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“My fault. I should have introduced myself,” he says with a chuckle. “Brian from the auction here in Murray.” Shit, I should have guessed that. We go to the damn county auction in the bigger city every couple of months, sometimes more.
“Ah, that clears it up. What can I do for you?” I was about to put my truck inDriveand head home to Tully. Christ, if he’s delivering bad news, I’m going to pretend like he never called, offer him a solid dollar amount, and pray like fuck we don’t have to deal with a shit storm.
“This is going to sound off putting. Hell, it does to me.” Well, fuck. My day started off strong, but now it seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. Brian continues on, “The guy you bought the three horses from.” He sounds as disgruntled as I fucking feel. I’m still dealing with the aftermath of the mess that damn yahoo left behind.
“Yeah?” I don’t remember this guy being a storyteller last time, yet today he sure is taking his sweet time delivering a message.
“He’s back up here today. This time with only one animal and not a horse, a mini-Shetland cow.” I take a deep breath. My mother is going to want the animal no matter what it is, especially after seeing the state of the horses Ibrought home. “I gotta say this one looks a might better.”
“Gonna have to talk to my family, see what they think. How long do you think you can hold them off before they leave with the cow?” I never did get a chance to call Fletch, between the ranch, the animals, and Tully. Apparently, I’ve put if off long enough if I was the first person Brian thought to call.
“I can give you an hour, maybe suggest they go get some coffee, but after that, I’m not sure. I could make a few phone calls, too, and see if another rancher is looking for one,” Brian suggests.
“Bull or heifer?” I’m tempted to just pay for the animal over the phone, then deal with the fallout yet again.
“Heifer.” Yeah, I already know waking Tallulah up in person is gone out the window. I’m going to be heading to my parents’. It’s still early enough that Mom and Dad will be offering breakfast and mostly everyone should be there.
“I’ll have an answer in the next thirty minutes or so, maybe sooner.” I climb out of my truck. The main house isn’t far from the barn. Maybe this won’t take long, and I’ll get to see Tully for a few minutes before heading toward the auction house an hour or so away.
“Sounds good. Thanks, Dean. Not sure we have anyone else who would want the Shetland, and to be honest, I’m not sure we’ll be doingbusiness with them any longer either. One time is one time too many. Hate to see what will happen with the animal, though.”
“Yeah, same goes. I’ll call you back.” We hang up, then my feet guide me to the path Mom and Dad created when we were younger. Over time, a few things have changed. There are now posts with permanent electricity ran to them, a light on top. When the older brothers were growing up, there were little solar lights pushed into the ground. As the ranch got bigger and more of us boys were doing chores, things changed, and now Mom is talking about covering it for Case and any future grandbabies that come along. I shook my head at that craziness. The cost would be a mint, and she’d bitch about it blocking the view. Thankfully, Dad talked her out of the idea, but I’m sure she’ll be on to something else next. I glance down at my phone again, thumb through the contacts until I land on Fletch’s. This guy has got to be getting tired of us. One problem, sure, no big deal. Two problems in a short amount of time is a fuck of a lot more.
“About damn time you called me. Lawson said to expect your call weeks ago,” Fletch answers the phone on the first ring.
“Well, shit, do you miss me or something, Fletch?” I joke, wondering what all Law mentioned to him.
“Or something. Though there’s a pretty girl down here in Georgia I’ve got my eye on, too.”Mischief makers. He and Lawson together kept Mom’s blood pressure at an extremely high level back in the day.
“You ever hear the saying ‘You don’t shit where you eat?’”
“It is what it is. Heard Lawson has a woman who’s giving him all kinds of hell. It’s about time he met his match.” Seems Lawson and Fletch still talk a fuck of a lot more than I thought.
“Oh yeah, she won’t give him the time of day. It’s funny as hell. What about your girl? She doesn’t want to poke your eyes out, does she?” Juniper and Lawson have a love/hate relationship. Juni gets annoyed, and Lawson eggs it on.
“Nah, got another hurdle besides that. A story for another time. Lawson gave me the cliff notes. Want to catch me up?” Fletch gets down to business, and I appreciate that. I tell him about the three horses, how they didn’t have documents, were malnourished, and abused. I wasn’t sure on the last one until I started training them. Anytime I raised my arm in order to move them, they’d cower. Well, the mare and stallion. The colt was an entirely different story. Buck is full of spice with some sugar thrown into the mix at times. He’s got no problem knocking you on your ass or kicking at you whenever he doesn’t feel like doing what you want. Then there are the times when he’s sweet as pie in order to get his scratches.
I go on to tell him about the two individuals,giving him names, details of what they look like, the auction where we bought them, and then Brian’s number.
“Wait, they’re at the auction house now with another animal? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Damn it, what I wouldn’t give to be there right about now.”
“Same, Fletch. Kind of at a standstill on what I should do. I don’t really think they’re from around here. Maybe it’s a traveling type deal or they’re stealing animals?”
“Could be. I’m gonna do some digging. You gonna be around for a while?”
“Since I’m probably going to be driving down to pick up a mini-Shetland cow, I will be.” He laughs on the other end of the line.
“Alright, one last question.” I’ve reached the back door of my parents’ place.
“What’s that?” I respond.
“Who’s getting the cow, your woman or your mom?” Fuck, I didn’t even think of that prospect.
“Goddamn it.” Fletch is laughing instead of answering. I hang up. Tallulah will without a doubt want the mini. Mom might, too. Maybe I can steer her off with another animal. I shake my head. Today is going to be another one of those days.
16
DEAN
