocably promised
to make the trip the coming week-end.  Aunt Poog was planning on going with
her, and they needed to make arrangements for someone to look after the stock
while they were away. That still meant four more days, but it simply couldn’t
be helped.

Briann hadn’t wanted to involve Slade at all, but he was
always the first person Aunt Poog thought of when she needed help and, of course,
he’d never refuse her anything.  When she’d told him of the impending trip,
he’d assigned two of his hands to take care of the Hudson farm while they made
the trip.

Early Saturday morning, Briann and Aunt Poog left the house,
starting the four hour drive to her mother-in-laws house, where Tristin and her
horses were staying in her absence.

Maggie had been very considerate to take Tris and the horses
for an undetermined period of time, but Maggie and her family were never
anything but kind to Briann and her daughter.

Even knowing that Tristin was not her son’s biological
child, Maggie accepted and loved the little girl as though she were.  After
Evan died, Briann expected his parents to tactfully back out of her life, but
they had taken her into their hearts and she gradually came to see that she was
still a part of their family.

Making the decision to move back home had been difficult for
Briann only because it put her in a closer proximity to Slade Butler.  Her
father-in-law was now in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s disease and Maggie had
Shelly, her daughter.  They understood why Briann needed to return home to look
after her aunt.

The drive to Atlanta gave Briann and Aunt Poog plenty of
time to talk, but also provided plenty of quiet time for inner reflections. 
Briann was beset with memories and they were not all welcome.

In spite of her determination not to, she remembered her
first trip to Atlanta, when she was just twenty.  In fact, she’d just turned
twenty.  That had been a birthday she’d looked forward to for a long time.  To her
it was a big step toward being an adult.  Briann would no longer be a
teenager!  Uncle Mike agreed that the two years of junior college had been
enough to consider her educated.  She wasn’t interested in a career in the
business world.  She’d never wanted anything other than to be a horse trainer
and under his guidance she’d began to turn out some horses that were doing very
well on the show circuit.

Briann had been dating Jeffery Butler, Slade’s younger half-brother,
for two years and he’d recently started talking about marriage.  Jeffery worked
with his father in land development and wasn’t the least bit interested in
horses, but he seemed to take her interest in them in stride.  Briann had always
been a part of that world.  She’d been friends with Jeffery all her life and
his assumption that they would get married at first surprised her, but it was a
comfortable relationship, so she decided it would be a natural progression of
their friendship.

Growing up, her main interest had been Slade, the older of
the two brothers, and although he was almost eleven years older than her, he’d
allowed her to hang around and help with the training of the Butler Farm
horses.  Briann had learned almost as much from him as she had from Uncle Mike.

She took a lot of teasing for tagging around after Slade,
but never from him.  When she was twelve, she showed up at the Butler barn one
summer afternoon to find Slade in the barn with an attractive woman.  The woman
stood to one side watching him while he saddled a horse.  When Briann entered
the barn, she hung back, hesitant to disturb them.  When he spotted her, he flashed
that big grin she loved so much and beckoned her over to them.

“Ann, I want you to meet my right hand, Briann.  Briann, this
is Ann.”  He made the introductions casually.

Briann looked the young woman over with a critical eye.  “Is
she your main squeeze?”  She enquired with childlike innocence.

Ann’s pretty face turned pink, but mostly from pleasure at
being referred to as Slade’s object of affection.

He grinned and playfully swatted Briann on the shoulder. 
“None yer business, brat.”

Briann quickly wondered on into the barn to tack up the colt
she was there to ride, ignoring the older twosome as they departed from the
barn for a trail ride.  Ann was mounted on old, gentle Promise while Slade put
trail time on one of the colts.

Briann rode her mount in the training ring, just adding
miles to his credit.  She was washing him down when Slade and Ann returned from
their ride.  The couple dismounted near the wash rack and Briann overheard Ann
suggest that they should just let the little girl put their horses away.  She
was tired and ready to get back to town.

Slade shot a hooded look at the young woman.  “Briann helps me
train the colts.  She’s not a barn hand.  I’ll take care of our horses.  If you’re
tired, why don’t you wait in my truck?”  Ann never came back to the barn.

Briann had always thought of him as an older brother, but as
she grew older, she felt a change in her feelings.  Slade had never treated her
like a pesky sibling.  He treated her with respect and affection, teasing her
and directing her horsemanship, helping Uncle Mike guide her into becoming an
extraordinary young horsewoman.

Then when she turned fifteen, things changed completely.  Briann
discovered it was hard to hide her displeasure when Slade brought one of his
girlfriends to the barn to ride.  She didn’t understand the sullenness she felt
when he introduced her to yet another girlfriend.

