Chapter Ten #3
“Ms. Norton, I have a question for you. Where did you buy your horse?”
“I bought her from Ryder Wolfe.” She crossed her arms.
“How did you afford it? I know Ryder, and his horses aren’t cheap.” Case’s thumb worried at the brim of his hat.
“It was expensive. I paid a thousand dollars for her.” Rachel’s chin lifted slightly. “Mr. Wolfe let me make payments. I didn’t get to take her home until I paid him in full.”
Case frowned, deep lines appearing between his eyebrows. “A thousand dollars?”
“Yes. Wait. I still have the receipts.” She walked to a cherry wood desk in the corner, pulled a drawer open with a soft squeak, gathered up some papers and walked back to Case and handed them to him.
Case took them and looked through them, eyes scanning the faded ink, then shook his head.
“Alright. I just wanted to see where you had purchased the horse. Have a good day.” He handed the receipts back to her, careful not to crumple them.
“Thanks, you too.”
Case opened the door, stepped out into the cold afternoon air, closed the door behind him, then placed his hat on his head.
He ran down the steps, his boots echoing on the concrete, got into his truck and drove to the lot to get a trailer.
He supposed to someone Rachel’s age, a thousand dollars was a lot of money, but Case knew that Ryder’s horses were ten times that or more.
He’d made the decision that he would make a trip to see Ryder first then get the trailer so he could deliver the horse to Sydney.
Case pulled up to the Wolfe ranch and stopped at the house. He shut the truck off, stepped out and climbed the steps, then knocked on the door.
When it opened to Kelsey, Ryder’s wife, Case grinned.
“Case! How are you? Come in out of the cold.” She opened the door wider. After removing his hat, he wiped his feet on the mat and stepped into the warm house.
“Is Ryder around?”
“He’s in his office. Follow me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Case followed behind her, then she motioned for him to enter the office. He saw Ryder sitting behind a large mahogany desk. When he looked up, a grin split his face as he got to his feet, strode around the desk, and put his hand out for Case to shake.
“Case, how are you? What can I do for you?”
“I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Ryder looked at Kelsey. “Darlin’, would you mind getting us each a cup of coffee?”
“You have one there, Ryder,” Kelsey said, motioning toward the cup on his desk.
“It’s cold.”
Case grinned when Kelsey shook her head as she picked up his cup.
“Ryder Wolfe, you waste more coffee than you drink. I’ll be right back.” She left the room.
Case looked at Ryder to see him with a sheepish grin on his face, then he shrugged.
“She’s right. I do waste it at times. Have a seat, Case.”
Once both men sat down, Case leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.
“Why would you sell a high priced Paint for a thousand dollars?”
Ryder’s eyebrows shot up. “How do you know about that?”
“Rachel Norton’s stepmother surrendered the horse to MERAS. Sydney Wright adopted it, then it was stolen. ”
“Someone stole it?”
“Yes. I’m working on that case.” Case raised an eyebrow.
“It wasn’t my idea—”
“It was mine,” Kelsey said as she entered the room, carrying a tray with two steaming cups of coffee on it.
“Yours?”
Kelsey took a seat in the chair beside Case.
“That girl had no idea how much Ryder’s Paints cost. She came here and we were both in the barn. She was so full of hope that I knew we had to help her achieve her dream of owning a horse.” Kelsey sighed. “She told Ryder she wanted to buy one but could only do it on payments.”
“I looked at Kelsey and didn’t know what to say,” Ryder added as he sat back in his chair.
“I decided to show her the horses, so I could get information from her. She broke my heart. She said she’d been saving up money and had almost half.
I asked how much she had and she got this big grin on her face and said, ‘five hundred.’ I almost laughed but the look on her face told me she was serious.
So, I talked to Ryder and since the horse had been here a while, we decided to do it for Ms. Norton.
When she cried and hugged us, I knew we’d done the right thing.
Now you tell us her stepmother surrendered it and Sydney bought it, then it was stolen. ” Kelsey shook her head.
“But why did her stepmother surrender the horse?” Ryder asked.
“She said the horse was mean-spirited and bit her.”
“Bullshit,” Kelsey snapped. “That horse was as gentle as a kitten. If it bit her, it was because she did something to it. ”
“She would hit the horse with a whip. To say Rachel and her stepmother don’t get along would be an understatement. I found the horse and now I need to get it back to Ms. Wright.”
“Not to Rachel?”
Case shook his head. “As much as I wish I could, Ms. Wright legally adopted the horse.”
