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“Must be. Back to the animal situation. I’d like to see what Tully has to say first. Thenwe’ll figure out what it’s going to take. I’ll obviously train all of them. Do you mind working on their feet and teeth?” JW does farrier work for the ranch and a few other horse owners, but for the most part, he spends his time with the rest of us and whatever we need to do on the ranch that day. And there’s always something to be done.
“That’s a dumb question,” he grunts his response.
“You going to make me pay up like Ry did?” I may as well get this shit out of the way. The less he knows, the better. Still, I know how my brothers’ minds work; each of us would do the exact same thing for another.
“Nope. He gave you grunt work. I’m going to do one better. The stallion we’ve got in the trailer. What are you looking at doing with him?” I should have known this already. I’m going to be out of two horses between Mom and JW.
“Nothing right now. Who knows what Tully is going to say about him. You want him?”
“Yep. Some weight and muscle, the right training, and he’ll be good to go. He may be able to be studded out, too.” He takes his eyes off the road to look my way. I know that look. He’s asking me if he purchases the stallion, takes over the feed and whatnot, if I’ll work with him.
“Seeing as how I was going to anyways, he’s yours. You’ll have to fight Mom and Tully first.” Though I’ve got an inkling she’s going to take one look at the mare, look at me, look at the mare,and without saying so many words, Tallulah will ask me if she can have her. Yeah, I’m fucking sunk. So sunk that I’ve got no problem with Tully taking her as her own. The only issue we’re going to have is the Coggins, bill of sale, and I’ll be damned if those fucks come sniffing around Tallulah to try some underhanded bullshit.
“Mom won’t be a problem. You think she’ll deny any of her boys a chance at an animal? She can have the colt and Tully the mare, or vice versa.” I shake my head.
“And what am I getting out of this deal?” The thermos of coffee has been in the truck all day. Since Mom made us all a big breakfast like usual, we didn’t stop for lunch. Now it’s late in the day, and coffee is about the only thing that is going to tie me over.
“Tallulah coming to the farm, fawning over the animals, and you getting to see her,” JW makes the rare joke. Jesus, this family is full of surprises lately.
“Har, har, har. Maybe you should find us some food along the way. This coffee won’t last between the two of us.”
“Someone is getting hangry. I thought only women got that way.” Seems the silent brother has no problems making what he thinks are funny jokes.
“And there he goes again. I think I liked it better when you were quiet.” I cross my armsover my chest, tip my head back, and close my eyes.
“Too bad,sunshine.This is the price you pay until the stallion becomes mine,” JW retorts.
“Fucking fine, the stallion is yours. Now will you stop at a gas station before I gnaw my damn arm off?” I hear the blinker click on and feel the slowing down of the truck. Thank Christ. Not sure I’d have been able to hold up much longer. Once we get home, it’ll be balls-to-the-walls chaos.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it.” I’d punch him the mouth if he weren’t driving. As it is, I’m stuck with the brother who manages to blackmail me worse than Ryland ever has.
9
TULLY
“My God,”I breathe out the words under my breath. Dean offloads the three he purchased for the ranch first. The eye candy before me has my mouth salivating and my core dripping with wetness. JW might be doing the same as his brother, but my gaze is firmly planted on Dean. His grey cotton shirt stretches across his broad muscular back, his tapered waist and firm thighs encased in a pair of well-worn blue jeans. Honestly, his arms are thepiece de resistance, literal chef’s fucking kiss, and watching the entire show as he guides each horse at a time, damn, am I here for the show. No popcorn is necessary either.
“Hey, there, Tully,” JW tosses over his shoulder as he walks toward Dean, grabbing the lead rope on the last of the, shall we say, healthy horses.
“Hi, JW.” I give him a finger wave and move closer to the trailer. It’s taking entirely too long for me to stand back and wait. I’m an anxious mess. Having no idea what to expect, I made sure to bring the clinic vehicle that’s fully equipped. No red flags were raised either, considering we all take one of them when we go out on calls. I just so happened to take the one that has all of the triage stocked, just in case.
“Tallulah, this is a pleasant surprise,” Mrs. Catherine says next to me. I’m on the tips of my toes looking into the trailer. My stomach bottoms out, and I’m filled with disgust on how or why someone would treat an animal this way or why’d they have them to begin with.
“Hey, Mrs. Catherine. Yeah, Dean called and asked if I’d take a look at a few horses.” Dean makes an appearance in the trailer, whispering sweet nothings to each of the horses. He’s got a hand on the colt, another under-nourished sweetheart who shouldn’t be scared, who should be with his mom judging by the size of him alone. He’s skittish at first, but Dean soothes all his worries away. Same, boy, same. Only this time, I get to watch him do it as an outsider looking in.
“Oh, my heavens.” Mrs. Catherine is much taller than me and is able to look between the slates without being on the tips of her toes.
“Yeah.” Words are hard when I’m in work mode while also watching the object of all my affections look as hot as Dean whilehe’s also in work mode, “Where’s Case?” I ask quietly. Usually when Ryland is working on the ranch during the day, Mrs. Catherine watches her grandson.
“I’m not jinxing it, so we’re not talking about theS-word.” I pick up on her clue as sleeping. They have a sweet setup down here at the barn as well as at the main house, which I’m sure will still be the same way once Ry’s house is done and will still be used. It’s then I notice the baby monitor on her hip, and I watch Case quietly sleeping.
“Ah, we shall not say said a word, then.” I drop back to my feet, attempting to stay light on my feet.
“I appreciate that. Should have known Dean would pick up a few extras that needed a home. He always was my boy with a sensitive side when it came to animals,” Catherine drops that little bombshell of information. It shouldn’t surprise me, yet somehow it does. We back away from the trailer, my eyes on Dean’s body the entire time, mentally making a note to come out to the ranch more often and watch him train the horses. My god, the man is making more than my insides quiver. It’s a good thing I’m in dark scrubs and a padded bra, or everyone could see what watching him does to me.
“Yeah,” I reply.
“Tully, where do you want him?” Dean asks, saving me, which is probably for the better. Ineed to get my head in the game and, you know, do the whole vet thing.
