“Any idea what she’s worth?”
Charlie was a professional horse appraiser. He knew horses.
“A lot. She’s not just another beautiful horse. She’s unique. A real head turner. And the agent said she was fast, like real fast. She’d draw top dollar at any auction. If you’d like, I could explore that.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Molly didn’t think about anything else the rest of the day. She left work early with the pups and headed for the stables, checking in with Christie and leaving the pups in their stall. She walked down to Silas’ office and saw a young woman also checking the board.
“Becky?”
The attractive, athletic young woman looked up surprised. Molly understood Willie’s comment about her being a twenty-year-old Molly Mack. She was tall, slender, athletic, with fair coloring, and dressed in western attire. She looked like she’d been around horses all her life.
“Yes. Ms. McGuire?”
“If you call me that again, I’ll have to kill you. It’s Molly.”
She chuckled, “Yes, ma’am.”
“The same with ma’am. It’s Molly.”
She laughed. “Okay, Molly. Yes, I’m Becky Bates. Silas hired me for the summer and put me in the rotation for the exercise horses.”
“Who’d you draw today?”
“Dusty.”
“She’s a beautiful, well-trained quarter horse. You’ll enjoy riding her. Silas said you’ve done some barrel racing.”
“Yeah, since I was thirteen. Absolutely love it. But I’ve been going to WSU and haven’t been able to ride as much as I’d like.”
“You still in school?”
“Just graduated.”
“What’d you study?”
“Computers, but all I want to do is ride horses, so here I am.”
“How’d you get the job?”
“My dad is an old cowboy friend of Silas. Dad called, and Silas hired me for the summer.”
“Who’s your dad?”
“Chuck Bates.”
“Your dad is Chuck Bates?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then. You grew up riding.”
“Loved every minute of it.”
Chuck Bates was one of the most well-known retired rodeo riders in eastern Washington. Molly had seen him at rodeos all over the west during her competition days. She didn’t know him well, but she respected him greatly. Well, no doubt in her mind that Becky could ride.
“Are those your pups?”
