9. Brandy

9

Brandy

I ’d thankfully been successful in avoiding Reed the following week. There was no telling what I’d do if he interrupted another session with the gray. Or just approached me in general.

I’d been staring at this horse for an hour. I had all the intention to work with him when I got here, but instead, I found myself sitting on the bottom rung of the fence, watching him. He studied me right back, and we were content.

Lettie’s idea to name him bounced around in my head, but I doubted it’d fix our problems. Although, horses could feel your emotions, so maybe if I felt a connection with him, he’d come around. Life wasn’t like the movies, though, and that wouldn’t be the solution to our issues. He’d been hurt in his past, clearly abused at some point. He had no reason to trust me, and I related to him for keeping his guard up. You let it down? You open yourself up for hurt.

“How about Billy? You like Billy?” I asked the gelding.

He just stared, swishing his tail at a fly.

“Maybe Cumin?”

Yeah, like he wanted to be named after a fucking spice.

Hell, Lettie wasn’t all that creative with names anyway. She named both her pets after the color red. Her dog was just the color in French, and her horse was straight up Red.

How unique.

“Gray?” I shot out. “Maybe you’d rather be White?”

He turned his head.

“Sorry to tell ya, bud, but you didn’t get that rare gene. You’re just a gray.”

“Are you talking to him finally?” Lettie asked, coming up beside me. Much unlike how he reacted to Reed, the horse stayed in place, keeping an eye on the two of us.

“Trying to take your advice for once and give him a name,” I told her.

“Hm, maybe Snow?” she offered.

I snorted.

She climbed through the fence, sitting beside me. “What?”

“Please let Bailey name your baby if you ever have one,” I said.

She braced her hands on the metal, looking at me. “What’s wrong with the names I pick?”

“You’d end up naming it Human or something.”

She tried to hide her smile with a frown, elbowing me in the arm. “I’d pick a better name than that.”

“What? Person?” I teased.

She snorted. “No. More like Miracle.”

“Lettie, come on.”

Her gaze fell to her boots. “No, I’m serious. What if my anemia somehow makes it hard for us to have kids?”

I set my hand on hers. “That’s a battle we’ll cross when the time comes.”

“We?”

“You and I are in it together. Tell Bailey to get ready,” I joked to lighten the mood. “Auntie Brandy is hands-on.” I didn’t like seeing her beat down on herself about things she wasn’t sure about. There was no telling what’d happen when they were ready for kids, and while I knew she’d worry about it regardless, it was a hurdle to cross if the problem presented itself. My best friend needed to enjoy this time in her life, not worry about obstacles that didn’t exist in this moment.

She smiled, and my job was done. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll love to hear that. So speaking of me and Bailey,” she started.

“Oh, no,” I muttered.

She bumped her shoulder into mine. “His tux is ready to be picked up, and I was wondering if you could take that off my plate? I have so many other things to do already, and the wedding is in a few days.”

That’d be easy enough.

“Alright. Where at?”

“Salt Lake City,” she answered.

I turned to her with wide eyes. “Utah ?”

“It’s only a little over a four-hour car ride, and you’ll have a buddy, so it’ll go by fast,” she added.

“Who’s this supposed ‘buddy’?” I held air quotes up around the word.

“Reed,” she chirped. “ If he says yes.”

I stood abruptly, perching my hands on my hips as I faced her. “No fucking way.”

“Brandy, please. Everyone else is busy, and I don’t want you having to go all that way alone.”

“I don’t need a babysitter, thank you very much.” How many times was she going to try to set me and Reed up together? Did she hope this would be like her and Bailey’s little road trip up to the horse auction in Montana where they fell madly in love? Because that would not be happening.

“I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate.”

“You don’t even have to be desperate to ask me a favor, but with Reed? No.” I was putting my foot down and never picking it the fuck up again. They tried with their little blind date stunt, and we all knew how that went.

She stood up right as the goddamn devil himself marched his way out of the barn.

“Could you two keep it down?” Reed asked.

“It’s a fucking ranch, dipshit, not a goddamn library,” I spit back.

“Guys, please,” Lettie begged. Her eyes were getting glassy, and that was not fucking good.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Now big ol’ protective brother is going to swoop in and save the fucking day.”

Reed sidled up to the fence, leaning over it with his stupid tattooed arms. His hands were dirty from working all day, and I was tempted to dump a bucket of water over him just because. Maybe he’d take his shirt off. Maybe I’d hate it.

“What am I saving the day for?” he asked, aiming the question at Lettie.

She turned to him, and his face instantly went soft when he saw her glassy eyes.

Fuck my fucking life.

“I need you to go to Salt Lake City with Brandy to pick up Bailey’s tux,” she said.

“Alright,” he replied at the same time I said, “Not happening.”

They both looked at me, and the gray pawed at the ground behind me. Maybe he liked the bickering.

“For me?” she pleaded, puffing out that bottom lip of hers. This was how she always got her way. Lettie and I grew up together. I knew her damn tactics.

“Do you not realize that if Reed and I spend more than five minutes in a car together, it will quite literally explode? We’d die, Lettie. We wouldn’t make it to the wedding. You’d lose your maid of honor, and Bailey would lose his best man, and instead of a wedding, you’d be attending a funeral. It’d be tragic. You don’t want that.”

“Ever the drama queen,” Reed mumbled.

“What was that, Satan?” I snapped.

He shoved off the fence. “Put your grudge aside and do your best friend a fucking favor. She only gets one wedding.”

“And you only get one dick, and I can’t guarantee I won’t chop it the fuck off,” I snided.

He snorted. “You’d never dream of getting that close to it.”

“I can set my disgust aside for a minute while I get the job done,” I shot back.

“You guys!” Lettie shouted, and we both snapped our attention to her. “It’s an eight-hour round trip. Surely you could both grow up a little and get along for that short amount of time.”

“Did you not hear my tidbit about the funeral?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Tragic, I know. But then maybe I wouldn’t have to hear you two bickering constantly.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, glancing back at the horse. I needed a break from him anyway, and it’d be one day. I’d give Lettie the world if she wanted it. She was my best friend, the closest thing I ever had to a sibling, and this was her big day. I could put my differences with Reed aside for eight hours. I couldn’t tell her how the day of the wedding might go, as I wanted to actually vomit thinking about walking down that aisle next to Reed, but the road trip was doable. At least, I hoped. The real verdict would come when we had to be alone.

“If you don’t mind your brother possibly losing his dick, I’ll go,” I said.

She shrugged. “Doesn’t affect me.”

“Great. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow,” Reed said before turning to head back to the barn.

“We’ll leave when I decide to wake up,” I shouted after him. I’d need my beauty sleep if I had to sit in a truck with him for that long.

“Pick you up at six,” he said over his shoulder, not looking back.

My hands fisted at my sides as I yelled, “I'm not getting in your damn truck.”

But instead of replying, he ignored me as he disappeared into the barn. The fucker knew my Bronco wouldn't make it all the way to Utah, so he didn't even try to argue, which only pissed me off more.

I pinned vengeful eyes on Lettie. “I hate you,” I whispered.

She smiled. “I know.”