“Good point. I just know them by their features. One of them has a chunk out of its ear. It got in a fight with the other one.”
“Uh-huh. And the other two?”
“Well, one has a longer tail than the rest. The third one loves to eat carrots more than the rest. If I gave it an endless supply of carrots, it would live on them.”
My father sniffed and smoothed out the dusty ground under his feet. As soon as I mowed back the paddock, the heat got to it, keeping the soil dry. It’s what I wanted—a harder surface. “See, there you go. Get young Bella, the horse whisperer, to name them.”
“I will. That’s a great idea. You really want to run the farm side? I thought you were done with it.”
“So did I, but I feel the excitement coming back. I wanted to play around with a few other hobbies of mine, but the land keeps calling me. Plus, I want to be here when you start with the horses. I want to see how young Bella goes. Not you. I taught you already. We’re making history. Three generations of horsemen and horsewomen. Have to be politically correct these days.” He puffed his chest out proudly.
I grinned. “I never thought of it like that. I can’t wait.”
“I know we aren’t talking young kids here. You don’t have ponies. Unless you want to get some.”
“No, I guess I’ve meant the riding school to work with a little older age bracket.”
“Good, good. Work with the horses you got. What’s the new horse you got coming?”
“A couple of beauties. One smaller chestnut and one bigger chestnut.”
My father’s eyes lit up. “Two chestnuts. They will be something to behold. I’ll give you some tips to keep their coats nice and shiny. They can get a little dull in the sunshine.”
“I’m glad we’re working together, Dad.”
He pressed his lips together. “It’s how it should be done. Father and son working together. Come on. I’m hungry, and I need you to whip me up one of those toasted sandwiches you’ve become good at making.”
“All right, let’s go, old man.”
I admired my property as we walked. I could hear the water rushing on the east side. You had to walk down the side to get near it. If there was enough water from the mountain, it ran down. Spring flowers were blooming bright in the front yard. The bees were out in full force, buzzing around, collecting their nectar.
We ate lunch and filled our stomachs, and we talked farm shop, discussing what we might need for the stables in the way of equipment. We also discussed that we might need a stable hand to help with the horses. By the time he left, it was time for daddy duties and to pick Bella up from school.
My phone buzzed as I wrote down everything we talked about. I retrieved my phone from my pocket, a knot forming when I saw it was Diego.
“Hey, Diego. How are you, brother?”
“Hey, I’m good. Really good. I heard a rumor, and I wanted to hear if it was true.”
“Go ahead. Hit me with it.”
Diego paused. “Are you starting a riding school?”
“Yes. I am.” I was puzzled by the call.
“When are you opening? Back in Argentina, I rode when I was a little boy. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
“You want to be in? You can ride anytime, though, Diego. It would be free. No charge.”
“No. I’m bringing a crew with me. You know, to help advertise. You’ve taken enough losses. Hector has turned out to be a good worker. He brought in some new business, too. Let me help out. We Spanish like a horse or two.”
I laughed. I was touched by the call. “I’m glad that’s what the call was about. I didn’t want any bullshit,” I warned.
“Relax, brother. Ryder is pissed with Vlad for letting the Russians let that little bitch get away. He’s on punishment.” Diego laughed.
“I don’t care if he is or not. Just keep Las Balas crew away from my property. That’s what he promised. I’ll die for mine. Either that or I’m going back to prison.”
“Neither. Not going to happen. You have a lot going for you. We can’t let that happen.”
“Sorry to cut it short, Diego. Give me a couple of weeks, and I’ll have a date you can bring them through.”
“Okay, brother. Take care.”
“You, too.”
I had the support of the brotherhood—good to know. I grabbed my car keys to pick up Bella. As I drove to pick up my baby girl, I hoped I’d seen the last of all the shooting and violence. I’d seen and been around enough to last me a lifetime. I waited patiently as I heard the schoolyard bell ring. Ten minutes later, I saw Bella bounce out of the front doors with a bookbag twice the size of her. I would need to do something about that. She opened the car door.
“Daddy! Guess what?”
I grinned as she hugged me. “What, baby?”
“In two weeks, we have bring a parent day! Will you come?”
“What’s a parent day about?” I asked as I pulled off into the Merced streets.
“You come in and talk about what you do. You can talk about our horses and the farm. I told my friends to come and ride with us,” she said confidently. I saw her beautiful eyes light up as she started kicking her legs around like she does when she’s excited.
I squeezed her little leg, and she giggled. “Daddy, that tickles!”
“I think that’s a great idea. I would love to. Just remind me when it is. We got two new horses coming next week, too. I need you to name them. I think you should name the Palominos, as well.”
She hummed, her little voice music to my ears. “I did already.”
Surprised, I raised my eyebrows as we turned into our driveaway. “You named the horses already?”
“Yes.” She smiled and kept humming. My kid was a trip.
“What did you name them?”
“Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you,” she giggled.
“Okay, you win.”
I parked the car, and we stepped inside.
“Can I have a ham and cheese sandwich for a snack?”
“Yes, honey, you can.” I opened the fridge, and Bella ducked under my arm to get the ingredients out. “You still haven’t told me the names of the horses.”
“Okay.” Bella grabbed a piece of cheese and bit into it, sneakily looking at me to see if I would be mad. I just smiled at her.
“One of the horses has a long tail, so I named him Long Straw. The other one has the hole in its ear, so I named it Nip. The third one is Caramel.”
Bella saw what I saw for the most part. Her names made me double over in laughter. “You are so clever. You named him Long Straw.”
“Daddy, you’re going red in the face. Yup. Long Straw.”
I wiped the laughing tears from my eyes. “I can’t help it. I never knew about these names. How come?” I buttered the toast on both sides, added the ham and cheese, then placed the sandwiches in the waffle maker. These prison sandwiches that I learned to make ended up being a hit with Bella.
“Because you didn’t ask me,” Bella replied simply. “I’m putting my book bag away.” She stamped off and came back minutes later.
“You are one awesome little human.”