Disturbing dreams often troubled her sleep during which in
some way Briann would end up in Slade’s arms and he’d kiss her.  It was shocking
and she was shamed by the thoughts she still experienced even after she was
awake, especially when she found herself alone with him.  She was
uncomfortable, as if he could somehow know that she’d dreamed about him.  She
was sure he’d have been embarrassed to think she could even have dreams like
that, much less, about him.

Gradually it began to affect her
relationship with Slade.  He appeared to sense the changes in her and after
that, the easy camaraderie between them became stiff and sometimes even awkward. 
Slade made it obvious he still wanted her riding the horses he had in for training
and he continued to offer advice and instructions, but there was no more of the
easy teasing or scuffling that had always been part of their mutual affection. 
Sometimes when he didn’t think she knew it, she could feel him watching her. 
Everything between them changed.  If she caught him looking at her, he’d look
away quickly, almost regretfully.  She couldn’t imagine why he’d feel guilty. 
She was the one having the insane dreams. 
Within a couple of months,
Slade announced he was leaving.  He wanted to go to Texas and visit his
mother’s family.

He left within a few days of making that decision and once he
was gone, he stayed.

He called Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike often enough to keep in
touch and his father flew out to see him often enough.  Through them, Briann
learned the Slade was working under the supervision of one of the most well-known
trainers in the country.  He stayed for five years and by then she and Jeffery
were talking marriage.  She’d dismissed the disturbing dreams as a part of a
childish crush, but couldn’t believe how much she still missed Slade.

Eventually she put her crush on Slade behind her, but
thought of him with affection, remembering how much he’d taught her about
horses and riding and the respect they’d shared.  Briann was sure he’d known of
her crush, but never teased her or misused her trust.  She treasured her
memories of the laughter they’d shared and the trust, the patient guidance he’d
given her and the uncountable ways he’d helped her become a better horsewoman.

Then right after her twentieth birthday Hank told Uncle Mike
that he was retiring.  Tanya wanted the extended European vacation he’d always
promised her and Slade was coming home to run the farm.  Jeffery had one more
year of college and he was already a partner in the Land Development business. 
When he graduated the next year it would be his business entirely and Hank had
already signed the farm over to Slade.  Briann was excited to know that the
friend of her youth was finally coming home.

Briann had been in the barn, grooming Flash, the aging
stallion that had been her father’s favorite horse, when she felt someone
looking at her.  Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Slade standing there.

“Excuse me, Ma’am;” his Texas drawl had become stronger.  “I’m
lookin’ for a skinny girl with braces on her teeth, short brown hair, freckles
on her nose, a flat chest and no hips.  Her Uncle Mike told me she was out
here.”  He looked around the barn as if he was searching for someone.  “Hey,
Briann, you out here?”  He called loudly.

He was the ultimate cowboy in those snug, starched, creased
Wrangler jeans, that Tony Lama hat and those snakeskin Justin boots.  Briann
had forgotten just how good looking Slade was and his time in Texas had only
matured those good looks.  The grooves etched into his cheeks on each side of
his mouth were more pronounced, but only added to his rugged good looks and she
discovered they deepened when he grinned. 

As he walked closer, he narrowed those startling blue eyes
and looked Briann up and down as he slowly made a close circle around her,
their shoulders almost touching.  A soft wolf whistle came from his pursed
lips.  “This beautiful vision of appetizin’ womanhood standin’ here cannot be
Briann Hudson!  What happened to the freckles… and the flat chest?”  His
widening grin exposed his straight , white teeth.

Briann let him carry his joke as long as she could, and she
burst into laughter as she jumped into his hug.  It was so good to see him
again!

Slade hugged her so tightly she thought her ribs might not
survive the greeting, but then he returned her feet to the floor and stood back
to study her again.  “I can’t believe how you’ve grown up!  You’ve become a
breath takin’ woman!”

She grinned, his intense scrutiny not bothering her in the
least.  Well, maybe a little, but…this was Slade.

“You look pretty good, too,” she said.  “How did you like
working with Cooper Harding.”

“You’d have loved workin’ for him.  The man has forgotten
more about horses than most of us will ever learn.  You can’t be around him
more than a few minutes and you’ll swear he can read their minds.  I was lucky
to get the chance to work with him for as long as I did.”  Slade’s enthusiasm
was evident in his voice.

“I’ve been keeping up with you in the AQHA Journal, and Hank
always updated us after he’d been out to see you.  Aunt Poog always got so
excited when you called here.  She’d be on cloud nine for days afterward.”

Briann wanted to hear all about the things he’d learned.  They
talked nonstop for a while, just filling in the blanks in their lives.