Sweet Talking Cowboy (9 page)

When she allowed herself to think back on the night they had
shared, she felt her face burn with embarrassment at the abandon with which
she’d welcomed, then sought his lovemaking.  She’d never dreamed that she was
capable of such total passion.

Uncle Mike didn’t scold her when he came out to help her put
away the horses and her gear when she arrived home.  She tried to act normal
and he seemed to want the same thing.  At the house, Aunt Poog eyed her for a
minute and then wrapped her arms around the younger woman.  “We love you
Briann, and you’re a grown woman.  We can’t tell you how to live your life and
we will not judge you.”

It was more than she’d hoped for.  She moved through the
day, waiting to hear from Slade.  When he didn’t call she knew he was probably
busy.  After all, he’d been gone from home the whole week-end.  Still, he’d
asked her to come to his place and she couldn’t deny that she wanted to.

She hesitated to tell Aunt Poog where she was going when she
got ready to leave, but decided to be honest.  Poog nodded, hugging her.  “I
love both of you, but I just didn’t see this coming.”

Briann shrugged.  “To be honest, I didn’t either.  We just
ran into each other and…..things between us were different.”

“You know Mike and I only want what’s best for you.  Slade
is a good man, but he’s still just a man.  A woman has to keep her head on
straight, because men….just don’t.”  Poog spoke knowing Briann had already let
her head slip off kilter.

Briann nodded.  “I’ll remember what you’ve said.”  Then she
left.  When she got to the Butler barn, where Slade lived in the loft
apartment, she was surprised to see Tanya’s little red sports car there.  She
didn’t ever recall seeing Jeffery’s mother at the barn and now she and Hank
lived in a condo in Jacksonville?  What was she doing not just at the ranch,
but at the barn?

This could be an awkward situation.  She had put off calling
Jeffery all day because she knew Mondays were a heavy class load for him and
wanted to give him a chance to get back to his apartment before she called. 
She hadn’t planned to talk to Tanya about the break-up at all, but now that had
changed, it seemed.  Briann knew Jeffery’s mother had a foul temper and was
very protective of her son.  She wouldn’t take kindly to learning about Slade
and the woman she’d thought would be her daughter-in-law.  This would be very
uncomfortable.

Hesitantly she opened her truck door and stepped out onto
the ground just as Tanya exited the barn and strode determinedly across the
grass toward her.  Briann drew in a deep breath, dreading the confrontation.

However, as Slade’s step-mother approached, Briann couldn’t
hide her surprise.  Tonya’s short blonde hair was a mess and her designer
blouse was buttoned up in the wrong buttonholes, her lips were without lipstick
and the pocket on one side of her high priced jeans was sticking inside out.

“You little tramp!”  Tanya sneered at her.  “Stringing my
poor Jeffery along while you sink your claws into his half-breed brother!  You
should be ashamed!”

Briann was speechless.  She simply stood there looking at
the older woman in shock.

“Well, you might as well know right now, just what you’ll be
getting, and it won’t be
my
son.  Oh, I’ll admit Slade’s great in bed. 
I’ve certainly had my share of him over the years, but the only one he’s ever
faithful to is himself.  Whatever Slade wants, he takes and plays with it until
he gets tired of it.  But he always comes back to me.  Even when he was out in
Texas, I flew out occasionally for a little visit.  But understand, between
Slade and me, it’s purely physical.  Really physical, if you know what I mean.”

Briann felt hurt and anger building inside her, but Tanya
continued.  “Oh, I suppose you can’t wait to tell Hank about this, and he
wouldn’t have a problem believing it of me.  But you might as well save your
breath, because he’ll never believe that Indian slut’s son could do anything
wrong.”

Having had her say Tanya turned, walked to her car and got
in, slamming the door firmly, then as the sports car flew off in a cloud of
dust, Briann felt her whole world shaking.  Slade and Tanya?  She couldn’t
believe it!  She leaned weakly against the side of the truck, fighting the
nausea that threatened to hurl up the contents of her suddenly queasy stomach. 
She fought against the urge and finally gained control then climbed in her
truck and drove home as fast as she could, her heart breaking.

