"That’s not funny. You scared her."
"It wasn't meant to be. I've seen it happen."
"No way!"
"Yes way."
"Wow."
We didn't get much done that day as far as chores but Shelby had the time of her life. I can't say it was a bad day for me either, actually. Canyon somehow made everything about life seem as if it needed to be cherished instead of loathed which had seem to be my way of looking at things. He taught us about what the horses did all day and how he had to run certain ones for so many minutes and then put them on a wheel in the center of the round pin for cool down time where they just walk in circles. If they didn't do that their muscles could lock up and swelling could occur. He even explained to us what he used certain farm equipment for and if you can believe it, farmers use the crap from the horses over their fields and gardens for fertilizer. If you said yuck so did I but apparently it's good for it.
Shelby followed every word Canyon spoke as if it were gospel. I always chose to walk ten steps behind to watch the two of them in action and realized that in that moment, I had never seen my little sister so happy. With everything that happened that brought us here, for the first time, I saw something positive.
We were headed back toward the house when Shelby looked back at me with an expression I knew all too well. She had to poop. I picked up my speed with each step until I caught up and gave a look back that said, “Let’s go” so Canyon wouldn't catch on. I didn't want to embarrass her and nothing is worse than having to go number two.
She mouthed the words, “I can't hold it” taking anything secretive off the table.
"Canyon, Shelby hates feeling dirty and would like to know if she could use your bathroom to wash her hands."
He looked down at Shelby and grabbed both of her shoulders, shaking her lightly, "You have to get used to a little dirt if you want to take care of your own horse someday."
"Canyon, I think she really needs to wash her hands."
He looked over to me questionably before the light bulb went on.
"Oh! Well, those hands do look pretty dirty. Let's get you inside."
Shelby all but ran up the stairs. We found her waiting inside the screened in porch, standing next to the door to the house. Canyon walked her in while I chose to sit down in one of the wicker chairs that faced the property.
"Hey, you coming in?"
Canyon was leaning out the door, gripping the frame above him.
"Um, I'm okay out here."
"Don't be like that. You have to be thirsty, come pick out what you want to drink." And then he disappeared.
Placing my hands on the arm rests I pushed my weak and tired body to stand, all but forcing myself to walk through the door.
I don't know what I was expecting, to tell you the truth. It’s not like I thought something was going to jump out and scare me. It was just the way he acted the day before that made me think there wasn't anything good about walking through the threshold. What I found was a normal country kitchen. The cabinets were all oak, the countertops were made of butcher block, and hardwood covered the floors.
Canyon was standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open when he looked over his shoulder at me and smiled before asking, "Do you like sweet tea?"
"I can't say. I have never tried it before."
"COME ON! You seriously have never had sweet tea? Where did you come from?"
"A place where they don't drink sweet tea, obviously."
He walked over to the cabinet above the sink and grabbed three glasses. "Get ready to have heaven hit your taste buds for the first time."
"You're pretty confident..."
"Of course I am. You just wait until Shelby gets out here...."
I didn't hear the rest of what he was saying. I realized the time that had passed and wondered what was taking her so long.
"Canyon, sorry to cut you off but where is the bathroom you took her to?"
"It's through the hall and on the left. Why?"
"It's just been awhile and I want to check on her."
"Okay. I'll just make some snacks."
I walked out of the room and down the hall only to find the door on the left was open. A few steps farther led me into the family room where I found Shelby staring at a wall of pictures.
"What are you doing? It's rude to go through someone's house, you know."
She didn't look away from the wall when she spoke. "He looks so different."
My curiosity won over my manners and led me to see what she was so enamored with.
In solid wood frames were pictures of Canyon growing up. Some were from when he was born up to six or seven riding horses. Then the football pictures came. They weren't the posed kind either. Action plays on the field during games or newspaper articles stating his team won the state championship. Then the bull riding must have started. The arenas were packed around him as he held on to gigantic bulls. Only one picture caught my attention and held onto to it, though. It was Canyon with his mother. He was probably around my age and she was kissing his cheek. The look on her face was unmistakable. She was proud of her son. Canyon smiled like only he can with his arm around the woman who couldn't have been taller than five foot five, standing on her tippy toes. They looked happy.
"Hey, ladies, what's..."
I spun around like I had been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. Guilt flooded me for not taking my own advice and pulling Shelby from the room.
"You look silly in this picture."
Shelby broke the silence by pointing out a picture with Canyon swinging from a rope into water. He couldn't have been older than five. His mouth was wide open with his eyes practically bulging out of his head, making it clear as day he was scared to death.
Canyon came to stand behind Shelby and started laughing easing the tension I was sure to feel.
"That was a crazy day to say the least. My mom convinced me it was okay to jump in. After that, it took me ten years before I did it again."
"You were cute."
"Was? You don't think I'm cute anymore?"
I blushed. Being put in the spot left me with only one option, the truth.
"I wouldn't say any man your size could be described as cute."
