A Broken Cowboy Read online

  CHAPTER TEN

  “What the hell kinda crap hole do you live in?” Krystal’s voice screeched as she got out of the mailman’s truck and stood in the yard, staring in disgust at the ramshackle cabin. “You traded an almost paid-off condo in the city to live in the Clampett’s shack?”

  Mimi couldn’t believe her eyes. “Krystal? What are you doing here, girl? How did you even get here?” she asked, jumping down the steps and grabbing her best friend in a hug.

  “I just went back to that old town and told them I needed to go visit the black lady who thinks she’s a farmer. They knew exactly which crazy lady I meant. But look at you, you’re practically a country girl now,” Krystal said, eying Mimi up and down and using her best hick-sounding drawl.

  “Girl, you are too funny. And I’m not a farmer, the actual word is rancher,” Mimi laughed, rolling her eyes.

  “Well, I don’t see any kind of ranch. I see a lot of dirt, and grass, and some scary looking mountains. What exactly is it that you ‘ranch’?” Krystal asked, looking over the tops of her signature sunglasses.

  “So far, it’s just me and two horses,” Mimi admitted, purposely keeping any mention of Gabriel out of the conversation. “But I’ve already figured out what I’m going to do with this place. I’m going to open this ranch up to people who need a chance to get away, kind of like that vacation you and I took, but for people who could never afford that kind of getaway. You know, city kids, addicts, people like that.”

  Krystal looked skeptical. “That’s a real nice idea, girl, but how do you plan to keep this place open if you let only poor people come stay out here? I mean, the whole reason I’m here is to bring you this paperwork, and you’ve got plenty of money. But it’s going to run out some time if you just invite any old person out here.”

  “I’ve got a few plans in mind, but I’ll worry about that later,” Mimi said, hugging her friend and leading her to the steps. “Come on in and see my new palace.” She ignored Krystal’s half-hearted grumbling, and was secretly looking forward to showing her city friend the outhouse.

  After dinner, Mimi and Krystal sat in the rocking chairs and caught up on what had been happening. They talked and laughed until long after dark, pulling their chairs closer to the fire that Mimi built up. Krystal looked around nervously every time a coyote howled or a noise sounded off among the trees.

  “I don’t see how this doesn’t drive you crazy,” Krystal said, a little more admiration in her tone than before. “When it’s not busy being too quiet, it’s busy being too loud. There’s some scary sounding stuff out here, that’s for sure.”

  “It’s amazing how fast you get used to it. I wouldn’t know what to do with traffic noise now. I don’t even have a truck, let alone drive anywhere.”

  “How do you plan to do anything around this place without a truck?” Krystal demanded.

  “Oh, I’m getting one. I just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve been working on this cabin and just found out I have a couple of horses.”

  “Oh, goodie. More horses. Those things hate me, I tell you,” Krystal scoffed, remembering her struggle to even walk in a straight line during their vacation only a couple of weeks ago.

  “…and I’ve had a few other things going on keeping me pretty occupied.” Mimi decided not to elaborate on Gabriel, but she didn’t have to. Like magic, he appeared in the yard, making Krystal nearly jump out of her chair.

  “Krystal, this is Gabriel. He’s the caretaker,” Mimi explained in an even voice. Krystal nodded, trying to find her voice after being scared half to death, but it wasn’t long before she began looking from Mimi to Gabriel and back again, putting two and two together. Krystal managed to hold her comments until Gabriel had said goodnight and disappeared back into the dark.

  “Damn, girl, that boy is fine! I never pegged you as going for a white guy, though. What would your mama say?” Krystal began, laughing as she called Mimi out.

  “What my mama would or would not have said does not matter right now,” Mimi began, trying her best to keep a straight face but knowing that she was busted. She finally broke out into fits of laughter, still refusing to acknowledge Krystal’s insinuation. “I guess he just makes me happy, and even Mama knows I could use some of that.”

  “I know what else you could use, and I hope you’re getting that, too,” Krystal mumbled, smiling slyly at her friend.

  “Once again, whether I am or am not getting that does not matter right now either.” Mimi slid her fingers across her mouth in a locked-up-tight gesture and looked away, sending Krystal into even bigger fits of laughter.

  After the fire died down enough and they had gone inside to bed, Krystal spoke up from the darkness. “I’m really happy for you, girl,” she said softly. “You deserve every bit of happiness you can grab. And I’m proud for you.”

  “Thank you, Krystal. You’re my oldest friend, and that means a lot to me,” Mimi answered sleepily. “You know, when you get tired of city life, you can come out here. You could build you a cabin right out here, find you a good-lookin’ cowboy to keep you warm during the winters…it could be magical.”

  “Shit, girl. You must be high or something. Do you think for a minute I’m going to use that outhouse of yours any more than I absolutely have to?” Mimi’s laughter mixed with Krystal’s until they wore themselves out.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The rain that had poured for several days tested the limits of her new roof, but had kept Mimi nice and dry as it cascaded down the overhang and splashed in small puddles outside her window. She passed the time thinking up plans for her new ranch, looking up contacts online, sending emails to children’s organizations, and more. Mimi missed Krystal sorely, even though it had only been a week since Sarah had taken her back to town to catch a bus for the airport. Gabriel had stopped by twice, just to check on her, still unable to come in but not letting her come out in the rain on his account.