She’d been such a fool!  She’d given herself to a man who
was having an ongoing affair with his father’s wife!  She’d allowed herself to
fall victim to a foolish childhood crush, and now her whole life was ruined.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell Uncle Mike or Aunt Poog
about Tanya.  She just knew she had to leave for a while and give her heart a
chance to heal.

She simply told her aunt and uncle that being with Slade was
an awful mistake and she wanted some time to come to terms with things.  As
always, they gave her their unconditional support and she loaded the two horses
she’d been showing and took them with her, planning on staying with a cousin in
Atlanta for a while and hitting some of the AQHA shows further north.

She’d feared that Slade might come after her and had pleaded
that Uncle Mike and Poog tell him only that she realized she’d made a mistake and
didn’t want to see him again.  She begged their promise to never let him know
where she was.

Poog had family in Atlanta, and it was to them that Briann
fled.

 For a month she’d kept busy, going from show to show on
weekends, spending weekdays with Poog’s cousin’s family, boarding the horses at
a nearby barn and working them during the week.

The passing of that time did nothing to ease the pain in her
heart or the impression that he’d betrayed her.  She felt it every time she
thought of Slade Butler.  How could he use her like that?  If she could
understand it, maybe she could get past the hurt, but it was beyond her.  The
sense of duplicity always got in the way.

Finally she’d found a small furnished apartment near the
boarding barn and moved her things there.  Briann settled into a routine,
spending days around the barn, working the two horses and when the barn owner
requested it of her, she started to give a few riding lessons to various clients
who showed an interest in improving their western riding skills.

She was surprised at how many of the young people who
boarded their horses at the stable exhibited an interest in showing their
horses.  Once word got around that she had so much experience in the show ring,
her classes quickly filled to capacity.

Shelly, the barn manager, recognized in Briann the chance to
bring in more boarding horses and between them they worked out an arrangement
so Briann paid the barn for using their horses for the group classes and a
small fee for the use of the arena.  The rest of the lesson money was hers to keep.

Briann was aware that most of the barn clientele were
wealthy people.  It wasn’t unusual to see some of the students arriving in
chauffer driven cars.  She was surprised that so many of them were interested
in Western style classes, since Shelly herself was the barns English Riding
Instructor.  Shelly laughed it off when Briann commented on the interest in Western
riding classes.

“Listen,” the barn manager’s voice was warm with laughter.  “These
adults and even the kids have more money and time than they know what to do
with.  We provide a service by helping them fill the hours in their days and
they can certainly afford to pay for it.  Most of them have been taking lessons
from me for years and have learned as much as I can teach them.  If learning to
ride Western interests them, who am I to stand in their way?”

“But doesn’t it cut into your pocket, that you aren’t giving
the lessons?”  Briann asked.

Tall, elegantly beautiful Shelly laughed.  “No.  Part of my
job as manager is to give English riding lessons.  Same hours, same pay.  But,
girl, we’ve got about fifteen empty stalls in that back barn that need horses
in them.  If we can interest several Western riders to bring their horses here,
it’s to our advantage, right?  The more horses that we take care of, the more
money I make.”

The two women were standing near the office and when the
phone rang, Shelly took the few steps inside to answer it.

Without intending to eavesdrop Briann couldn’t help
overhearing Shelly’s end of the conversation.  From that, it was easy to figure
out that the caller was a potential student.

“Yes, Judge Wellington, our Western Instructor is a young woman
with amazing talent.  Our students love her and she has a positively gifted
ability to transfer her knowledge to those she teaches……..Oh, of course private
lessons are available………Well, she’s only providing lessons for our boarders……..Yes.” 
Shelly turned and smiled at Briann.  “We do have a few stalls available.”  She
listened for a moment.  “Why don’t you bring your daughter out to check our
facility and to observe one of the group lessons?  That should provide you with
the information you’ll need to decide if you want to move your horses here.” 
Another pause.  “Yes ma’am.  Thank you for calling.”  Shelly’s eyes found
Briann’s.  “Oh, for private lessons and board?  Let me see.”  Shelly gave a
price for the boarding and blew Briann away at the price she quoted for the
private lessons.  It was roughly ten times what Briann was getting for her
group lessons.