"Yeah, Canyon, you're not cute. You're a monster."
"A monster? A monster? You want to see a monster?"
His hands went in the air with his fingers spread out causing Shelby to scream and run with him chasing right after her. I heard her scream again and then go into an all-out laughing frenzy giving away that he not only caught her but was tickling her to death. I took one last look at the wall of pictures and noticed the lack of a father. Maybe we had more in common than I thought.
Chapter 10
Shelby talked the whole way home about how much fun she had and more so about her love for Canyon. He was the best thing I had seen happen to her. He balanced the fact that she was young but didn't treat her like a child. I couldn't help but respect him for that.
The night sky fell and Shelby never stopped. Tucking her into bed, she still couldn't help herself. "Can I come with you tomorrow too?"
"No, hun, tomorrow we have to do some running around. Canyon is making me go with him to a rodeo Friday night and I need clothes for it."
"A real live rodeo? Can I come with you? Please, pretty please."
"I wish you could but it's for older people. Maybe the next one that comes into town we can go together."
"But, Arianna…"
"You need to go to sleep. I can't change my mind on this one. It's not fair for you to keep asking me."
"I'm sorry. I just want to go so bad."
I kissed her goodnight and then turned the light off as I closed the door and said, "Goodnight, sweet Shelby. I will see you in the morning."
The next day when I got to school the atmosphere was completely different. Students were smiling at me and a few even said, "Hi."
I don't know what happened to change their mind but I really
didn't care. These weren't people I needed to gain approval from. By lunch I found the answer whether I was looking for it or not.
I had brought my lunch again, still finding it easier to eat in my truck and not deal with the drama. I was just about to take a bite of my sandwich when I saw Kyle come out of the door to the parking lot. Call me immature but I dove down onto the floor board trying to do anything I could to disappear. The knock on my driver’s side window had me practically digging through the floor board. Even the dumbest person could figure out I didn't want to be seen. The door opened making me curse out loud for not remembering to lock it in the first place.
"Arianna, will you please sit up so I can talk to you." Reluctantly, I pushed off the floor and slid myself back on to the seat. "You've got something on your face right...."
He reached his hand out to wipe whatever off but never got to before I was sliding back toward the passenger door wiping my own mouth.
"What do you want, Kyle?"
"Why are you hiding out here?"
"I wasn't hiding. I came out here to eat in peace."
"You're trying to tell me that you wanted to eat on the floor of your truck?"
"Will you get to the point?"
He let his head fall. My guess was he was watching his shoes as his feet shuffled back and forth before he said, "Did you think about what I asked you?"
"You didn’t ask me anything yet."
"You didn’t read the piece of paper I gave you, did you?"
"No, I'm sorry, I didn't. But if this about what Ashlynn was freaking out about the answer is no, thank you."
"Just because Ashlynn is a bitch doesn't mean the rest of us are like her. Come to the party with me. I'll show you how we do things around here."
"Kyle, I really am grateful that you're not the jerk I thought you were. But I don't want a boyfriend or to cause any more drama than I already have with the girls at this school."
"Don't worry about them and as far as the boyfriend thing goes, I didn't ask."
Talk about being embarrassed.
"Thank you again for the offer but I still don't think it's a good idea."
He took a few steps back shuffling his square-toed cowboy boots.
"I guess all I can say to that is, don't be a stranger. There are good people here and you would be lucky to get to know them."
"Thanks for the heads up."
He walked away throwing his right arm up as a way to wave goodbye and headed back into the school. I slumped down in the seat of the truck wondering why crap like this kept happening to me.
Hours later, I was pulling up to Canyon's house dreading this part of the day much more than school itself. I was far from the country girl he was going to try to paint me to be. I may not have liked anything about myself but I was all I knew how to be.
It was the first time I had gotten there and wasn't greeted by a smiling man waiting for me. Instead, there were two other trucks in the driveway and no one to speak of. I turned the engine off and waited and few seconds before I got out deciding to go in search of him.
After walking along the gravel path that lead to the back of the house I expected I would find him on the porch. I was wrong. Next, I went out back to the barn but found all of the stalls filled with horses and no Canyon. Just when I was about to give up, something caught my attention. I turned and followed the sound around the side of the barn until I was looking at four men sitting on top of the fence of the corral talking and none of them were Canyon.
"You got it ready? Here he comes!"
"I got it. Damn that horse can move."
"Imagine when you take a hundred pounds off his back what he'll do."
Dirt was flying in the air behind Magnus as Canyon pushed him to run as fast as he could. In a matter of seconds he came into view and the next he was gone.
"Twenty three point one!" Screamed the stout man in the middle holding the stopwatch. The other three took their cowboy hats off simultaneously. One fanned his face, one circled it above his head while the last threw his on the ground.
"He's mine."
"The hell he is."
The man with the stopwatch was turning red and looked like he was going to throw down with the taller one who had lost his hat to the dirt. Whatever they were arguing about made no difference to me. It was clear they wanted Magnus and it broke my heart. Why would Canyon want to sell him?