  When she wasn’t making plans for her new concept, Loving Sky Ranch, she called on companies whose contacts she knew personally from her previous work, soliciting donations to the newly proposed non-profit. Her last step before bed was to compile a list of professionals to work at the ranch in exchange for room and board. After all, she’d paid a lot of money to ride a horse for a week, there were probably plenty of other professionals who could use a working vacation in the middle of nowhere, especially if it meant helping others.

  By the fourth straight day of pouring rain, Mimi began to worry about Gabriel being outside. He hadn’t come by since early morning a couple of days before, meaning he was either holed up somewhere in one of the caves or the terrain was impossible to cross because of the mud and water. She went to bed that night hoping that the rain would let up by the next day.

  Is he what I was really looking for out here? Mimi thought while staring at the warm honey-colored boards of her new roof showing above her bed. I could live anywhere if he could go too. Maybe it wasn’t about the ranch after all, maybe I was just lost and alone, like he was.

  Sometime during the night, Mimi dreamed that she was being pulled in two different directions, one unseen hand holding her firmly to the ground on the ranch, the other pulling her by her arm from across the country, leading her back to the city by a chain, the other end bolted to her old desk. During this dream she heard her name shouted over and over by a muffled voice, calling out to her like the voice of someone looking for her in the dark.

  The voice eventually grew louder, more frantic. She heard her name through the fog of her sleep, but when she opened her eyes and listened, she heard it again over the thunderous sound of roaring water. Finally, a banging noise accompanied the shouts as Gabriel called her name over and over, furiously pounding on the wall of the cabin. She sat up just as an object crashed through her window, sending the glass flying into her house, but without the sound of it tinkling to the floor. Gabriel thrust a lantern in through the hole he’d just made and it was only then that Mimi could see the light reflecting
off the water that had filled the main floor of her house and was creeping up the stair case to the loft.

  She gasped, frightened by what she saw. She looked desperately to Gabriel, who held out a hand and waved her towards him, his shouts sounding more and more desperate.

  “Mimi! Come on! You have to get out of here, the whole cabin is off its supports. It’s going to get washed out to the river, and then it will be too late. We have to move NOW!”

  She got out of bed and stepped towards the staircase, paralyzed by fear at the edge of the top step. She couldn’t look at Gabriel anymore, but could only watch the slowly rising water as it came closer and closer to the middle of the staircase.

  “Mimi! You have to move! Come on!” Gabriel pleaded with his hand stretched out towards her, but his cries were useless as long as Mimi saw the reflected light of the lantern moving across the rapidly swirling water. The movement below her threw the light around the high ceiling of her dark cabin, making it more ghostly than real. “Come towards me!”

  Mimi finally looked at Gabriel, blinking her eyes to clear the fog that had grabbed her. She shook her head rapidly, too frightened to even speak. She started to back away from the water instead of going towards Gabriel.

  Finally, he broke out the rest of the window glass with his bare hand and crawled through, landing with a splash and going underwater for a second. Mimi screamed. As he came up from below the brown, muddy water, her heart began beating again. Gabriel clawed his way over to the staircase and climbed toward her, clutching his bleeding hand to his chest.

  “C’mon,” he urged as he reached the top step, breathing hard, “we have to get out of here. I’m going to hold on to you, it will be fine. I promise I won’t let go of you. Just close your eyes and hold on to me.” He pulled her with him before she had a chance to protest and purposely threw her towards the ice cold water, giving her no choice. She dug her nails into the fabric of his shirt sleeve as he pulled them through the water to the window.

  This time he was able to unlock it and slide the bottom half of the now-empty frame open to push Mimi through. He immediately followed her, swimming in front of her and pulling her by the wrist through the thick dirty water. She kicked weakly, instinctively trying to help even though she’d never learned to swim.

  Gabriel let the movement of the water carry them away from the cabin, knowing that if it came loose and was washed towards them, it would push them under the freezing water and they would drown. He did his best to lift Mimi to keep her head above water, even as the churning water pushed him under.

  They were shoved along violently by the current of the flood until Gabriel smacked his head painfully against something very solid, accidentally releasing his grip on Mimi as the shock and pain took over. She screamed as she instantly was pulled away, and it was enough to bring Gabriel back to his senses. He pushed himself away from the solid object and flung himself through the water in her direction, relieved when his hand connected with her arm. He pulled her back towards him at the same time that they were shoved against a limb from the tree he’d hit. Gabriel managed to get one arm around the thick limb and hold on, tearing away layer after layer of skin as the choppy bark dug into his flesh.

  “You have to hold on!” Gabriel yelled about the deafening water. “Hold on to me, and put your other arm here!” She did as she was told, grabbing Gabriel around the neck and wrapping her free arm around the limb. “Now climb!” He pushed on her backside to give her enough leverage to pull herself up out of the water at least as far as a thick branch and get her arms over the top of it, giving her a wide enough perch to be able to hold her head up out of the quickly moving, rolling water.

