Broken [In Revision 2023]

Chapter 22 - Without Judgement

Maddy couldn't stop herself from smiling. Her hand worked without conscious thought on Moonie's neck as they took a break. He had worked hard and answered all her requests with the right answer. She was already looking forward to wiping the smug look off of Logan's face at the next show. Moonie was going to win.

Everyone stopped laughing and joking as a large engine purred its way towards them, crunching the gravel of the drive.

"Did you invite your mom over?" Jake looked concerned, he kept flicking a look over his shoulder to try hoping to see someone friendly.

"That's not her car, that's a truck." Maddy rode Moonie over to the gate, training was over until they knew what was going down.

Jake hurried towards the barn doors, he heard the truck engine stop, followed by footsteps. Each one caused his heart to race a fraction faster. As far as he could tell they were walking away from the barn, probably towards the house.

There was a sudden flurry of anger in his gut, he didn't want some stranger in his house without his permission. He ignored Dezi's plea for attention and poked his head out of the barn door.

"Jacob," the woman shouted at the top of her lungs and hammered her fist on the wall beside the back door. Her voice was shrill, and her aura sharp. Her hand hovered over the doorknob as she braced herself for the inevitable mess on the other side.

Jake was in crisis, he didn't want to speak to her, but he didn't want her rifling through his stuff either. He needed to know why she was here, so he could avoid drawing her attention a second time, she had made her decision and needed to stick to it.

He stepped out of the barn and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'm down here, mother," just in time to stop her crossing the threshold. He swallowed back his revulsion and the bitter resentment poisoning his gut and made a promise to be civil for Maddy's sake.

She hurried away from the house as though it had been contaminated with the plague. Her large sunglasses masked her disgust at the state of her old home, the once white fences had greyed and peeled in the harsh sun, and paddocks looked as though they hadn't been harrowed since she left. Then again how could he, she had the harrow, the thought made her smile.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" said Jake in monotone, struggling to keep his voice neutral.

"I heard a rumour that there had been some positive changes around here and I wanted to come and see for myself." She lowered her glasses, "Obviously it isn't out here, so it has to be inside."

"Or you've been misinformed." Jake blocked her view into the barn, "You know how quickly rumours spread, I could fart in Smith's hardware and by the time I reached the doughnut shop everyone will have been told I've shat myself."

Her nose wrinkled in disgust, "That's vulgar. And I have this information from a very reliable source."

"Reliable they may be, but it doesn't make it true."

"Oh get over yourself Jacob, I'm just here to meet the new man in your life. You wanted me to be more positively involved in your decisions, so here I am." She held her arms open but soon realised he was not in the mood to hug her so dropped them back to her sides.

"Then your friend really is mistaken," Maddy yelled from inside the barn. She appeared a moment later leading two horses, Moonie still slick with sweat after his ride and Sunny.

"What's this?" His mother said in shock.

"This is the new 'man' in my life, Sunny." Jake mouthed the words 'thank you' to Maddy, wishing that Caleb could understand too. "He's a mustang."

"I can see that," she spat.

"Not what you were expecting?" Jake struggled to hide the glee from his voice.

"Where is he?" she grabbed Jake's shirt and tried to shake him, but he successfully resisted the attempt. "He's in the house, isn't he?"

"Who are you looking for?" Jake chased after her as she jogged back towards the house.

"Caleb," She yelled.

Jake stopped dead. He turned to Maddy, who shrugged her shoulders, she was just as confused as he was.

"Caleb," she repeated even louder.

"He's not here," Maddy called to her grandmother, "He's got some family stuff he's dealing with." She couldn't look at her, just in case, she could sense Maddy's deception.

"But he was here?" Her lips curled into a smile.

"He's living in my old room." Maddy got a sense of satisfaction as she watched her grandmother deflate.

"So there is nothing going on between the two of you?" Jake's mother lifted her sunglasses from her eyes so she could get a true measure of her son.

"We're just friends. Two broken people healing from the damage inflicted upon them by their family. You have no idea what he has been through if you did you wouldn't be here causing trouble."

His mother said nothing. She slowly lowered her glasses and hopped in her truck.

Jake stood there blinking, partially due to shock, and partially due to the amount of dust her humongous truck kicked up as she hammered it in reverse and sped off down the drive. He was suddenly aware of the gentle tickle of Sunny's whiskers on the palm of his hand.

He turned to face Sunny, "Forget what I said to her," he held the horse's head in his hands, "I love all of you because you are not two different beings, but something else, something special, something that can go between the two." There were tears in his eyes. He would have tried to blame it on the dust, but all other words seemed meaningless at that moment.

"Beautiful words Jake," Maddy said fighting her own tears, "But perhaps it would be best to save speeches like that for when he has the capacity to comprehend them."

Jake shook his head, "A horse can't laugh, dismiss or disapprove, they will either stand with you or walk away without judgement.

"Damn you, Jake," Maddy wailed, "I'm not wearing waterproof mascara. It was too late, dark globules were forming in the corners of her eyes.