My Soul to Take (Soul Keepers (Young Adult paranormal romance))

by Melissa Solis

  Chapter 10 ~ A muck

  Elijah slaps down a newspaper with something circled on it in red. I glance at the ad he points out as I spoon in a mouthful of Cheerios. I raise a brow. Nothing good can come from the smug expression he’s sporting this morning.

  Wanted: Stable hand. Experience necessary, must love horses.

  The ad gives its contact information and says apply in person at Montgomery Ranch. Sam’s ranch?

  “Shoveling horse poo?” I look up at Elijah with a what-are-you-smoking glare. That killer smile surfaces as he takes in my appalled expression. I’m sure he would revel in seeing me knee deep in manure but I doubt that would cause Sam any heart palpitations. He would more likely be repulsed by my new perfume and straw strewn hair-do. I shake my head at the inane idea.

  “Brennen sometimes a show of humility can be more alluring than beauty and intellect combined. Trust me, this is our in.”

  “I don’t need an in, Sam was in love with me.”

  “Was... you said it.” He wrings a kitchen towel in his hands like he’s trying to strangle it even though his face is serene as a cat lying in the sun. I down another spoon of cereal, annoyed that this is what I’m resorting to.

  “Fine, but you’re buying the hip waders.”

  It turns out feigning expertise in this particular subject garners more of an unorthodox approach. Two hours later, Elijah is Google-ing the answer’s to Mr. Montgomery’s questions and feeding them to me via the red-skied world. Of all of my hare-brained ideas, this has to take the cake. I’m sure I must appear strange, but I’ve no idea to what extent. Every time I blink and listen to Elijah over there, I appear as if I’m stock-still and in a daze on this side.

  From his study, I see Mia and Macy race down the stairs, their father looks as if he’s about to pull his hair out. Raising them alone must be hard. He excuses himself from our interview to go and check on them. The twins have changed so much in the last few months. They must be almost eleven now. Sam’s truck was missing when I pulled up and I wonder where he is today. Probably on a date with one of his groupies. The thought of him with someone else makes my stomach bottom out. I picture him riding in his truck with his arm around Payton in the middle seat, singing to her in his smooth tenor.

  “Sorry about that. Those girls are gonna be the death of me.”

  “My dad said the same thing about me growing up,” I say wearing a half-smile. He smiles warmly back at me.

  “Sam told me about your dad and I’m sorry you had to lose him under those circumstances.” He says full of sorrow. I give a small nod.

  “I think having that in common is what brought Sam and me together in the first place.”

  “Sam had a hard time when we lost Sarah, his mother. I know you two are having difficulties, but I’ve really come to like you Brennen. I think you’re good for my boy.”

  My stomach twists into knots, knowing my heart is in two places. I’m not good at all for Sam. My smile doesn’t manage to reach my eyes. Mr. Montgomery collects himself and resumes our interview, though he has a constant be-wildered look spread across his brow as we engage. I’m positive it has everything to do with my weird delayed answers. Nonetheless, I must be doing something right, because he offers me a tour of the stable. Um, okay I’ll look at your barn.

  This was no ordinary stable though. This barn was nicer than some houses I had been in. It nearly rivaled the Montgomery’s living quarters. Beautiful oil stained wood inside and out, housed ten stunning horses. The place was kept in immaculate care. If I had dropped food on the cobbled brick floor, I might be half tempted to still eat it after. The tack room was a showcase of trophies, ribbon rosettes, and photos that memorialized the stallions that had helped champion the stock.

  “This is the stallion barn. We house the mares and fillies in the other building. We handle a wide variety of training here and get a lot of highly competitive riders daily. We’ve managed to widen the barn doors just enough to accommodate their swelled heads too.” I laugh out loud, not expecting his joke. Mr. Montgomery is tall and lean and I’ve an exact picture of what Sam will look like when he ages about thirty years. The only time I’ve ever seen him not in his black Stetson hat was at the dinner table. He holds every door open for me along the way and I can tell where Sam gets his gentlemanly manners from.

  “Come on I’ll introduce you to the stable manager. He will be your supervisor.”

  “I got the job?”

