Free Southern Charms by S. E. Kloos Page B

back for Rocky means death, you sumbitch. You keep that shit in mind next time you jerk him ‘round like that, ya hear?” Unlatching the clasp to the gate, Xander swung it open with a click of his tongue to the horse, calling his attention to the escape route offered to it.
    Once the horse was through, Xander grabbed Rocky’s reigns so he didn’t go anywhere, then gave him a handful of sugar cubes and patted at his neck, all the while still glaring at his cousin. Once the horse was done with the treat, Xander grabbed his crutches, leading Rocky to the stables to let him relax and rest.
    Not knowing what else to do, Elizabeth followed after him incase he needed any help. She watched the ease in which Xander worked;  unlatching the saddle, removing and tossing it like it weighed nothing onto a wooden horse in the hall of the stable, before grabbing a brush  to swipe it across Rocky’s torso.
    While he was doing that, she took a seat on a hay bale to watch for a bit longer before she spoke. “Mark didn’t hurt him too bad that last time, did he?”
    Xander shook his head, but didn’t look away from what he was doing. “Naw, don’t think so anyways. Rocky’s resilient and can take quite a bit. On the other hand, Mark is built like brick shit house and weighs about the same. He’ll be sore a spell, I’m sure, but some time under a heated cover and he should be fine, I reckon.”
    Leaning an elbow on her knee, she propped her chin in her palm. “If Rocky means that much to you, why did you let Mark ride him for so long today?”
    Tossing the brush into a bucket in the corner, then picking up a flat headed bar, Xander picked up one of Rocky’s front legs to begin the task of cleaning the packed dirt out of his hooves. He hummed a bit in his throat before answering that with a tisk. “Rocky here knows the ways of buck trainin’, so he was the best option to try and give Mark the crash refresher course. Plus, out of all the horses on the ranch, Rocky is the youngest and only one that would be able to bounce back, had the horse actually gotten hurt.”
    Elizabeth nodded a bit at that before leaning back on her hands. “So, are you going to let Mark ride for you next weekend?”
    At that, Xander growled. “Right now, I ain’t too sure that Mark is even gonna live to see next weekend, much less ride in my place. I’m sorely tempted to just eat the couple hundred bucks and save my reputation. If I send him in pullin’ the shit he pulled today, it’ll be years before I can show my face in the arena again.” Giving his head a shake, a glare on his face and sneer in his voice, he spoke again. “You’d think the dipshit ain’t ever been on horse b’fore.”
    Throwing the bar in his hand into the corner harder than he intended to, he then grabbed the cover to toss over Rocky’s back to help sooth his sore muscles. He then led the horse into his stall, before turning to lean against the stall wall with his arms crossed. Turning his sights on the little lady, he saw two things that tightened his gut a bit. She was looking at him with wider than normal eyes, a seed of slight fear in them at the display of his flaring temper, as well as the white knuckled grip she had on the edge of the hay bale.
    Dropping his head back on his shoulders, Xander took a deep breath to try and calm back down a bit, and then sighed before looking back at her, his voice softening. “Sorry, Little Darlin’. I didn’t mean to scare ya.”
    Elizabeth looked up at him, taking a deep breath of her own before letting it out slowly with a shake of her head. “It’s alright. You have every reason to be mad. It’s just...”
    Xander have moved across the hall, crouched down in front of her, and pushed his hat upon his head with a thumb. Setting a hand on either knee, he cut her off and forced her to lock eyes with him. Once he was positive he had her attention, he smiled at her. “You listen good now, Little Darlin’. There are two things