I snorted softly. I wasn’t sure if it was for the “son” or the general statement.
“Your daddy did you dirty?” he asked when I said nothing, and I wondered if it had been a question on his mind or if he’d realized I didn’t care for being called “son.”
“You could say that.” I drank a bit more, wishing it was a beer, even though I wasn’t much of a drinker. “He lied about the finances. For a decade, as far as we can tell. Racked up all kinds of debt and then had a heart attack, one of those widow maker ones, in the back pasture one day.”
Russ winced. “That ain’t right.” Sighing, he asked, “And you had no idea?”
I snorted. “No. We thought he was great with money. That’s why we left him in charge. I….” I shook my head.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Russ said after a little bit of silence. “Boys look up at their fathers, even when the fathers aren’t good men. Or worse yet, they seem good, but ain’t.”
Something about his tone suggested he had first hand experience.
“Yeah.”
I downed the rest of my pop and got to my feet.
When I was a couple of steps away from his cabin, Russ piped up again. “For what it’s worth coming from me, the way I see it, your boy couldn’t have a better daddy.”
I didn’t look back, but feeling supremely awkward, I nodded, hoping that he was right.
As I took off my boots and turned to put them by the door, I glanced over at Crew’s cabin. He was standing in his window and lifted a hand.
Feeling a weird fluttery clench in my chest, I did the same, then opened the door and went inside.
Chapter 12
Crew
Did I have a reason to be in Barn 3? Technically, yes. Was it a good reason? Not exactly. Anyone could have checked on Rowdy—and probably had—but it was as good an excuse as any. The gelding was mischief through and through and he’d figured out the latch on the gate to his pasture. We’d found him, and several of his friends, wandering the main drive yesterday evening. Rowdy was the only one with a gash on his side though. Apparently, even though he’d opened the gate, he’d thought it would be fun to go through the fence as well. Fortunately the cut wasn’t bad, and after Wy and I had doctored him up, he went on stall rest for the day.
He was getting controlled turn out until we figured out better latches.
Rowdy was fine. It was more that I was looking for Mal. I just wanted to lay eyes on him, that’s all. Just see him for a fewseconds, maybe have a conversation, because it had been at least a whole day since I’d gotten more than a glimpse and I missed him. I needed to let it go. I knew that. But I just couldn’t. Not yet.
“You!” Wy’s scream didn’t quite echo but it was a near thing. I turned slowly in her direction, saw the flashing eyes and her hands on her hips, and sighed. She might have the red hair but she didn’t usually have a temper. So if it was coming out then she was definitely mad.
“What’d I do?”
Wy stalked closer and that only served to intensify her anger. She punched me in the shoulder when she got close enough, but even though she was strong, it didn’t really hurt. In that moment, I knew at least part of her anger was for show.
“You let your brother steal Mal. Itoldyou I was keeping him.”
I held in the chuckle by sheer force of will and held my hands up in placation. “Like I have any control over what Hawk does.”
“You should.” She harrumphed, and I saw the anger waning as her expression relaxed. She crossed her arms and glared. “You’re the foremanandthe big brother. It should be your call.”
“Yeah, well.” I did chuckle then but cut it off when I saw Wy’s glare. I shrugged. “Hawk gets what Hawk wants. And he sees something in Mal that will benefit his training program. So he poached him. It’s not like Mal won’t ever be here, helping you out.”
“But he’s not today. Or any day this week. I want him here. He’s so good,” she whined, and finally the anger left her. She sighed and stepped closer. Rowdy took that as an invitation to headbutt her for pets. Wy had to sidestep to keep her feet, but she immediately gave in and scratched Rowdy’s neck. The gelding immediately started licking his lips.
“Yeah. He’s got the magic touch, for sure,” I said without thought. Wy straightened, her hand stilling. She narrowed her gaze. I could practically see her mind working and when Ithought about what I’d said, I could hear the affection in my tone.
I braced myself, ready to deny whatever she was going to say. I was saved by the radio crackling to life.
“GH to Base.”
“Go for base,” Mom’s voice immediately responded.
