Eventually, Wy sighed. “Did Mal tell you about his family farm?”
I nodded once. “A bit.”
“Okay, so….” Wy blew out a breath.
I waited for a few seconds, but she didn’t elaborate. When I glanced at her, she was staring at King. Okay, we weren’t getting anywhere. Time to move things along.
“Whoa,” I said and King stopped. I gave Wy a tug, and she followed as I looped the lunge line loosely to use it as a lead rope. Neither of us said anything as we left the pen and walked down the lane to the right pasture. Wyanne opened the gate. I led King inside, took off his halter, and he immediately took off to join the rest of the yearlings. Then I faced Wy.
“Spill.”
“He has a horse. Mal, I mean. And from the way he talked, it sounded like she was special. His heart horse.”
I was confused. I’d told him he could stable his horse with us. I’d made it clear he could use her to work if he wanted. At least I thought I had.
“So tell him to bring her here.”
“She’s at a rescue. I don’t know which one or where. It’s just…hell, I don’t know if I should even be saying anything.”
I squinted at her. “Wy, you read people well. Better than most. So what’s really going on here?”
“I think….” She gazed out at the herd of yearlings for a moment, then refocused on me. “I dunno, but I get the impression that he didn’t have a choice but to turn her over. Andeither he doesn’t think he should go get her, or it’s not right or acceptable or…like I said. Something’s off.”
I studied her face for a few seconds. If Wyanne thought there was something going on, then there probably was. And if she didn’t push for more information from Mal or solve the problem herself, it was because she felt it was above her paygrade. So she was bringing it to me, as foreman, to handle.
“I’ll look into it,” I assured her, and the relief in her smile was nice to see.
We parted ways then, both of us having work to do. I headed for the house, needing more coffee and a snack. Plus I had to talk to Mom about listing King in a yearling auction. She handled the paperwork and admin stuff for the whole ranch.
But I couldn’t get the thought of Mal and his horse out of my head. I could guess, at least partially, what had gone on. I knew the Trevinos had had to sell their farm. If it was because they needed the money, it would make sense that he wouldn’t be able to afford to stable her somewhere. Especially if he didn’t know how long he would need to. Not all ranches allowed employees to stable their personal horses.
I was greeted by a familiar theme song when I walked in the house. Aria loved that show about a family of dogs in Australia. Seemed like Tony did too. Hell, if I were honest, we all got sucked into the show when Demi put it on for Aria.
“Crew!” Mom appeared around the corner, smile bright, and slung a towel over her shoulder. “You’re early.”
“My tank’s low,” I joked, following her into the kitchen area.
Tony was seated at the table, iPad set up and playing the cartoon. He was wiggling in his seat and snacking on carrot sticks with Ranch dip.
“How you doin’, Tony?”
The little boy looked up. “My name is Pay.”
I squinted at him. “Since when?”
He shrugged his little shoulders. “Today. I like it better.”
“Fair enough. Thanks, Mom.” I took the mug she handed me and inhaled the scent before taking a much needed sip. I turned my attention back to Pay. “You gonna share your snack with me?”
“Sure.” He slid his plate over, then the iPad, then moved into the chair next to me.
“Thanks.” I munched for a minute and watched him watch the show. The episodes weren’t long, but as soon as one finished, a new one started. He was a cute kid, was the spitting image of Mal, except for the fact that he didn’t like the outdoors. Which made me think. “Hey, Pay? You ever ride horses with your dad?”
“Just Jaina,” he said, mouth full of carrot. A little piece flew out and he giggled. “She was so big. Like your horse. But her only white was on her face and her feet. And she had hair on her feet too!”
A Clydesdale then. Or at least a cross. Which somehow seemed fitting for Mal. I cleared my throat and kept digging. “Where’s Jaina now?”
Pay’s little face fell. “At a place. We dropped her off and Daddy was sad. But he said it was okay because Jaina would have lots of friends.”
