Carrillo's Cowboy by Tee Smith

Author:Tee Smith [Smith, Tee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tee Smith
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Within a couple of hours, Austin was handling the horse like he had been riding his whole life. Cody had taken him down to the creek as promised, and they stopped for a break.

“You really like my mum, huh?” Austin’s voice dropped an octave, making him sound younger than his twelve years.

“Yeah, yeah, I do,” Cody agreed.

“Are you going to get married?”

A lump rose in his throat, threatening to choke his words. He hadn’t expected that question. “It’s only early days, mate.”

“My dad says she’s just using you.”

“You told your dad about me?” This kid was full of surprises.

Austin nodded. “Mum says we shouldn’t keep secrets.”

“No, your mum’s right,” he agreed.

“I don’t think Mum is using you. I don’t know why dad says things like that.”

Seconds passed before he realised Austin was waiting on a response. “Well, I don’t know your dad, but I think sometimes people find it hard to move on. They might not want to be with someone, but they don’t want them to be with someone else. Does that make sense?”

“Not really?” Austin shook his head. “I mean, dad got a new girlfriend.”

“Do you like her?” he asked curiously.

“No!” His answer was emphatic and without hesitation. “She hates us.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he tried. Not knowing if it was or not, but overwhelmed by the desire to protect Austin’s feelings.

“That’s why dad doesn’t come to see us.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“No, but he’s always too busy with her and her kids.”

“That must really suck.”

“Yeah,” Austin huffed out, picking up a rock and throwing it at the water that bubbled through the winding creek. They watched it hit the water with a small splash. “I miss having him around. I mean, I know we never did much. He’s always busy. Mum says she gets upset because he promises us stuff, but doesn’t do it. I know he wants to.” He let out a long frustrated sigh. “Do you know what it’s like living with two girls?”

Cody chuckled at the question and shook his head.

“It’s all about hair products, and fashion, and stuff,” he went on. “At least dad talked about golf and man stuff.”

“Do you like golf?”

“Don’t know,” he shrugged. “I’ve never been allowed to go. Dad always said I was too young. Mum says that’s rubbish, and we should be allowed to do stuff. Dad nearly had a heart attack when Granddad taught us how to ride the quads.” A laugh escaped from the boy’s chest, and Cody realised it was the first time he had heard him laugh in weeks. “Mum’s pretty cool like that. At least she lets us do stuff.”

After spending the last weeks with Callie, he struggled to imagine her married to a stiff. She was bubbly and adventurous—no wonder she hadn’t been happy in her marriage.

“Should we head back inside? It will be dark soon,” Cody asked. “Mum will probably have something on the stove for dinner. We don’t want her to worry about us.”

“Sure,” Austin sang, springing to his feet and making his way back to Marla and Kimba.

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