Crossroads (4 page)

“It's a bunch of stars
named after a vain queen in Greek mythology. She boasted about her
unrivaled beauty. Did you ever see the movie, Green
Mile?”

“No, why?”

"
Look boss! It's Cassie, the lady in the rockin' chair!
That was a great line... I always remember that
when I see her up there. You should try and catch that movie
sometime.”

“I don't have much time
for movies and TV. I'm too busy with the ranch and I prefer to go
out drinking for my kicks.”

“Girls like going to the
movies. You could get to see some good ones on a date.”

“I'll bear that in mind.”
I replied, mentally filing that away as a good idea. It had been
years since I'd been to the movies. Maybe I could take Tiffany. And
her cute sister. Maybe her cute Mom might like to come along to
even up the numbers.

I smiled to myself.

Me and a whole bunch of cute Johnson girls.
I'd borrow Pa's land Rover. He may not like it, but fuck him, I'd
like it.

We returned to the ranch at ten. The sun was
blazing hot today, not a cloud in the sky. It should be a good
afternoon for our trip to the creek. And a clear view of the
sunset.

As we rode into the yard, my father came out
of the ranch house. The look on his face told me he was less than
happy to see me today. Not that he ever seemed that pleased any
day. My stomach clenched tightly when he was around. I felt anxious
and on edge. Why his attitude bothered me, I couldn't say. I should
be fucking used to it by now.

I dismounted and Kicker tactfully led my
horse away to the stables. “I'll be along in a while, his left
front foot needs a check over, tell Col to have a look.”

I approached my father, with as warm a smile
I could manage, considering our frosty relationship.

“Hey Pa, how did things go
at Lawson's?” I attempted to engage him with some conversation.
Probably a waste of time, but I remained ever hopeful.

“Okay. One day, if you
ever get your head out of the clouds, you may learn what customer
relations is all about, son.”

I hated his put downs; his constant
demeaning attitude. Why couldn't he say one nice thing to me, just
once?

“Perhaps, you could take
me along for the ride, instead of Rob, now and then. And in the
meantime, you could at least acknowledge the work I put in around
here, in other ways. It's not all about customers.”

“Yes it is. Without
customers we have no income.”

“Without healthy cattle we
have nothing to offer them.”

“What do you know about
anything.” He glared at me, his temper rising rapidly, a flush
spreading up from his neck.

“Look, I don't want to
argue. Is there something you need to tell me?”

“I've made Rob my deputy
manager. I thought you should know.”

“You've made him your
deputy manager? Right... so I take orders from Rob, do
I?”

“Yes you do,
son.”

“So where do I stand in
the hierarchy around here?”

“At the bottom. You're one
of the hands, unless I see good reason to make you Head Rancher. So
far I don't see anything special coming from your
direction.”

“You don't see anything
special?
Fucking hell,
Pa
, what exactly have I done to upset you?
Was is just the road trip, or does it go deeper?”

“There's no need for
language like that. That's just so typical of you. Coarse and
low-life. I can't believe Anne produced you at times.”

“I'm sorry you feel that
way. Because I try very hard to please you and to care about what I
do. Why don't you tell me where I'm going wrong?”

“Hell, where do I
start!?!”

“Start at the beginning.
Like when I was twelve and you told me I was a useless piece of
crap, because I didn't stack up good enough at school.”

“You were far too
interested in causing trouble. And that's how you've been ever
since. A trouble maker.”

“How have I?”

“Let's say I know all you
get up to. The drinking, the drugs, the whoring. You bring shame on
me. And your blessed dead mother.”

I took in a harsh breath. That was going way
too far. I wanted to punch his lights out. It took every ounce of
restraint I possessed to keep my head, because steam and a red mist
was clouding it.

“I may drink, but I don't
do drugs and I don't whore.”

“I have it you do. I have
someone watching you.”

“What?
Who the hell's watching me,
Christ..
. whoever it is, they're
lying. Don't judge me like that. I work hard around here and I like
a little fun, that's all. You know that. I'm not an office kind of
guy like Rob. And up till now I've not found any girl I want to
settle down with. But I'm working on that.”

“Joshua, your mother would
turn in her grave if she knew how you'd turned out.”

I wanted to throw up. Tears sprang to my
eyes and I beat them back. I wasn't going to cry in front of him. I
made my last effort with my dad, because at that moment, I had all
but given up trying. I couldn't take any more of this.

“Dad... I'm your only son.
And despite everything, I love you. I may not be all you hoped for,
but I don't understand, why you hate me so much.”

Then I turned and left him standing there. I
brushed the tears away as they brimmed and ran down my face.

By the time I'd got to the stable I'd pulled
myself together.

I raised a smile for the guys.

Col came to stand at my side. “Ben has a
problem with his fetlock.”

“What's the best way to
treat it?”

“I'll look up the injury
when we get inside. If I can't do anything about it, I'll take him
to the vet tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks Col, much
appreciated, man.” He turned to go back to grooming his horse. I
needed to speak to him, about who was snitching on me. “Can I have
a private minute, outside?”

I noticed Kicker, Pete and Lucky look up
from their stalls. Ears were pricked.

“Sure.” he followed me out
and I turned to him.

“My pa has a spy on me for
some reason. It's one of the guys, I guess. The only other person
is Mickey and I can't imagine him doing Dad any favors.”

“Excuse me for saying so,
but your pa is a fucking dickhead, looking for dirt where there
ain't none. I've a mind to stick his head up a bulls ass and let
him see some real shit.”

I laughed. Col had a way with words at
times. “So would I. But I'd like to know who the snitch is. Can you
ask around, in your own sweet way?”

