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I perhaps said it a bit more forcefully than I intended because his eyes widened slightly. He nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Good,” I said, giving him one last squeeze before dropping my hands.
“McQueen’s right,” Harrison said as he and several of the other hands came over to join us. “This ain’t got nothin’ to do with you.”
Tyler shuffled his feet. “Even so, maybe it would be best if I go back with him—”
“Fuck best,” Harrison grumbled, kicking at a pebble with the toe of his boot. “Maybe it would be best if you stuck around and saved another calf’s life like you did last night. Ever think of that?”
The pink flags deepened on Tyler’s cheeks as he looked at the ground. “No, sir.”
Harrison reached over and ruffled Ty’s hair for a split second before cuffing him on the shoulder. “Don’t sir me, man. Jeez. Make me feel old like Mercy, here.”
Mercy barely took his eyes off Boone, Jed, and Walt Hosser long enough to roll them in Harrison’s direction. “At least McQueen isn’t the baby around here anymore.”
I looked around for Hiram. He was the only one I thought might be younger than I was. “Where’s Hiram?”
Mercy met my eyes and gave the slightest chin lift toward the direction of the Hosser Ranch truck parked farther down the drive. Several more men I didn’t recognize leaned against the truck, watching everything. I assumed they were some of Walt’s hands.
Hiram stood nearby, faking work on a perfectly good utility vehicle that happened to be pulled up at the entrance to the calving barn. He was most likely pulling double duty protecting the most vulnerable of the stock as well as eavesdropping on anything Walt’s hands might say.
Just then, Boone’s calm, deep voice—which part of me had always been following—was cut off by a louder, angrier one.
“Then you will fire his ass!” Walt shouted.
Boone’s eerie calm made the hairs prickle on my arms. “You do not run this ranch. I do. And I have no reason to fire a perfectly good ranch hand when I have need of him.”
Walt Hosser looked like he wanted to throw a punch at Boone. I moved a little closer without thinking too much about it.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass if you need him or not,” Walt snapped. “He’s my son, and he’s coming home with me. Anyone can find a ranch hand. Just go into town and put the word out you’re hiring.”
The only sign of Boone’s anger was his flared nostrils. His voice stayed steady and calm. “While that may work for you, there are no hands left in town at present. It seems a certain ranch around here has hired them all up. Which would mean that same ranch has no use for Tyler at this time.”
Walt waved his hand in Boone’s face and turned to face Tyler. “Ty, get in the truck. I’m not gonna tell you again.”
Tension radiated from the kid’s body as his eyes flicked nervously from Boone to his dad and back again. Boone walked over and put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “You’re welcome here. Jed tells me you’re a hard worker, and I’d already seen enough before that to notice myself. You have a place at the Silver Fork as long as you need it.”
My heart clenched with a combination of pride and something else I couldn’t identify as I watched Boone handle the situation with such easy control. Authority radiated from him, and it was clear without needing to be said aloud that Boone would defend Tyler’s right to stay if need be.
Tyler swallowed thickly and glanced at his dad again. He looked back at Boone and nodded while murmuring a “Thank you, sir.” Then he walked over to his father.
“I think it would be best for everyone involved if I stayed here for now,” he said, trying his hardest to mimic Boone’s professionalism. “I can learn a lot from these men. I already have.”
Walt snorted. “You mean like how to poison a man’s herd? Because that’s what he did.”
Tyler shook his head. “I just don’t believe Mr. Hammond would do such a thing.”
Walt’s voice lowered and turned menacing. “You callin’ your daddy a liar?”
The blood drained from Tyler’s face, the only color left the twin splotches of red in his cheeks. “No, sir. I just think there has to be a mistake or a misunderstanding or something.”
“There’s no mistaking it.” Walt pointed a finger at Boone. “That man wants my land, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it. I don’t know what his game is by takin’ you on, but I’m sure as shit there’s an ulterior motive. No one hires on a kid like you otherwise.”
Tyler winced as though the words were a physical blow. I tensed, ready to step forward and defend him, but something made me hesitate. After a second, Tyler squared his shoulders and sucked in a breath. “Mr. Hammond hired me on because I’m an experienced hand and a hard worker, and whatever I don’t know, I pick up fast.”