  “I think you’ll do a fine job Brennen.” I would beg to differ, but Elijah promises he will teach me the ropes so no one will be the wiser.

  “There are about six others in the rotation and two trainers, one for hunter jumper and the other for dressage, Sam works with the handicapped children. We work with the Autism Foundation mainly. There are eight paddocks, the horses get let out daily. We have a small breeding program with our Friesians and Quarter Horse.” He talks as he walks. I think equine vocabulary should be on the SAT, this world clearly has its own language all together. He stops finally and leads me into an office where a man is seated behind an old desk.

  “Mr. McCready, this is Brennen Hale, our new hand.” He introduces me to the much older gentleman. The man has a scant amount of white hair on the lower part of his head and a neatly trimmed white beard. I can’t help but scan through his memories and thoughts, it has become second nature for me to do so. He is kind and gentle in nature and I immediately warm to him.

  “Liam, please. It’s good to have you with us Brennen.”

  “Thank you Liam.”

  I agree to come in after school on Tuesday, Thursday and all day Saturday to help out with the daily routine. Elijah talks horse the entire ride home. Apparently where he lives, horses are the second choice mode of transportation. I don’t mind listening. It’s taking my mind off of everything else.

  “Okay humiliating job, check. Now what should we do with the rest of this gorgeous day? I get the devastatingly handsome smile flashed at me. Must my stomach flip over every time he does that? You would think I’d be immune by now.

  “Let’s see, how about we do something really normal, like go see a movie and have dinner,” he suggests.

  “Long as it’s not a horror film.”

  “Definitely not a horror film. We’ve had way to much real horror scripted into our lives.” We head into Virginia Beach and decide a cheesy comedy is our best bet. Elijah and I take a seat in the theater with a tub of popcorn and a soda between us.

  “I’ve never been to a movie theater with a guy before. Who wasn’t my dad I mean,” I whisper.

  “No?” He considers this for a moment. He finally drapes an arm over my shoulder and I settle into him. I inhale his warm dark chocolate scent and it awakens the memories of the night we spent lounging at his house. “Well I look forward to sharing many firsts with you one day.” His dimples dig in when he says it and I’m turned into a ball of heat, the sun would envy the energy between the two of us.

  He takes a long drink of Coke as the lights dim. His blue eyes burn their magic into my heart and I let out a frustrated sigh. I wrap my lips around the straw his were just on. This is as close to the real thing as I can get. Every time our fingers graze each other in the popcorn or our thighs touch I’m reminded of how bad I’ve it for this man.

  Journal of EM February 17th 2013

  Resisting her is getting harder by the minute. If her finger’s brush mine one more time and send that wave of need through me entire body… I bite down on my fist to distract my body, who obviously has a mind of its own right now. Her honeysuckle scented perfume keeps finding its way over to my nose and its driving me crazy. I’ve got to keep it together. Every muscle in my body is pleading with me to give in and kiss her already.

  Her soft sweater rubs up against my arm and I can feel the heat of her skin through it. I swallow hard as I try and regain my senses. Focus on the future. Now is not our time. She is Sam’s future wife. Repeat this mantra for the duration of the movie. ~

 
; I stayed on my best behavior during the whole film. As we walk to my car I notice Elijah looks a little out of sorts.

  “You alright over there? You look a little pale.” He grasps my hand and I notice his knuckles are white. My brows twist up wondering what’s bothering him. He shakes his head like he’s trying to shake off whatever it is.

  “Did you like the movie?” he asks changing the subject. His color hasn’t quite recovered.

  “Elijah.”

  “Bren?”

  “Fine, be that way,” I finally say. He gently runs his thumb along my hand. Walking into the theater is Sam and Peyton hand in hand, much like Elijah and I. The sight stops me dead in my tracks. He notices us right away and his eyes go straight to our hands, still clamped together. It may have well been our naked bodies from Sam’s appalled glare. Peyton gives a sly smile as if to silently cheer that I just hammered the last nail into my own coffin.

  I confirm this with Sam’s thoughts. Sam knew he was pushing me away, he even figured into the arms of Elijah, but he never imagined how bad it would hurt seeing it for himself. Elijah continues to lead to me away to the parking lot. Don’t look back, I repeat until I hear the familiar beep of my car. Elijah opens the passenger door and I slide in, still numb from breaking Sam’s heart all over again.