  Gabriel followed her, placing both his hands on a branch high above his head and doing a chin-up to reach it, giving him enough room to slide his leg up and over the limb until he dangled horizontally over the water. Mimi’s breathing began to slow down as she saw Gabriel’s dark outline get out of the water, knowing he would be pulling her up soon, and that he would hold her close and keep her safe and warm until this was all over.

  A sickening cracking sound followed by a loud splash directly below her told her, even in the blackness of the rain cloud filled sky, that Gabriel’s limb had broken. She screamed his name over the sound of rushing water and strained her ears to listen for his reply. It never came. She struggled to see out into the darkness for any sign of human movement, while calling for him until she was hoarse from yelling.

  Mimi leaned onto the trunk of the tree and pulled her legs as close as she could to the limb, lowering her head to her elbows and crying. It didn’t matter to her now whether or not help came or if anyone even bothered to think of her out here in her washed out cabin.

  Gabriel was gone.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The sound of whirring helicopter blades pounding through the air woke Mimi, still halfway perched on a branch in the tree, most of her body still swaying in the frigid water. She looked around her, dazed, and saw the new roof of her cabin barely sticking up out of the water nearly half a mile away, the rest of that distance now nothing but brown water dotted with floating debris. She looked up, too exhausted and too heartbroken to even wave for help.

  The helicopter circled overhead for almost twenty minutes, then Mimi heard its blades grow louder and louder as it descended closer to her. A voice over an intercom shouted instructions down to her, but the words were just noise to her grief-stricken brain.

  Everything is gone. Everything that I wanted out here has been taken away. My home, my ranch…and Gabriel.

  Gabriel.

  She couldn’t bare the thought of what must have happened to him. She closed her eyes and hoped she could slip away, carried off by the water like he was.

  There’s no reason to hold on anymore. I could just let go and it would all be over soon. It would all be over soon.

  Those words resonated in her head like a warning message, causing her to sit up and take a deep breath. What kind of thought was that? What would her father have given for just a little more time? What did Gabriel fight so hard for overseas, and then struggle with every single day afterward, if not to keep living? He could have given up any minute of any day, and his pain would have been over. But he didn’t. He fought, and so would she.

  Heavy tears blurred her vision, making it almost impossible to see. A harness, lowered on a cable from the helicopter, splashed down into the water near her, but through her tears she couldn’t see how far it was. She tried reaching for it with one arm, but was so weak from holding on through the night that as soon as she took one hand off the limb the rest of her started to slip below the surface. She quickly grabbed the limb with both hands and waited for some insight into what to do.

  Mimi tried pointing one leg out toward the cable, hoping to bring the harness closer to her by catching it with her bare foot, but it was too far out of reach. She crept down the limb hand over hand towards the harness and tried again, scraping her legs on the churned up fragments that the flood had washed into the yard.

  Finally, Mimi knew what she had to do: she had to let go. There was no way to hang onto what she was holding and still move forward, a thought that made her close her eyes against the fresh tears that spilled down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and released her hold on the tree, letting the water shove her cruelly under water for a second. She forced herself to the surface and opened her eyes immediately to find the bright red harness, spearing it with one arm just as the moving river almost carried her past it. Her arm pulled back painfully, a tearing pain ripping through her shoulder as the harness went taut.

  Mimi rested for a second, letting the current stretch out her body while she held on to the large harness, her arm linked through it and holding on with her free hand. Soon, she gathered the last ounces of her strength and pulled herself against the force of the water, inch by inch, until she had both arms through the harness. The last step was to push against the current and get her head and shoulders through in or
der to be lifted to safety and away from the nightmare.

  Five minutes later, Mimi still struggled in the water. She had no leverage as she kicked in the water, her feet only finding solid objects to push against when limbs below the water raked painfully by her. Too soon, all of her progress was for nothing as she found herself once again hanging on by just her hands. She dropped her head and prayed, fighting the urge to cry and give in, forcing herself to look hard within herself in order to find not only the strength that she needed to do this, but also the will. Doubt crept back into her mind as she looked around her, realizing that all she really had to do in order to end this was just let go.

  As her numb, frozen fingers began to open one last time, releasing their grip on the harness, a splash nearby startled her, as did the pair of hands that grabbed her roughly by the wet, torn fabric of her shirt. Mimi turned in surprise and stared into Gabriel’s face.

  “Gabriel?” she yelled, confused and disoriented.

  “It’s me, baby. I’m right here,” he answered grimly in a voice that sounded far away, so far that Mimi wasn’t sure she heard it so much as felt it.

  “How did you get here?”

  “There’s no time to talk, you have to hold on. Hold onto the harness.”

  “I can’t, my hands are frozen. I’m too weak,” she argued. “I tried, I really did.”

  “I know you did, but you’re not done. Come on. Do it again. Do it for me, don’t let it end like this.” She felt his touch on her arms and was shocked by how warm he felt against her icy skin. She tried, for him, just as he’d asked her to. This time, feeling Gabriel lift her up, Mimi slid through the harness and got her arms out through its opening. She was immediately lifted up by the cable, up out of the horrible water, and looked back to see Gabriel’s face shimmering below her. He was smiling at her.