Sweet Talking Cowboy by M.B. Buckner Page A

he’ll never believe that Indian slut’s son could do anything
wrong.”
    Having had her say Tanya turned, walked to her car and got
in, slamming the door firmly, then as the sports car flew off in a cloud of
dust, Briann felt her whole world shaking.  Slade and Tanya?  She couldn’t
believe it!  She leaned weakly against the side of the truck, fighting the
nausea that threatened to hurl up the contents of her suddenly queasy stomach. 
She fought against the urge and finally gained control then climbed in her
truck and drove home as fast as she could, her heart breaking.
    She’d been such a fool!  She’d given herself to a man who
was having an ongoing affair with his father’s wife!  She’d allowed herself to
fall victim to a foolish childhood crush, and now her whole life was ruined.
    She couldn’t bring herself to tell Uncle Mike or Aunt Poog
about Tanya.  She just knew she had to leave for a while and give her heart a
chance to heal.
    She simply told her aunt and uncle that being with Slade was
an awful mistake and she wanted some time to come to terms with things.  As
always, they gave her their unconditional support and she loaded the two horses
she’d been showing and took them with her, planning on staying with a cousin in
Atlanta for a while and hitting some of the AQHA shows further north.
    She’d feared that Slade might come after her and had pleaded
that Uncle Mike and Poog tell him only that she realized she’d made a mistake and
didn’t want to see him again.  She begged their promise to never let him know
where she was.
    Poog had family in Atlanta, and it was to them that Briann
fled.

Chapter 4
     
     For a month she’d kept busy, going from show to show on
weekends, spending weekdays with Poog’s cousin’s family, boarding the horses at
a nearby barn and working them during the week.
    The passing of that time did nothing to ease the pain in her
heart or the impression that he’d betrayed her.  She felt it every time she
thought of Slade Butler.  How could he use her like that?  If she could
understand it, maybe she could get past the hurt, but it was beyond her.  The
sense of duplicity always got in the way.
    Finally she’d found a small furnished apartment near the
boarding barn and moved her things there.  Briann settled into a routine,
spending days around the barn, working the two horses and when the barn owner
requested it of her, she started to give a few riding lessons to various clients
who showed an interest in improving their western riding skills.
    She was surprised at how many of the young people who
boarded their horses at the stable exhibited an interest in showing their
horses.  Once word got around that she had so much experience in the show ring,
her classes quickly filled to capacity.
    Shelly, the barn manager, recognized in Briann the chance to
bring in more boarding horses and between them they worked out an arrangement
so Briann paid the barn for using their horses for the group classes and a
small fee for the use of the arena.  The rest of the lesson money was hers to keep.
    Briann was aware that most of the barn clientele were
wealthy people.  It wasn’t unusual to see some of the students arriving in
chauffer driven cars.  She was surprised that so many of them were interested
in Western style classes, since Shelly herself was the barns English Riding
Instructor.  Shelly laughed it off when Briann commented on the interest in Western
riding classes.
    “Listen,” the barn manager’s voice was warm with laughter.  “These
adults and even the kids have more money and time than they know what to do
with.  We provide a service by helping them fill the hours in their days and
they can certainly afford to pay for it.  Most of them have been taking lessons
from me for years and have learned as much as I can teach them.  If learning to
ride Western interests them, who am I to stand in their way?”
    “But doesn’t it cut into your pocket, that you