"Fuck you, Bingdom! I told you coming here if he was under twenty-four with Canyon on his back he was mine."
"I didn't fly all the way out here to let you tell me what's going to happen."
"Both of you stop! We have a lady present," shouted the only man wearing a smile.
All four men shifted their bodies to turn in my direction. The man who hadn't spoken previously was now walking toward me with a look that made me nervous.
"Well hello there, pretty lady. How can I help you?"
"Hello, gentlemen."
He picked up my right hand and brought it to his lips, making me want to gag when I felt them make contact. I allowed the kiss but pulled my arm back quickly after and rubbed the back of my hand over my jeans in an attempt to wipe it off.
"As I said, what can I do for you?"
A cold fear took over me and the look in his eye said more than I wanted to know. Just as I was about to leave and go home, he grabbed ahold of my shoulder locking me in place. I didn't know what I should do. Canyon came from out of nowhere, jumped off Magnus and yelled, "Hey, Stucky, how about you step away before I break that arm of yours off."
The man I now knew to be called Stucky dropped his arm but didn't move away from me. The other three stood in place while Canyon launched himself over the fence and was standing before me fuming moments later. The veins in his neck were bulging while his hands were in fists.
"What makes you think you can put your hands on her?"
"Listen hear, boy..."
"Boy? Get the hell off my property!"
The veins were now about to burst. I didn't know what I should do. Leaving seemed to be the best option. I looked at Canyon one last time before I spun on my feet and began walking away.
"You heard me. Get the fuck out of here now!"
I was almost to my truck when another hand grabbed my arm but this touch I knew to be tender as I heard, "Don't go. Let me just finish up here okay. Please don't leave."
I heard how much his tone had changed from Stucky to me. His voice was almost coated with desperation. I didn't understand why me sticking around meant so much but in that moment I didn't want to deny him.
"How about I wait in my truck?"
"Do you really want to show them your weak side? Stand strong, Ari, you're better than that."
"I have nothing to prove to them."
"No, you don't, you need to prove it to yourself. No man should make you feel like you should back down."
"Canyon, he's..."
He dropped his hold on me but then I felt his fingers intertwine with my own. "Just come with me. I need you to do this."
I wanted to ask what the big deal was with me waiting in my truck but in that moment he was proving something whether I understood it or not. "Okay."
His mouth spread to show all his teeth before he led me back over to the three men still standing at the fence. Stucky didn't budge until we passed by him without giving him a look.
Kicking the gravel, creating a fog from the dust, he yelled, "Fuck you, Michaels!" before he stormed to his truck, slammed the door and peeled out backwards, taking out the mailbox before he drove off.
"That was a temper tantrum if I've ever seen one," came from the man with the stopwatch.
Canyon squeezed my hand before letting go and said, "Guys, this is Ari. She's a good friend of mine and I expect you to show her some respect or you can leave now."
All three men came toward me with their hands extended. I shook each one while Canyon introduced me to Richard, Bruce and Steve. None of them showed any signs of disrespect but instead did what
they needed to to get on Canyon's good side before negotiations began.
I stood back as numbers were being thrown around. Nothing about selling him made any sense to me. Don't get me wrong, they were tossing out almost thirty thousand dollar promises but I kept thinking, wouldn't Magnus be worth so much more if he won? Ten minutes or so went by and it seemed to be coming to a close. Bruce, the hat in the dirt guy, had won Canyon over with promises of ten percent on stud fees in the future. I wasn't sure what that even meant but it all still gave me an uneasy feeling.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, but could I have a word with Canyon for a minute please?"
Canyon looked as puzzled as I felt when he said, "I'll be right back with you, Bruce." We walked over to the side of the house and as soon as we rounded the corner Canyon whispered, "What's wrong?"
He showed concern which only made it more awkward to stick my nose where it didn't belong.
"I think this is a mistake. I know nothing about any of this but my gut keeps screaming don't let him do this."
His hands went up to his head, knocking the ball cap he always wore backward off as he pulled on his hair. I regretted letting my opinion loose and began spilling apologies.
"I'm sorry. It's not my place. I shouldn't have even said anything..."
"Why?"
"Like I'm saying, I shouldn't have. I'm just going to go. Call me when you're done."
"I meant why don't you think it's a good idea?"
"Canyon, I don't know what I'm talking about. It just seems Magnus would be worth so much more if he wins."
"If he doesn't he’s worth nothing, Ari."
"See! Don't listen to me. I'm going to just go."
"Do you really think he could win?"
"I don't know anything about this stuff. Don't let me sway your decision."
"Too late."
He grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers with mine again and pulled me back out into the open and over to the group of men losing their patience.
"Sorry to waste your time, fellas, but I'm not ready to let him go just yet."
"WHAT? I flew all the way out here you son-of-a-bitch!"
Let It Be Me Page 8