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I rolled my eyes, which didn’t go over all that well.
“Did you have something to say about that, boy?” I’d never heard that firm tone from Nash before, but I had to admit it was sexy as hell. Too bad I was too wiped out to take advantage of it.
“No, Daddy. Nothing to say.”
Nash
It hadn’t escaped my notice that Spencer had called me Daddy without any prompting, and I won’t lie; I’d enjoyed it. If he wasn’t still sick as a dog, I would’ve taken him apart slowly and then put him back together again as a way of showing just how much I liked it, but this wasn’t the time for that.
He ate a little bit of breakfast, and I tucked him back into bed, where he quickly fell right back asleep. I spent the rest of the morning surfing the internet on my phone, watching television, and talking to my brother Keith. He was on duty and was hanging out at the fire station. I’d checked in with Murphy, and she’d told me to take as many days as I needed to. I agreed, but I told her if anything came up, just to call me. I wanted to be here to nurse Spencer back to health, but he was a grown-ass man, so if they needed me, I could come.
A couple hours later, I was making a late lunch for Spencer when the phone rang. My first thought was that something had come up and Murphy was taking me up on my offer, but I checked the caller ID and saw that it was Lance, one of the guys I had worked with on the Walking W ranch. I had no idea why he would call me. I’d never had a problem with him personally, but I wasn’t there long enough to say we were actually friends.
“Nash here,” I answered.
“Hey, Nash, Lance Parks. How are things?”
“Things are good. I have no complaints. Is there something I can do for you?”
“I hope so. I hear that you’re working at a rescue over in the River Gorge area.”
“That would be correct.”
“Listen, man, I didn’t want to just take off without getting in touch with somebody, and I figured you were my best bet.”
“Okay.” Interesting. He was taking off. I wondered what that was about. None of the guys I’d worked with had been there long. Elmer went through hands like some people changed their underwear, but as far as I knew, Lance had been there the longest.
“Yeah. I’ve had as much as I can take. I’m outta here. I got a job on a cattle ranch up in Wyoming. I figure I’ll cut my losses and get out of here.”
“So you’re finally leaving then?”
“Yeah, things weren’t good when you were here, but they’re even worse now. I don’t know what’s going on with Elmer, but he actually took a riding crop to one of the new hand’s personal horses the other day for not doing what he wanted. The kid loaded up his horse and hit the road. His anger is out of control. I’m telling you, if he has his way, he’s going to beat one of these horses to death.”
“Well, shit.” I knew the guy was toxic when I left, but it sounded like he was getting worse. “I mean, I had my issues with him and didn’t like the way he was treating the horses, but that’s over the top even for him.”
“I know. I honestly don’t know what’s going on. He was always a little rough around the edges, but this is a whole other level. I don’t know if the guy’s having personal problems or what, but I can’t stay anymore. I’ll take my horse, Charlie, with me, of course, but I don’t have a way or the right to take any of the others.”
I hated he was right, but he was. Even if he knew the horses were being mistreated, according to Texas law, he didn’t have any right to take them.
“But still,” he continued. “I couldn’t just walk off without letting somebody know what was going on around here, and I figured that group you got in with might be my best bet.”
“When are you leaving?”
“I’ll make my way out in the morning. I’m not telling anyone but you I’m going. I’m just loading up Charlie and getting out of here.”
“Okay. I’ll tell you what. Let me give my boss a call. He’s the one that runs the horse rescue, and I’ll see what we need to do. He might need to talk to you if that’s okay. His name is Cruz Coben.”
“He can call me, and I’m happy to tell him whatever he wants to know, but I ain’t sticking around. I got a fresh start waiting for me.”
“I hear what you’re saying. I’ll be honest with you, I’m just glad that you’re getting out of there.” We said a quick goodbye and ended the call.
“That didn’t sound good,” a voice said from behind me, and I turned to find a very exhausted-looking Spencer standing there.
“It wasn’t, but I’ll give Cruz a call, and he’ll know what we need to do to get the ball rolling so we can get those horses out of there.”
“That’s so sad, but it just goes to show how important the work you’re doing is out at the rescue. I was telling my Aunt Meg about it, and she’s really impressed.”
“She’s the one who runs the ranch in Paint Flats, right?”