  “If anything, Sam needs to be a bit jealous right now, it will confirm the feelings he’s been trying to talk himself out of having.” Elijah says as he backs the car out. My brain is a buzz and I can’t even comment back to him. “Trust me, he needed the nudge to fight for you.”

  I turn away from him and lie my head against the seatback. Tears threaten my eyes and it angers me. Elijah makes the drive home without another word. I wonder if he’s okay. The only sound inside the car is the hum of the tires rolling over the smooth blacktop road in the night.

  Once inside he pulls me in for a hug. He rests his chin on my head and sighs. I trudge upstairs to bed, alone. As I lie under the covers I scroll through my gallery of pictures on my phone, an equal mix of both Sam and Elijah. How can I make this all better? I settle on a picture of Sam sitting cross-legged on the tailgate of his truck. His long legs stretched out in front of him and his sweet gentle eyes full of love for me. Twice now holding hands with Elijah has earned me Sam’s distrust. I don’t think I’ll ever get the look of hurt he wore out of my head. And I don’t think he’ll ever look at me with eyes so full of love again.

  Chapter 11 ~ Stable-ized

  Liam figured out my short comings right away, but was kind enough to bestow his expansive knowledge into training me so that no one would know our little secret. He thinks Mr. Montgomery hired me as a favor to Sam. He doesn’t think much of Peyton either, so he is in my corner and wise enough to know why I took the job in the first place.

  By the end of the week I’ve the basics down fairly well. I had yet to see Sam come near the barn and I was beginning to wonder how this plan was supposed to work if Sam never paid witness to me playing the role of farmer Brennen. Liam finally tells me Sam starts his mornings here every day at five a.m. but leaves things to us the rest of the day. “Great plan,” I mumble as I muck out a stall on my Saturday shift. Ah, nothing like the smell of manure first thing in the morning to awaken the senses.

  The whole day has been busy with riders training. I can barely keep up with the demands. A girl walks her horse into the stable and hands me the reigns. I recognize Peyton after she turns around. So that’s how they met, Sam never said she trained here.

  “Brennen?” she says stifling a laugh.

  “Yes Peyton?”

  “Sorry, I almost mistook you for a stable hand.”

  “I’m a stable hand. What can I do for you?” She tries to hide her snobbery as she looks to the side.

  “Persephone is filthy, can you make sure she is cleaned up before you bed her down tonight.” I nod and look over the mud caked horse. What did she do to you? “I’ve got to go, Sam and I are having dinner tonight.”

  I’m pretty sure all of the color has drained out of my face at her comment. She is reveling in my slack jaw.

  “Last weekend he took me flying, it was so romantic. Let me tell you, the boy can sure can handle that stick.” She rolls her eyes back as if she’s having a moment of sheer pleasure. I really hope she’s talking about the throttle, but okay calm down, breathe, in and out, stay calm. An image of Peyton straddling Sam pops into my head.

  Nope, the claws are coming out.

  “Speaking of sticks, the broom is missing. Would you mind checking between your cheeks on your way out?” Bewilderment crosses her face before she walks off. I see her glance at her rear end just once before she exits the barn. I spit out a laugh. Sometimes there is justice in this world. I hose off Persephone and dry her before I put her in her stall.

  I hear a loud noise and whip around to find Sam standing in the barn door with a bucket of water spilled at his feet. He looks surprised to see me. I give him a soft smile and meet his eyes before he bashfully looks away. Brennen? No wonder dad insisted I go check on the new hire. Look at her, in rubber boots two sizes too big, swallowed up by that apron and those ridiculous nose plugs, yet she still manages to take my breath away.

  I pull the nose plug off and grab the mop bucket. I wring out the mop and sop up the water Sam spilled.

  “Sorry, I hope that it’s okay that I took a job here.” He moves aside so I can clean the puddle.

  “No, its fine. I just didn’t... you’re the last... um... I just didn’t know you liked horses, that’s all.”

