Page 19 of A Cowboy to Call Her Own

Asher saw the spark in her hazel eyes but refused to be drawn in. He pulled out his phone and flashed it at her. “I have digital notes. There is literally an app for just about everything these days.”

“Then this must be difficult for you.” She smoothed out her expression, yet her grin slipped out, granting him a glimpse of her matching dimples.

She had no idea. “This is horrifying,” Asher said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

All he knew was that he seriously needed to stop noticing every little thing about her. It would do no good later when he was back in the city and trying to forget her.

“There’s only one thing to do,” Kelley said, her tone matter-of-fact. “You’re going to have to organize everything first.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” Asher frowned then brightened. “Please tell me there is an app for that. There has to be.”

“I’m afraid not.” Kelley walked around him then picked up a pen and notepad from the desktop. “This requires something a bit more old-fashioned like labels and folders.”

“There is nothing the least bit appealing about this.” Yet, there was so much appealing about her. Asher pulled a box off the top of the filing cabinet and set it in the center of the floor.

“What are you looking for anyway?” Kelley asked.

“A reason,” he said simply.

Kelley crossed her arms over her chest and studied him. Her eyes widened and her tone lowered. “You mean a reason for Sovereign Pride’s doping.”

She was smart and quick to catch on. He always admired that in a cowgirl. He nodded and took another box from the closet.

“You don’t believe your dad did it, do you?” she asked.

They were waiting for the two independent labs to confirm the results of the drug test taken on the day of the race. From his research during his flight from New York to Kentucky, Asher learned the race day drug test had an extremely low percentage of false positive. He suspected the independent labs would confirm the positive drug test result. The only new information would most likely be the exact drug used.

He ran a hand over his head and said, “I know Pride was disqualified after the last race of the Laurel Legacy Circuit because of a failed drug test. That win would have cemented his place and Blackwell’s in history. I know the stables were fined, Pride’s winnings rescinded and our three-year-olds sanctioned from racing.” The National Racing Compliance Agency would not have done all that on a whim or an unreliable drug test.

“But your dad,” she said, her words soft and insistent.

“Walter wasn’t like your dad, Kelley,” he confessed. Her father was the retired fire chief of Gold Finch County, and he always got along with everyone in town. No one ever had a bad word to say about him. Asher always liked Neven Munroe.

“I don’t believe Walter would have done that to his horse,” she argued.

Asher wasn’t quite so certain. Talk about being disloyal to his family. One more way he let down Walter, he supposed. He rubbed his chest.

“Walter could be curt and cantankerous sometimes, but he loved his family, his horses and this town,” Kelley insisted. “He cared a lot more than he ever let on.”

“I want to believe you,” Asher said, surprised to realize he meant it. There was just so much history between him and his father to wade through. It was like quicksand; if he lingered too long, it would pull him under.

“Did you know we have Friday Freebies once a month at the Galloping Fork?” she stated then continued, not waiting for his response, “It’s for all the first responders and medical personnel. They get to eat free all day.”

Asher scratched his cheek and said, “They deserve it. That’s a nice way to give back.”

“Your dad was the silent sponsor,” Kelley said and watched him.

“He covered the whole tab?” Asher asked.

Kelley nodded. “Never missed a month and he’s been doing it for years according to Pauline.”

“I’ll cover it now,” Asher said. “Silently. Same as my dad.”

Kelley shook her head. “I wasn’t pitching you on becoming the sponsor. I was trying to show that your dad…”

“I want to do it,” Asher cut in then added, “And I know what you were doing.”

Showing him that she had a big heart and saw the best in those around her like her own father. Risky, that. After all, the bigger the heart, the harder it broke. She should take care not to show him too much. He knew a bit more about how to break a heart like hers than protect it.