“Killed himself.”
“Yeah. Her brother came out to take her back to New York with him and she fought to stay. She didn’t want to leave. Redman said he’d pay for her to go to Spain to see her mom and she refused. She loves the horses, and that’s pretty much all she’s got, besides us.”
“That girl back at the other ranch called Ava a freak. Why?”
He let out a big breath. “Well, Ava keeps to herself and mostly talks to the horses. Not too friendly with people.”
“You all talk to the horses.”
“True.” He laughed and stopped quickly. “She was in Bozeman one night for the rodeo and got drunk at the bar and made a bit of a scene.”
I squinted, shaking my head. “What? No. What do you mean?” That didn’t sound like Ava.
“There was an incident with a guy, you know, a roper who had come into town. There’s a festival and rodeo down in Bozeman every year, and she had met him there and then got a little fixated on him. He looked just like Jake and rode his horse the same way, with a bit of arrogance and showmanship.”
“So what, she slept with him?” Saying the words made my stomach ache, but Ava was a grown woman who had been through a lot. There was little Dale could say that would taint my view of her.
“No, he was married and kept his distance, but she sure as hell tried. She ended up drunk at Pete’s, beggin’ him and talking all kinds of nonsense.”
“She was grieving. No one had any sympathy for her?”
“We all do, Nate. We knew Jake before the accident. We knew what a good man he was. Ava and Jake were so in love and so happy. He was playful with her, he doted on her, but a lot of his confidence was based on being a certain kind of man. After the accident, I think Jake felt like less of a man, so he got really mean with her. He would beat her sometimes and was verbally awful to her. Everyone saw this and couldn’t understand why Ava stuck around. She would go into town with split lips and both eyes swollen.”
I winced. “Jesus.” I had no idea it had gotten that bad, and I was surprised that Ava would have put up with it. It was becoming more and more clear to me that she had given Jake everything, even staying loyal to him after he had become a monster. The heartbreak she must have felt after what she had already endured would be overwhelming for anyone. I knew it would take a lot to open her up again but I also knew I wanted to try. I hoped that I wasn’t kidding myself or trying to fill some void of my own. “So what happened, Dale?”
“I guess when she followed that guy to the bar she was really far gone. She kept calling him Jake. She told him he could hit her if he would hold her after.”
I sucked a breath of air in through my teeth. The last part gutted me. I felt terrible for her.
Dale continued. “The bartender called Red and he had to get her at two in the morning.”
“My god. Does she need help?” I couldn’t understand why they never urged her to see a therapist.
“We’re all giving her love, and she has come a long way. That might be hard to believe. Redman keeps trying to get her to go to church. I know that’s not your thing, Nate, but I think it would help her.”
“Believing that her dead husband will spend an eternity in hell after taking his own life might be a hard pill for her to swallow. Especially since he got injured trying to save her. I’m talking about professional help.”
“There’s no magic cure for this, Nate.”
“I know, but seeing someone, talking to someone in a safe place, couldn’t hurt her either.” I was thoroughly determined to convince him.
“You have a point,” he said. “And it might also give her a way to look outside of herself.” He looked up to the sky thoughtfully before continuing. “I think we’re all hoping something will bring her out of the fog. You seem to be helping, but now you have to go back.”
“I’ll be gone for a few days. I’ll have another week before my leave is up, if I even have a job still. Who knows, I might be applying as your vet assistant soon.”
“Well, I would love to have you,” he said instantly. “We could always use an extra long arm like yours around here.” Dale’s mouth broke into a teasing grin.
“Ha ha.”
My father came walking toward us with a trout flopping from his line. “Your dear old Dad’s still got it.”
My uncle shook his head. “In the middle of the day. I can’t believe it. You’re the luckiest son of a bitch.”
“Well, throw it back. We have a few hours before we get back to the ranch and there’s nowhere to put that thing until then.”