“Well, yeah, it’s not always a hundred, sometimes it’s two fifties or five twenties or …”
“Fenixx you part with seven hundred bucks a week plus pizza, every week? For how long?” I screeched, not believing what I was hearing.
“About a year, give or take.”
Speechless, I was without speech. How did a man get to this stage in life and not have a brain?
“Why haven’t you approached her, you know, ask her out before you go bankrupt,” I fired back at him, completely stunned.
Fenixx gave me an eyeroll of his own then sobered. “You know why, Blake,” he replied softly, looking briefly down at his shirt, and then all the ducks lined up, and I was on Fenixx’s page, even if it was stupid as hell.
“Oh, come on, Fenixx, just because of that,” I practically shouted, giving his chest a pointed glare.
“Yeah, Blake, because of that.”
I could shout more, call him names the dictionary hadn’t even thought up yet, but he was serious. The shattered look on his face changed my pace and I grew soft and mushy.
“Fenny, if she sees that as a weakness or a hard no, then she isn’t worth your time or your seven hundred. That,” I said, pointing at his chest, “doesn’t define who you are, it simply shows how strong and resilient you are. Not many people can go through the years you did and come out a successful and rich business owner and one of the best breeding minds in the country. Give her a chance to make up her own mind instead of making it for her, yeah?”
Fenixx opened his mouth to speak when Eddy yelled out to me, halting Fenixx from annoying me with a dumb refute.
“Blake, we’ve got trouble,” Eddy yelled, holding up one of the stable’s portable phones. Groaning, I gave Fenixx an apologetic smile.
“Sorry Nixx, while Hendrixx is at the auctions, I am taking his calls, this is probably something to do with a buyer.”
“Go, it’s cool. I am fine,” he rushed to brush off any concerns that I had, but it wasn’t going to work.
“Don’t shit a shitter,” I warned, using one of Lillian’s go-to sayings when she had you backed into a corner. “We will finish this conversation, buddy boy, you can bet on that.”
“You spend far too much time with Mum, Blake, way too much,” Fenixx grumbled, taking the chance to escape any further lecture from me, for now.
Spinning on my boot heels, I jogged to the main stable, all the while grumbling about Hott men with hot bodies and no brains.
***
“Blake, maybe we should call Hendrixx, relay the call you got to him and see what he says,” Eddy pleaded again, following me back into Hercules’ stall.
Since the call fifteen minutes ago, I had not been able to think about anything except saddling up the fastest horse I owned and getting out to the valley. When I heard some idiot was seen shooting at my brumbies, all I saw in my vision was a red haze.
Forcefully shoving my rifle into the scarab on the side of my saddle, I unwound the reigns from the post and mounted my horse.
“Someone is shooting at the mob Eddy, on Triple H land, both illegal offences and in my eyes offensively abhorrent.”
“Blakey please, I know I can’t stop you from going, but for hell’s sake, please use your head. Don’t go putting yourself between a horse and a shotgun,” Eddy fretted, emphasising his plea with a hand on my gun.
“Beloved animal or not, nothing is worth taking your life from us, from Hendrixx.” At the mention of my man, just for a second, I reconsidered going out on my own but quickly dismissed it when my mind went to the defenceless animals at the mercy of some thoughtless human being with a gun and a thirst for blood. The brumbies were a problem in some areas of the mountains, but not here on the Triple H. Hendrixx and I were going to have to have a conversation about letting them stay on Triple H land, fencing them from roaming onto crown or private land, to keep them safe.
“If he is still in Mansfield he probably won’t have reception, if he is on the road, remember there is that black spot for about twenty kilometres. Keep calling him until you get him, okay? Let him know I am heading in the direction of Kelly’s track,” I ordered, then clicked my tongue for Hercules to get a move on.
“Call our closest neighbour to the west, see if he has seen the mob in the past few days. Then pray, I can find them before it is too late.” With the lightest of touches from my heels, something I rarely did, Hercules reared once then took off at a gallop down the long cobbled walkway and out of the building as if he sensed the urgency of our ride.
No harm was going to come to my horses, not if I could help it.
HENDRIXX
As soon as the elaborate over the top entrance to the Triple H came into view, my death grip on the steering wheel loosened slightly, but my foot stayed pressed to the accelerator. The drive from Mansfield to Cattle Ridge, then the further ten kilometres to home, was the longest of my life. When Eddy called to tell me that Blake had ridden off on Hercules, taking her rifle with her, every scenario that could happen flashed before my eyes.
“Jesus Blake, what were you thinking!” I shouted, banging a fist on the dashboard.
Easing off the power just enough to take the turn into the driveway, I planted my foot back down again, cursing my father’s ego for demanding such a fucking long drive to the house.
“Another reason for being mad at you, Dad, as if I needed more,” I muttered to myself. My mind didn’t need to
