Free I'll Remember You (Hell Yeah!) by Sable Hunter Page A

exactly right. Everything was stiff and new. He wondered where his old clothes were. Austin had a sense that he preferred broke-in boots, well-worn jeans and cotton T-shirts. Soon, he and Miss Martina were going to have to have a long talk. He could smell manure in this situation.
    “Coming with us, querida?”
    His daughter smiled at the endearment. “No, Padre.” She drained a bottle of water and pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I…” She looked around her. “I just wanted to take a walk.”
    Hmmm, Austin thought. A walk. Right. That girl was doing more than walking. He’d bet his left nut she was meeting somebody. Oh, well. It was none of his affair.
    Riding high in an exquisite Mexican saddle covered in fine silver, Austin wondered at his life. For all extents and purposes, he appeared to be a kept man. And that wasn’t his style. He didn’t have to have a memory to know that much about himself. Austin Wade was used to earning his keep, paying his own way and staying busy. From what he could gather, his fiancé expected him to earn his keep by becoming Mr. Martina Delgado and he had news for her, that shit wasn’t gonna fly.
    “Tell me about your daughter.” Austin surveyed his surroundings. The land really was beautiful. The Sierra Madre mountains rose high in the distance.
    Tomas chuckled as he led them away from the barn and out into the open pasture. “She’s a gentle flower.”
    Austin snorted. Obviously he wasn’t talking about Martina. “The other one.”
    This time Tomas laughed. “Ah, my iron maiden, doncella de hierro, she was such a headstrong little girl. And a much more headstrong woman.”
    “Tell me about our relationship.” Austin knew he was pushing the envelope, but he needed to know.
    “That I cannot do, mi amigo.”    
    Tomas was choosing to stay out of the situation and Austin couldn’t really blame him, so he changed the subject. “How many acres do you have?”
    A look of relief passed over the old man’s face. “There are twenty-four thousand acres, although if the rough terrain were flattened out, the amount of land would increase three fold.” Austin could hear the pride in his voice.
    They rode across the grazing pastures and he admired the cattle, a breed descended from the original Spanish animals brought to the Americas in the fifteenth century. “They’re closely related to the Longhorn, you know. I raise Longhorns.” As soon as he spoke the words, he reined the horse in. He bred Longhorn cattle. He had remembered something! Tomas met his gaze and he gave him a small, mysterious smile.
    Ssssss Ssssss     
    Austin’s horse reared. He clasped his knees, holding on to the reins, striving to stay in the saddle. The stallion bucked backward and then danced sideways.
    “Rattlesnake!” Tomas yelled.
    Austin looked down in time to see the large snake strike out at the legs of the horse.
    Pop! Pop!
    Tomas had pulled out a pistol and shot the snake. “I detest those things!”
    Austin calmed his horse and looked at the dead serpent. “Yea, so does…” Another name danced on his lips, but he couldn’t quite find it in his memory.
    “What did you say?” Tomas asked. “You’re remembering, aren’t you?”
    Austin didn’t say anything else. He couldn’t see her face, and he didn’t know her name, but there was definitely a woman in his life—somewhere. And it wasn’t Martina Delgado.
    Over the next few days, Austin struggled with his identity. He was striving to make sense of the world he was a part of and the past he had lost. Giving up wasn’t an option. He was still game to figure out the answers. Over and over again he had questioned Martina about their past, how they met, about the day he was injured. Her answers didn’t change, but he could tell she was becoming frustrated with him. He didn’t care. Shadows tangled and twisted together in his brain. Sometimes he felt like he was watching an old film in his head and the images were running