Danica Favorite - The Cowboy's Faith

She’d heard one of the trainers on one of the videos say something similar, but he’d only spent fifteen minutes on this part of the training.

As Fernando continued with the exercise, his hands brushed her again, and she jumped back at the unexpected jolt.

“I’ll just get out of your way,” she said.

Fernando’s dark brown eyes were all too human in the emotions she thought she spied. She walked slowly backward to the fence, not liking the idea that Fernando was anyone other than the person she’d been vilifying over the past year.

But she couldn’t help looking. Seeing the dark hair with waves that would probably be similar to the gentle curls Adriana used to hate for being too unruly to do much with put a pang in her heart over the loss of her friend. It was hard not to notice how much Fernando resembled Adriana.

It was even harder noticing how he didn’t. Like the softness and gentleness in his face, and the tenderness with which he spoke to Snookie. And to Nicole.

Adriana used to say that he was the best big brother in the whole wide world and that she didn’t know how she could ever live without him. Watching Fernando now, Nicole couldn’t help remembering all the reasons she’d loved Adriana, and it made her heart hurt to allow that crack in the walls she’d kept around herself to numb the pain.

Because that’s what no one understood. Nicole had gone from one day believing that she was marrying an amazing man, and that she couldn’t imagine having a better best friend than Adriana, to realizing that they’d both betrayed her in the worst possible way. She’d lost so much and had no idea why.

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?” Leah said, nudging Nicole. “He’s like that guy Shane took us to see, only better.”

“I’m sure we can’t afford him. We couldn’t afford the other guy,” Nicole said.

“Maybe he’ll give us a friend discount.” Leah’s voice sounded hopeful, and it hurt to realize that her sister didn’t understand the problem.

“We’re not friends,” Nicole said.

Leah sighed. “It’s not good for you to keep holding a grudge. I get it. What his sister did was terrible, and yes, it was awful of him to not tell you. But anyone can see how bad he feels, and maybe, rather than taking your grief out on him, the two of you could grieve together?”

Nicole spun to face her sister. “What are you saying?”

“Did you ever think that he’s lost someone, too? That he’s also hurting? You keep making this all about you, but maybe if you let someone else in, you’d realize that you’re not alone.”

The tenderness in Leah’s eyes made it impossible for Nicole to be angry with her. But it didn’t mean Leah was right. Yes, Leah knew what it was like to suffer tragedy, and she knew what it was like to lose someone she loved. But Nicole’s pain was different, and to suggest that Fernando would share it was absolutely ridiculous.

Leah reached out and touched Nicole’s shoulder gently. “I’m sorry if I’m pushing too hard, but even if you can’t accept that Fernando might need you just as much as you need him, you can’t deny that he’s doing wonders with your horse.”

Nicole turned around to watch Fernando work with the horse, and as she leaned against the rails, from the other side of the fence, Leah put her arm around Nicole.

Leah didn’t have to say anything, and even though Nicole was still technically mad at her sister, she knew Leah loved her. And as she relaxed into her sister’s embrace, Nicole realized that she couldn’t fight the situation anymore.

Nicole loved Snookie and desperately wanted to keep her horse. But she knew Shane was right. Snookie was a danger to her nephews. Fernando’s interaction with Snookie told her that he was probably her last hope in being able to keep the horse.

If God wanted to answer her prayers with the person who reminded her most of her heartbreak, then fine. Let Him. She’d accept Fernando’s help with Snookie, but there was no way she’d give him access to her heart.

The mare pawed at the ground and tugged at the rope. Fernando had been holding her back, and she was getting impatient at being restricted. She reminded him of the horses he’d trained in prison. Straight off federal lands, the wild mustangs had to learn how to be part of the human world.

“She doesn’t like you,” Nicole said, sounding petulant as she stepped forward. “Let me take her back.”

No, Nicole didn’t like him. Her attitude toward him was less about the horse and more about her personal feelings toward him. The horse was still figuring him out, deciding whether or not she could trust him. He would earn this horse’s trust, and maybe Nicole’s.

“She’s angry that she cannot be free to do what she wants. But like a child, she must learn that we have rules to keep her safe. Once she learns that we mean her no harm, she can develop a respect for humans, and she’ll be easier to work with.”

Maybe Nicole and the horse weren’t so different.

He brought the horse in to him and began touching her. “Hey, Snookie girl. We’re going to help you learn, okay?”

Not all trainers talked to the horses, but for a long time, horses had been the only creatures Fernando could trust. Conversations with them were easier than with people.

Probably why Nicole was channeling all her grief into the run-down ranch. Though Fernando could see places on the house that had obviously been recently repaired, new fences mixed in with the old, there were also a lot of broken-down outbuildings, worn-out equipment and other signs of neglect. He knew they had inherited the ranch from a long-lost relative, but until Leah had mentioned it, he hadn’t known it was a former stepmother.

Judging from the condition of the ranch, the woman had probably been too old to take proper care of things. Though he knew that Leah and their other sister, Erin, had also gone through tragedies around the time of Nicole’s failed wedding, and it probably seemed like a good idea to all of them to escape Denver and come here for healing, he had to wonder if they’d all taken on more than they could handle.

Maybe he could help them fix things up while he was here. He had nothing better to do until the job with his uncle started in a month, and even then, he wasn’t excited about it. Unskilled labor, acting as a helper to the better-paid framers on his uncle’s crew. Though Fernando had years of construction experience, he’d been let go from his last job as a foreman with a large construction firm in Denver because he couldn’t pass the background check they needed to get clearance on one of their jobs. And he hadn’t been able to get hired elsewhere because of his record.

Though he was grateful his uncle was offering him a job, he was also a bit resentful that Sergio knew of his skill but was taking advantage of his desperation and offering him something so beneath him. Fernando would probably end up doing the job of the foreman while accepting the pay of a helper. His uncle was a known cheapskate, and he recognized Fernando had no other options.

It was too bad Fernando couldn’t get a job working with horses. Fresh out of prison, he’d tried, thinking that the horse training he’d done there would give him the necessary qualifications. And it did—to an extent. But just like with construction work, people saw the felony on his record and used it as either an excuse to pay him peanuts or not hire him. Or worse, if something went wrong, the felon was always the convenient scapegoat. So he’d gone back into construction, something he’d done since he was young, hoping that someday he’d have enough money to buy a small place and a couple of horses for himself.