The evening was already casting long shadows when he leaned down from the saddle and opened the gate to the south pasture. He breathed deeply of the early summer air and closed his eyes, enjoying the smell of the horse and sound of creaking leather. A whippoorwill was calling down by the creek, beginning each chorus with a kiss. Tree frogs were chirping so abundantly that they sounded like crickets. This was home more than any place he had ever lived.
As he rode, problems bobbed to the surface of his mind like driftwood released from quicksand - ready to be plucked from the surface and worked into something useable. He had intended to spend a few hours with his family in Texas while he waited for his flight out of Houston. That was the plan, but after talking to his father and Morino, he decided to stay the night. They had decided that their discussion that night would stay between the three of them for a while. It would upset the girls if they knew and there was nothing they could do about it anyway. At least for the present, the fewer people who knew, the better.
Yesterday he had been numb with shock, but today his mind had been painfully active. Mortality had been uppermost on his mind during the flight back - first his own and then Carmen's. Still, a person could go only so far in planning their life. After that, luck took over.
This was one time he wanted to talk to Carmen. Ultimately it would probably impact their lives and she would have insight he needed. In the meantime he had been placed in the center of a controversy he alone couldn't resolve. In fact, the two most important people had been left out of their confidence. It wasn't forever, though. He had promised not to tell anyone until later. Until then he could only wait and see how things played out.
In the meantime he needed to encourage Carmen to become more careful about her own safety. That wasn't going to be easy. From the day he met her - when she needlessly challenged the fox in the chicken house - it had been apparent that she needed his protection. Carmen plunged into things courageously without taking the time to think things through. It had been so with the wild dogs - and the bear. Even her loyal defense of Brutus against the wild dogs had included a needless risk to her life. He couldn't protect her all the time, though. He had created her dependency on his judgment and now it was up to him to make sure she learned to defend herself. The phone call from Gerald yesterday provided the perfect opportunity.