When Shelly hung the phone up and rejoined Briann, she was
grinning broadly.  “Judge Wellington and her daughter will come Wednesday to
observe one of your group classes and check out the grounds.”

“Shelly, why did you price the private lesson so high?  No
one will pay that!”  Briann was still in shock.

Shelly laughed.  “Yes they will.  You usually have as many
as ten in a group class.  If they want private lessons, that means you’re not
taking those other nine riders, but you shouldn’t sacrifice your income.  Once
word is out that you’ll give private classes, you’ll stay busy.  Oh, and did I
mention that Judge Wellington’s daughter has three horses that will be moved
here?  And by the way, if their horses need schooling, you charge extra for
that.  The same as you get for training.  You got it?”

Briann learned that Shelly was right.  Darci Wellington not
only had three horses, but she also had three friends with two horses each that
signed up for private lessons and within two weeks had moved their horses to
Mirror Lake Stables.  That made a total of nine new horses moved into the back
barn and four private lessons at an astronomical price.

It didn’t take long for Briann to learn that the four new
girls were more in need of affection and positive encouragement than anything
else.  They were of the privileged class that spent more time with house
servants and governesses than their parents.  They were bright and eager to
lean and in spite of being provided with all that money could buy, they truly
wanted to become accomplished riders.  Briann made up her mind to give them as
much experience as she could.

She was a little surprised that Darci and her friends,
Astrid, Monica, and Jane each had an expensively trained, well bred, Quarter
Horse that they were dying to show, in addition to a gentle, dependable horse,
just for trail riding.  Darci also had a twenty-two year old gelding that lived
the fine life of retirement and was just a pet.  Briann wanted to help them
understand that a well-trained show horse could also be a pleasant trail horse,
but didn’t.  She was afraid if they started riding their ring horses on the
trails, they might sell the trail horses and it would cost Shelly the board on
those three stalls.

Within a matter of weeks, several of her students, as well
as the silver spoon quad-set, as Briann had come to think of Darci and her
friends, were accompanying her to some of the local shows and enjoying a
moderate amount of success.  There were days she felt more like a nanny than a
competitor at the shows, but as the girls learned the routine, they became
adept at not only readying their own horses for the ring, but were eager to
pitch in and ready Briann’s mounts if she needed to be ringside to support one
of their peers.

About her sixth week in Atlanta, Briann hopped out of bed,
intending to get to the barn early.  She had two group classes and private
lessons for the quad-set scheduled for the day and knew when she returned to
the small apartment in the evening, she would be exhausted.  Maybe it was just
considering the busy day with a good bit of dread, but she seemed to drag in
spite of the need for hurry.  Looking around the tiny kitchen she couldn’t find
anything that appealed to her for breakfast so just snatched a Coke and an
apple and drove to the barn.

About an hour later, almost half way through the first group
class, she felt so nauseated; she called for a mid-class break and went in
search of another Coke to settle her stomach.  Thankful that she’d scheduled a
fifteen minute break between classes, she managed to finish the first class
before the second class had all arrived.

The next morning she awoke, each movement of her head
causing a stomach turning nausea that threatened her day.  She managed to get
to the kitchen and found another ice cold Coke helped settle her stomach.  The
thought of food didn’t appeal to her so she left for the barn without eating.

On the third morning she woke up feeling nauseated, she felt
the first tightening of fear deep inside.  She thought back and realized with a
cold shock that she had not had a period since arriving in Atlanta.  She shook
her head in denial.  It couldn’t be!  But nothing else explained her symptoms. 
She drove to the stable, depression hanging over her like a dark, wet cloud.

All day she struggled between classes to appear to be her
usual chipper self, but at the end of the day, Shelly invited her into the
office and closed the door behind them.