Page 50 of A Cowboy to Call Her Own

“Don’t forget Joe is grieving,” Big E said into the silence inside the truck cab. “Walter was his best friend. He’s hanging on to what he has left.”

“I know,” Asher conceded and let go any lingering irritation. “And Joe is the only one other than my dad who knows the stables and the business inside and out.”

“True,” Big E agreed and shifted in the seat to look at Asher. “You might as well get out whatever is on your mind. Otherwise, it’ll pick at you worse than a mule with an opinion.”

“It’s not really my place,” Asher said. “I have not been here day in and day out. Not like Joe. Walter trusted him.” Asher was just as green and just as inexperienced as Owen by some measures.

“But you got a feeling,” Big E said.

Same as Owen had earlier. Asher nodded.

“Got one myself,” Big E murmured.

Asher exhaled. That weight on his shoulder lifted and his words came more freely. “It’s just the doping allegations aren’t alleged anymore. We know Pride was drugged and with what. Now we have a feed mix-up that by coincidence happens to affect the only horses we intend to race this coming weekend.”

Big E hummed. “Could be simple bad luck.”

“Could be,” Asher allowed.

“But your gut says different.”

Asher nodded. And if he had learned anything from Owen that morning it was to pay attention.

Big E asked, “By the way, where are you at with the financials?”

“Still waiting on those bank statements.”

In truth, Asher had not been in much of a rush to follow up with Valerie at Foxglove Bank and Trust. The more time Asher spent at home, the more he dreaded finding some inconsistency in the financials that might point at Walter and his possible guilt and downfall. But there was another urgent reason now to clear Walter or call him out.

“In the meantime, it might be worth doing a little asking around about the feed supply,” Big E said. “Nothing too overt or obvious, mind you. We don’t want to stir things up over what might be an accident with the delivery.”

Accidentbeing the keyword there. Asher and Big E talked for the rest of the ride back home about where to start and who to start casually questioning. Both feed supply stores were their obvious places to begin. By the time Asher drove through the stable gates, he was feeling slightly more optimistic.

He had been keeping his own counsel for so long, he had forgotten how gratifying it was to talk things through with someone he trusted. Even more, Big E listened and offered wise insight without any judgment. And the more Asher was around the older cowboy, the more he started to believe he was a part of something rather than just alone.

Asher was feeling a lot more assured than he had expected about being home. Curious, he did not mind it as much as he thought he should. Still, it was smart to keep his so-calledfeelsin check. Otherwise, Asher might follow one of thosefeelsthat made him consider a cowgirl and something like forever.

But what did a rusty heart like his know about a love like that?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“What’s got intoyou today?” Hayes frowned and aimed his spatula at Kelley.

Laughing, Kelley turned up the volume on the upbeat country song playing on the radio in the diner kitchen. She sashayed from the prep counter to the walk-in refrigerator and back.

“She’s been like this since I got here at opening.” Hayes flipped the hamburgers on the griddle and asked, “Did we get an espresso machine, and I missed a double shot?”

Chuckling, Frannie removed a batch of French fries and clipped the wire basket above the deep fryer for draining. “Not what, Hayes, but who.”

“Why can’t it simply be a good day?” Kelley tugged Frannie into a twirl before her little sister could blame Asher for Kelley’s sunny attitude. “There’s no rain in the forecast. It is not blistering hot for once. It’s a perfect summer day.”

Frannie took herself out of the second spin and shook French fries onto two plates. “You don’t like to be out in the summer humidity. It makes your curls frizz.”

“That’s what a cowboy hat is for,” Kelley countered and got back to sprinkling fresh bacon bits like fairy dust over a Cobb salad.

“I told you, Hayes.” Frannie waited for Hayes to slide the finished cheeseburgers onto the two plates with fries, then added them and the finished Cobb salad to her serving tray and started for the dining area. She called out cheerfully, “It’s all about a cowboy.”

Except Kelley had not seen her cowboy in two days, not that she was counting. But she had been keeping tabs on him. Thanks to Frannie’s daily insider updates about the Blackwell happenings, Kelley knew Asher was sleeping at the stables to watch over the sick horses. If he wasn’t in the twos’ barn, he was putting the finishing touches on the chicken coop or spearheading the parade float design or working with the pasture patrol trio.