Masterpiece Read Free Page B

am, suddenly on the cusp of an impromptu journey that might turn out to be life-changing, in more ways than one.
    “You really think I could do it?” I hear myself asking.
    “Elle, I know you can do it.” We’re locked in this strange, intense little connection, with me sort of drinking in her encouragement and Astrid communicating a sparked urgency that practically shoots in flamboyant rays out of her eyes . I get the strange sense that Astrid is somehow relying on me. Which i s weird.
    Until I realize she’s right.
    Because the thing is: I know I can do it, too.
    “You know I’d want you on board.” I give Astrid a heartfelt hug. “I’ll let you know how it turns out. If I can sign her, we’ll work through all the details as soon as I get back.”
    Without so much as a glance in the almighty Powers’s direction, I walk out of the gallery and take a left, towards the travel agency on the corner.
    I’m on my way.
     

Chapter Three

     
     
     
     
     
    The party’s in full swing . To celebrate my return to glory.
    The only problem is, the last thing I feel like doing is partying. I’ve already accepted that I changed during my forced hiatus from the rodeo circuit. The six weeks in the hospital didn’t change me. I barely even remember most of that; I was too fucked up and too drugged up.
    It’s the four and a half months between then and now that awakened some never-before-acknowledged corner of my psyche. T hose long days of recovery, when I couldn’t ride my horses or work the ranch, like I’d done every day of my entire life. Those days when I was left alone in my family’s house or in my solitary cabin, forced by circumstance to rest. Days when some crazy, newfound urge had been born in me, surprising me not only with the intensity of it but also the results.
    I have a secret.
    Not a secret, exactly, but a hidden talent I’ve only recently had the time to explore. I’m not quite ready to share this talent with the wider cowboy community I inhabit, but it’s on my mind.
    All the time.
    I find myself wanting to get back to it now. T o be alone. To think.
    Which pisses me off.
    This isn’t me. I ’m an extrovert, a party boy, a fucking ladies’ man. Not a recluse with an urge to hide myself away and wallow in my new discovery.
    “Hey, Max.” It’ s Fleur Jensen, my brother Travis’s girlfriend. One of the two people, in fact, who knows about my secret. Travis knows , too. Travis is a year older than me and we’ve always been close. Practically inseparable when we were young. We’d both known Fleur since we were kids. She’d grown up on the ranch that bordered our own.Then, she’d been a skinny little girl with white-bl ond pigtails. Now, she was a gorgeous woman with a cascade of long platinum hair and bright blue eyes.Fleur’s beautiful but doesn’t flaunt it, like she’s unaware of her own radiance . She’s a painter who’s made a name for herself in the local art scene and is beginning to get some recognition from further afield. “Congrats. That was some ride.”
    “Thanks.” Fleur, I know, can ride a bull better than most men. Not that she’s interested in competing with men anymore, like she was as a tomboy kid. Now s he’s focused on her budding career as an artist.
    “You coming tomorrow night?” she asks.
    I catch her eye. She’ s trying it on again, pushing me to do something I’ve already made clear I’m not about to do. Good thing she’s like a sister to me, or I might’ve told her to fuck off. She knows this. She knows she can get away with shit most people wouldn’t dare suggest. “No. Thanks for the invitation. But I’ve got some other stuff going on tomorrow night.”
    “Like what?” She’s watching my expression, reading me . Knowing full well I’m avoiding the topic.
    “Like jerking off,” says Travis, appearing out of the crowd. He slings his arm around Fleur’s shoulders. “This hermit gig is getting a little old, bro. What’s the big deal,