“Yeah, but I'll lay my
money on it being Lucky. I've seen him over the house a few times
too often. He don't like you pal, it's jealousy mainly, you having
all this privilege, and being so good at what you do at your
age.”

I felt a shred of pride rising again after
having it ground in the dust by my father's soul destroying boot.
Col appreciated my efforts. He understood I worked hard and ran a
tight ship. He knew I cared about things. And my suspicion about
Lucky was being reinforced by him.

“I'll leave it with you.
And thanks again. For everything. I can always rely on
you.”

“You can rely on all of
us. We like it here and you're one of the main reasons. Not
Charlie-so-far-up-his-own-ass-he-can't-see-the-light
Lyle.”

I slapped his arm, affectionately.

“You know how to make a
guy feel better. I needed that.”

“Don't let him get to
ya.”

I smiled as we returned to the stable to
attend to the tasks of grooming, feeding and watering.

At ten to four, I had everything ready. I
was scrubbed up and dressed to kill, in my usual casual sense. I
got on my bike and made quick work of getting over to Tiffany's
place.

My mind chewed things over as I rode along
in the hot afternoon sunshine. My Pa, Rob, Col, Lucky. But I pushed
all that out of my head. I was gonna have a good time, with my
girl. That was what I should be concentrating on. Not work.

I arrived at her street, parked up next to
her bike and knocked at her door.

Her little sister opened it. She looked dead
cute with her blonde hair in two plaits, wearing her jeans and a
white 1D t-shirt. Obvious a big fan of One Direction.

“Hey beautiful, how ya
doing?”

She giggled and blushed bright pink, running
off indoors.

I followed and she led me to Tiffany who was
putting her boots on, sitting at the kitchen table.

She stood with a smile. She looked so
goddamn hot in her jeans and black t-shirt, I wanted to jump her
bones, there and then, on the kitchen table. But I'd learned my
lesson. It didn't matter what went through my head, as long as I
didn't act on it. Restraint was the new order of the day in my holy
bible of conduct.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, and
mm mm
you look real
good, babe.”

“Oh, do I? Well thank you.
You don't look too bad yourself.”

I sucked up the compliment. I hadn't had
many coming my way.

Philipa was hopping around the room,
obviously dead excited.

“Looking forward to it?
Going horse riding?” I asked her.

“I've never been on a
horse.”

“Haven't you sweetheart?
Well, it's easy . . . they just walk, and you just sit.”

She laughed and Tiffany smiled at me.

“I won't fall off, will
I?”

“No. Not unless you try
real hard.” I watched as she twisted her hands together, anxiously
but smiling. I hoped everything was going to be okay. “I've got a
special horse for you. He's called Harry.”

“He is?” her eyes
widened.

“You like that name, I
guess?” I asked looking at her t-shirt which was printed with
several guys names, Harry being one of them.

“It's my favorite name. I
love Harry.”

“She loves Harry Styles.
One Direction. They're a boy band.”

“I know who One Direction
are,” I said smiling at Philipa, who looked thrilled to bits at
this revelation.

“You do?”

“Absolutely.” I didn't
have much of a clue about their music. All I knew was that it
wasn't my style.

Tiffany took her hand. “Okay, are you ready
to go, sweet?”

“Yeah.” Philipa smiled a
wide toothy smile which captured my heart. But it was her sister's
smile which erupted shortly afterward which sent me rocking into
outer space.

“Thanks so much for doing
this, Josh. It means a lot to her, and me,” she said with a warm
expression. If I wasn't mistaken, she was thawing a lot as far as I
was concerned.

We walked outside, to the bikes.

“Oooh... you have a big
bike don't you, Josh? It's so shiny and nice,” Philipa said as I
mounted and kicked up the stand, rolling forward a few
yards.

“Yeah, don't I just. I'm a
lucky guy. Very lucky today.” I winked at her and flared my eyes at
Tiffany, meaningfully. “Maybe you can ride with me on the way home.
Would you like that?”

“Can I?” she looked at
Tiffany.

“I don't see why not. If
Josh is careful.”

“Careful
? I'm the best.”

“Modesty is not one of
your strengths, is it?”

“Maybe not, but I'm
honest. I am the best.”

“Yeah, I've seen your
best. It's way too fast.”

“Cool it. I can ride
slower than a snail if I need to.” I smiled at her and she returned
my smile. “Okay, when you're ready, just follow me,
girls.”

I waited until they'd got ready and
comfortable. We started up our bikes and set off for Mill Creek. I
was happy. If it wasn't for my issues with my father, life would be
cool.

Grasses swayed in the
field with the light breeze, as the horses trod through
them
―
the yellow
hue of patches of wild flowers were scattered amongst it, here and
there. It was a beautiful landscape, set against the blue of the
sky. The low position of the sun, behind us, deepened the
colors.

Being out here stirred my heart and always
would.

I led Philipa's horse, to my right, keeping
a close eye on her. Tiffany rode at my left.

She suited a horse just as well as her bike.
Possibly better. She sat straight backed, like a pro, and a small
smile hung around her mouth. I liked the way she held herself, kind
of proud and strong. Her long fair hair fluttered in the wind, the
sun's rays turning it to spun gold. I wanted to grab handfuls of it
and rub it all over my face and body. Her twin diamond ear
piercings sparkled, and the silver heart necklace glinted brightly
as she moved. Tiffany's pale skin was flawless, her makeup my idea
of perfection. I liked everything about her style... and her body
sent me places. It was slender and possessed just the right amount
of curves, I was aching to grab a hold of it.

Fuck, she looked good enough to eat.

My breath caught in my throat. I didn't
think I'd ever seen a more beautiful sight. Sweet mother of God, I
wanted her so bad, I was almost blind with need. I hardened
rapidly, imagining her softness underneath me, and being deep
inside, moving together real slow.