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“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come up there,” I mumbled.
She exhaled, and her lips thinned in a patient smile. “You’ve put your time to good use, I’m sure. Duchess is looking fantastic.” She ran an admiring hand over my horse’s broad back and down her muscular croup. “Sorry for startling you earlier.”
I gave a weak laugh. Luke’s little fib hadn’t fooled her one bit. “Oh, that’s okay. I wasn’t on my game today, to begin with.”
“Oh? I was wondering—”
“Dusty, there you are.” Evan was walking toward us down the barn aisle, his broad shoulders bunched under his coat and his eyes hooded by his hat. Austen was right beside him. I could feel my heart sinking like lead, and whatever I might have said to Jess flew right out of my brain.
“What did you tell Austen we were charging for the hay? We’ve been charging $350 for the one-ton bales this year, but he said you mentioned a discount for neighbors.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t recall that.”
“Oh, well, it’s no big deal. I thought I remembered it, and I wanted to make sure I’d heard right, that’s all,” Austen replied with a shrug.
“Don’t worry about it,” Evan said, waving his hand. “We can do $320 for you. Dusty can get you all settled up. Are you still planning to come back next week for another load?”
“If I can. I sure appreciate you guys helping me out like this.”
Evan smiled shortly and shook Austen’s hand. “Sure thing. It’s a bad year for hay; shortages starting to stress folks all over the valley. Glad we could keep you stocked. Hey, Dusty, I’m off to check the mama cows.” Evan tipped his hat to Jess, then stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off whistling.
It was all I could do not to glare at Austen. He sure had a way of putting me on the spot, pinning me down with something in such a way that I couldn’t deny him without looking like a jerk. I just shot my jaw forward and muttered, “Come on. I’ve got the invoice forms upstairs.”
“Should I put Duchess away while you guys are finishing up?” Jess offered.
I turned back, and for just a second, I felt warm all over. Trust her to think of my horse’s comfort. “She’d appreciate that. Her stall’s the second on the right. I haven’t put new bedding in there for her yet.”
“You’re just grabbing the invoice, right?” Austen called as I started for the stairs again. “Mind if I stay and give Jess a hand? I can cart the shavings over, save you some work.”
I stopped, and my hands flexed inside my gloves. “Yeah,” I hissed between clenched teeth. I glanced over my shoulder, leveling such a blistering glare at Austen that even he, bold and presumptuous as he was, turned pale. “She’s so lucky to have you.”
Jess
“That was nice of the Walkers to give you a discount on the hay.” I sipped my soda cup empty and dropped it in one of the dozens of cupholders peppered all over Austen’s truck.
“Sure was. They’re great guys. I didn’t expect Dusty to even remember when we talked about that, it was so long ago.”
“It didn’t sound like he did remember it,” I pointed out, pursing my lips in a question. “You were the one who brought it up.”
“Was I? Oh, I don’t recall how it all went. Evan and I were talking, and you know how that goes. I’m sure Dusty’s just been busy, and it slipped his mind.”
“That makes sense. I know he’s had his hands full.”
“Yeah, but if anyone can juggle a million balls and not drop one, it’s Dusty.” He shook his head in amazement. “Most unassuming guy you’ll ever meet, but he’s solid as a rock. You can’t even count this because it was probably just a simple case of crossed wires. Not like him, you know? He’s a great guy to have as a friend.”
“You guys haven’t been getting together lately like you were, have you?”
“No, I wish.” He pushed his hat up a little, frowning in thought. “It will be good when he gets a bit of a break.”
“Huh. Yeah, it will.” I chewed the inside of my lip and turned to look out the window. We’d started out following Danny with the hay trailer, but Austen had wanted to stop and grab burgers for all of us before we got to work unloading it. We were now running about twenty minutes behind. I tried to tell Austen that Danny would probably get the whole truck unloaded with the hay squeeze before we got back, but he didn’t believe it could happen that fast.
“What about going up to White Pines?” Austen asked. “Did he say if he was going to start coming again?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t commit to anything.”
“He probably can’t. I’m starting to think I wouldn’t want a big ranch like theirs, even if someone handed it to me. It owns your every waking minute and half the nights. For me, with my fifty or sixty head, it’s a lot easier to try to have a normal-ish life. Wouldn’t you say?”
I tilted my head. “Wouldn’t I say what?”
