Ten Year Grudge

"So what's bugging you?"
I looked over at my cousin Tessa who was riding next to me on her big draft cross gelding Tank.
"What makes you think something's bugging me?" I asked as we walked calmly over an open Wyoming range, looking for a certain horse. I had no idea what it looked like because she was being secretive and not telling me.
"Normally you come up because you have something bothering you and within two weeks you've spilt your guts and you go back home. You've been here almost three weeks and haven't said a word."
"What I can't come up and visit my favorite cousin?"
Tessa sent me a knowing look.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"That's a first. I did get a call from Leah and Vic asking if you were up here though."
"What else did they tell you?"
"They didn't tell me anything, they just wanted to make sure you were okay. Whatever happened it must have been pretty traumatic."
"You could say that."
We crested a hill and Tessa stopped. In a singsong voice she declared: "Found him."
In the valley below, grazed a lone horse. The sun caught and gleamed off his silver coat. He was tall and lean for a mustang with a long scraggly mane and he was slightly scarred up from fights with other horses.
"He's nice looking," I said as I unwound my rope lasso.
"Yep," Tessa said as she did the same with her rope.
"Is he going to put up a fight?" I asked.
"Yep," she said with a smile.
"Let's go then." With that, I kissed once with my lips, gave Tribute his head, leaned over his neck and we were flying. The stallion took off with Tank not far behind us. The silver horse pricked his ears and like any sensible mustang, he turned tail and ran.
Damn the horse was fast. I urged Tribute on and knew we were leaving Tessa and Tank in the dust. She was lucky I was here or she would have never caught this horse. Which made me start wondering if they had caught Leah's stallion yet...
I was brought back to reality when the silver horse veered left and headed for a patch of woods. I urged Tribute even faster and readied my lasso, knowing that if the horse got into the woods, we would never catch him.
We pulled even with the horse's flagging tail and I wrapped my reins around the horn of my saddle, stood in my stirrups, and started swinging the lasso. I was no cowboy, but I'd learned to throw a rope and half the time catch my target. Tessa was a dead shot with both a rope and a rifle, she just didn't have a horse fast enough to catch a mustang right now. Not that she didn't have horses. Like me, she ran a couple wild herds but she didn't regulate reproduction so she constantly had foals romping around. This horse we were chasing now had avoided round up after round up for four years. Tessa loved both of his parents and the couple of foals he'd sired were stunning so she had special plans for him. He was Toledo's half-brother.
I threw the rope, praying that it found its mark. Lucky for me, it did.
"Whoa!" I called to Tribute as I untied his reins and tied the end of the lasso to the saddle horn.
The stallion slowed and I felt the resistance from the saddle as the other stallion tried to keep running. But Tribute was stronger and eventually, we came to a halt. The silver horse reared, trying desperately to break free of the rope.
Tessa galloped up next to me and brought Tank to a halt. She studied the horse and smiled. "He'll do."
We made quick work of reeling the stallion in and constructing a make shift halter around his head to lead him in with. I handed the rope off to Tessa and she tied him to her saddle horn.
"I guess I'll have to do this again when I get home," I muttered as we started back.
"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.
"Leah's thoroughbred stallion attacked Talehga and I had to put him down. I may not be leading that horse home, I may just put a bullet through his skull."
Tessa was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I'm so sorry Nik. I can't even imagine losing Tank, especially that way. What's wrong with the horse?"
"Leah thinks he was just abused, I think he's either crazy or rabid."
Tessa looked over at me. "I'd get him off the range as soon as possible."
"I've got people on it."
"Is that why you're up here?"
I considered lying and telling her yes, but Tessa was the one person I'd always been completely honest to. Our similar ages had formed us a tight bond at an early age. "Part of the reason."
"And the other part is?"
I hesitated. "Ace made a move on me."
"What?!" Tessa shrieked, spooking the gray stallion. "I thought you didn't have anything to do with Ace. And...you're not pissed. You LIKED it!"
"No...yes...maybe. I don't know," I grumbled.
"Start at the beginning. What's Ace doing near you anyway? I've never seen a reason to hate the guy but you seemed to."
"He blackmailed me into giving him a job." That seemed so far away now even though it had only been a couple of weeks.
"Blackmailed you how?" Tessa asked bristling.
"With a lawsuit for racial discrimination. He knew I was looking for another worker and I wouldn't hire him because he was a Mexican."
"Then how did he get close enough to make a pass at you?"
"I'm getting there. I was upset and he took me up the house to put me in bed. He started taking off my jeans-"
"Whoa."
"He was trying to make me comfortable."
"Wow look who's getting all defensive."
I glared at her.
"I'm sorry, continue."
"Nothing really happened. He crawled in next to me and we took a nap."
"So what's the problem? Believe it or not, I think Ace is a nice guy. And you've been alone a lot especially since that dick head Drake-"
"Oh look who's talking about being alone. You live out here miles from a town, I'm surprised you can still carry on a conversation longer than five minuets."
"I don't live alone. And I talk to Tank," she said, patting the big horse. "Anyway, what's the problem?"
"Ace's mother showed up and started talking about his girlfriend."
Tessa was silent for a moment. "That bitch could be blowing steam. I'd almost bet that she is."
"Ace didn't deny it."
"Did you give him a chance? I can answer that-no. You probably tucked tail and ran up here."
Damn she knew me too well.
"What's the point? All guys are the same."
"Oh here we go again with the same speech: 'they're all the same, they'll all screw you over, they all have girls on the side, blah, blah, blah.'"
"Well in my experience-"
"You've had bad experiences. Go back and give Ace a chance. Hell you knew that was what I was going to say, why did you waste the gas money to come up here?"
I grinned at her. "I just needed someone to say I wasn't being an idiot."
"You are being an idiot. Now get your ass back to Maryland and let the man speak before you loose your one chance at a decent relationship."
"A relationship with my step brother. It just sounds wrong."
"I've seen what you read. At least half a dozen books are about step sibling marrying each other. Maybe you'll be the next book."
"I'll never get married."
"That's exactly what the characters in the book say. And what happens at the end?"
"That's fiction-"
"That's not the answer to the question. The answer is: they live happily ever after."
"I don't believe in happily ever after."
"Maybe it's time to change your beliefs."