  “Sometime the things we like the most are right under our noses and if you just take a step back you can see it, clear as glass,” I admit as I put the mop up. Sam rubs the back of his neck, as if he is considering this. I begin the chore of filling everyone’s water bucket with clean fresh water. Sam opens a stall door and leads a dark sable colored horse out and attaches her lead to a post. He brushes her coat with what looks like a natural scrub brush. We both toil quietly. When he’s done with that one he brings out another and begins to brush it too.

  “Can you show me how to do that?” I pick up a brush and he nods through a clenched jaw. A barrage of thoughts cross his mind like, I wonder if Elijah is okay with her taking this job with me. God, I miss her. She is too damn cute in her tight jeans and low cut T-shirt. Then he thinks of what he witnessed last week and tries to shake the image from his mind.

  “Run your hand over her. Feel that dust and dirt?” I slowly move toward the big chestnut horse like it’s a live grenade. The horse gives me a blinking look that says, “Amateur.” And I swear he shakes his head at me. Light as a feather I graze over his hair.

  “Mm hm.”

  “That’s what we’re taking off.” Sam takes my hand with the brush in it and moves it over the horse in long strokes. His hand is warm and his chest is so close to my back, I can feel the heat radiating off of it. We take a couple more passes over her coat. I can hear his heartbeat with my gift and it’s beating faster and faster.

  I turn around and though his mind still repeats his condemnation of what he almost did, I ignore his thoughts, and I move my lips up towards his fractionally. Slowly, just as I approached the stallion, so it wouldn’t spook.

  I close my eyes and wait for him to finish the distance. His fingers run up my neck and into my hair. His chest is now undulating over mine like the lazy ocean wave caressing the shore. His heart is raucous and erratic.

  His lips touch mine for a brief second and then retract. He takes a deep breath. No, please you’re so close. I peek and see his warm brown eyes are moist with tears. I can’t take it anymore.

  Sam slowly pulls away, but still holds me in his arms. We both try to catch our breath. He whispers, “Bren, I don’t think this is a good idea.” The smile that was on my face drops. I back away from him and into the horse, who upon my touch, snorts out a nose full of air. I guess he’s fed up with me too. Thoughts of doubt and fear are running rampant inside Sam’s head. “You know I’m seeing Pe
yton.”

  I nod and ease my body away from his. “Yes, you’ve made that very clear.” I turn away from him and walk out of the stable. I head into the other building and continue with the routine Liam has set in stone. The old man like his routine. Sam doesn’t follow me. He’s made me feel like an ass. Who am I to come between him and Peyton? Maybe she’s good for him. She does seem nice when she’s not shoving her relationship status in my face. I don’t understand any of this. If Sam and I are destined to be together then why is it so hard for us to get back on track?

  Just outside the stable I hear him take off fast on a horse. I turn and watch as my cowboy rides away as quick as the horse’s hooves will allow. He yells, “Ya” once over the fence and the horse breaks into full speed. I watch him disappear over the horizon, taking my heart with him, dragging it behind on a long rope as bait.

  “Brennen, I’ve already given the horses their afternoon treat. So, why don’t you turn out the two mares?” Liam startles me.

  I snap on a lead to one of the bay mares and lead her out to a pasture. When I let her in she takes off like a bolt of lightning blissfully galloping along the fence without a care in the world. I rest my head on the fence post. I’m jealous of a horse. I try and finish my work but my thoughts keep drifting back to Sam. The afternoon passes slowly and I decide to take a break and grab a snack. I sit atop a fence rail overlooking the mares. She spots my apple and trots over begging for a bite. I take a sample and give her the rest. She bumps my hand with her nose. Apparently I’m her new best friend.

  Sam glides up next to me, taking me by surprise. “Bren, hey. I just wanted to apologize. I’m sorry about earlier.” I wipe the tears away from my eyes. Shit, I’ve made her cry. Sam pulls me from the fence and into his arms and holds me there. I rest my cheek on his chest and relish in his embrace.

  “Can we just go somewhere and talk?” I say looking up at him while still in his arms. He turns away, releasing me. This is it I can feel it-- the pivot point. He will either choose to give in to his feelings or block me out once and for all. He turns back to me and runs a hand through his feral waves. I hint of delight plays on my lips as I see his choice before he says it out loud.