“Damn.” Ryder shook his head.
After talking a few minutes more, Case stood, shook Ryder’s hand again, hugged Kelsey, then left to pick up a trailer.
****
The sun was shining down and Sydney wanted to go out for a ride. She’d been couped up for days and had cabin fever. Of course, if Caysen was here, she wouldn’t give a flying fig what the weather was.
Entering the barn, she made her way to the tack room to gather what she needed, put everything over a rail, then opened a stall to lead a horse out. She wanted her Paint back so much, but she had to let Caysen do his job.
There was more snow on the way, but for now, the sun was shining, bouncing off the white powder enough to blind a person. She was glad she had put on her sunglasses. The air was crisp and cold, but it was a beautiful day.
She had barely been out an hour when her phone vibrated in her coat pocket. She reined the horse in, removed it from her pocket and smiled when she saw Caysen’s number.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey. Where are you?”
“I’m in the north pasture, riding. Why? ”
“Because I’m at your house with a Paint horse.”
“You have her?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“At my house?”
“Yes.”
“I’m on my way.” She hung up, kneed the horse and took off through the snow. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she rode along.
When she entered the yard, she frowned because she didn’t see Caysen’s truck or a trailer, until she rode to the open barn doors.
She saw his truck and the trailer hooked behind it.
Billy and Ezra were helping him while he unloaded the horse.
Billy opened a stall, and Ezra closed the trailer door as Caysen led the horse into the stall.
Sydney dismounted, led the gelding to a rail, tied him, then ran to the stall Caysen had put Satin in. Tears rolled down her face as she looked at the horse. She didn’t seem worse for wear, but Sydney was so happy to see her back where she belonged.
When Caysen stepped from the stall, Ezra closed the stall gate. The men shook hands then Billy and Ezra walked out of the barn to make sure the ranch hands were doing their chores.
“Hi,” she said.
Caysen turned to face her, and her heart hit her stomach when he grinned.
“Hey.”
Sydney walked to the stall, put her hands on the top of the gate and stared at the horse.
“Hey, girl,” she said in a low voice.
The horse raised her head from the bucket of feed and walked toward the gate. Sydney put her hand out to her and the horse blew into it, then she butted her head against her chest .
“It looks like she’s happy to be home,” Caysen said from beside her, where he leaned against the wall, with his arms folded.
“I’m so happy she’s back.” Sydney wiped a tear away. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” They stared at each other for a few seconds, then he pushed off the wall. “I’d better head back to the office. I have paperwork to fill out.”
“Who did it?”
“Bobby Gibbs. He thought he could get her back for his girlfriend.”
“That’s kind of sad.”
“Yeah, none of this would have happened if her stepmother hadn’t surrendered the horse.”
“That was mean. I can’t imagine how the girl felt when she came home to find her horse gone.”
“Yes, her father told me she was devastated. She bought the horse herself and took care of it. She bought the feed, cleaned the stall, and anything else to take care of the horse.”
“Will her stepmother be charged with anything?”
“No, since I can’t prove she hit the horse.”
“That’s too bad. She deserved something.”
“I agree, but without proof, there’s nothing I can do.”
“So, can you come to dinner one night?”
Caysen grinned. “Sure. Well, it’s supposed to snow tomorrow, so I suppose that’s out.”
“Such a waste of a Saturday night,” Sydney said while staring at him.
“How about we go to The Hartland?”
“When?”
“Tonight.” Caysen started down the barn’s aisle.
“Then what?” Sydney did her best not to grin.
“I want you to spend the night with me. Pack a bag, but you don’t need much.”
“Alright. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too. I’ll pick you up around six. I’ll see you later.” He touched the brim of his hat, walked to his truck, then drove out of the barn, pulling the trailer behind him.
She watched until he disappeared, then turned her attention back to her horse.
At six on the dot, Sydney’s fingers froze around the edge of the kitchen counter when she heard the low growl of Caysen’s truck pulling into the driveway.
She took a slow, steadying breath, hoping he’d approve of her choice, a black dress hugged with red satin trim that felt like a second skin, and the matching red stilettos she wore.
A firm knock echoed through the kitchen.
She smoothed the fabric over her hips one more time, then crossed the tile in small, nervous steps.
When she opened the door, the sight of him stole her breath.
He wore a black dress shirt, dark jeans that molded to his thighs, and distressed cowboy boots.
In one hand he held a single rose, petals as pink as sunrise.
“Come in,” she said softly, but he lingered on the threshold.