He sawa trash can and tossed in a torn up letter that he had found under hiswindshield wiper blade this morning. A letter that had been addressedto a ...name he was now trying to forget."Matt was my best friend, but that seems like it was a lifetime ago.He's just become a bad reminder of things best forgotten. I'm glad he'sgone. He couldn't handle being one of the popular and cool kidsanyway."John was lost in thought when he saw a couple guys pushing around SteveAdams. Steve, Matt and John had all. Setting the brackets over her shoulders, he rested the saddle against her back as she stood there shivering. He then slung the cinch strap around her chest and pulled it as tight as he could, until Mindy whimpered in pain.Then he slid her bridle over her head and slid her bit into her mouth, buckling it in place. Then he attached his tackle box and fishing rod to the straps that hung from her saddle.At that, he opened the stall door and led her out to his small corral. He stepped up behind her. The horses drank it, but no one wanted to bathe in the red waters.“Daddy, what’s wrong with that river? Are they all like that over here?” Little Eli asked as they stood looking down into the slow moving river. Eli and the boys had walked down to the river to relieve themselves and stood looking across the river.“Right through here, all the creeks and rivers run red like this. It’s the red clay dirt in this part of the Territory that makes it look like dirty blood.”“Will it be red like this. I walked toward you, hesitating slightly, not knowing where to sit. You stood up and closed the distance. You gave me a huge hug and then picked me up. You wrapped my legs around you, and then you sat us back down on the couch. You informed me that we were in for a good long talk and you wanted my input. I nodded slowly, praying feverishly that all my hopes didn’t get dashed by own word from you sensuous, sexual, overpowering lips. You started off, ‘Babe…’ I didn’t let you get any farther.