Chapter 7 #2
“Go on out and get your chores done. I’ll come get you as soon as I have something. This could take a while.”
“Okay. Jameson, do you want to come with me?”
He shook his head, and Lucas put an arm around Jameson. His son was fine, so Brendan went out to the barn and walked into a commotion.
“Is it true that the horses got out? All of them?” Claire asked. She seemed more shocked than angry, which was a relief.
“Yes. Someone came into the barn and opened every stall and paddock door. We were able to get all the horses back and settled. They are calm, and we don’t need to agitate them further.”
Claire’s face grew red. “Who would do such a thing? That’s terrible. Have you called the police? They could have been hurt.” She seemed to be speaking for the small group.
“We’re working that out now. I’ve never seen the need to lock all the doors in the barn, and I don’t want to start doing that now.
” He hated the thought of locking up his life, and if he did that, it presented other dangers to the horses.
If they needed to evacuate the barn in a hurry, then it would slow them down.
“We’ve placed cameras around the yard outside.
The video is being reviewed, and I’m hoping that whoever is behind this will be on those images.
In the meantime, please brush and care for your horses.
They could have picked up burrs or have dirt and sticks in their coats. ”
“If you need help,” Claire told him, “just call. Any of us will be here as fast as we can.” The anger still filled her eyes, but Brendan was pretty sure it was aimed at whoever had done this as opposed to him.
“Thank you. I appreciate your support. It means a lot.” He had been worried that people would pull their horses from the barn.
“Do you really have no idea who would do this?” she asked. Claire had had her horses with him and his family for years. She had been riding since she was a teenager and had decades of experience.
He met her gaze, and after a moment, Claire put her hand over her mouth. “Do you really think she’d do something like that? She was always a great horse person and one of the most gifted riders I’ve ever seen.” The surprise faded away slowly. “But then….”
“Yeah… she never wanted to do any of the work that every other owner does. She wanted to ride and then pass her horse off to someone else to groom and unsaddle. And she….” He snapped his mouth closed.
“I shouldn’t be saying any of this. She’s Jameson’s mother, and I promised myself that when we separated, I would do everything I could to ensure that Jameson wasn’t in the middle of sniping parents. ”
Claire rolled her eyes. “But what does this get her?”
“I think it’s a way of her sending me a message that I need to keep her happy or she can hurt me. Jenn doesn’t like the idea that I’m might be seeing someone.”
Her lips curved upward. “Like that handsome new hand who seems to stick close to you all the time?”
“Lucas and I….”
Clair shook her head. “You look at that man like you’re starving, and he’s a goddamn buffet. Not that any of us blames you. All the girls think he’s hotter than the sun in July.”
Brendan sighed to himself. “That may be true. But what can I offer a guy like him? I’m a small-time horse farmer and breeder. Hell, some of the time I’m still trying to figure my own shit out. I mean, I was married once, and now….”
“Honey, we all know what bisexual means, and for the record, that man looks at you like you hung the damned moon. So don’t worry about the past and how things were.
Just let yourself live in the now. You have an amazing son, and as far as that ex-wife of yours goes…
if she is letting horses loose, then shame on her.
” She leaned closer. “Besides, if I thought that hunk of a man would be interested in me, I’d really consider kicking Wally to the curb.
But since he isn’t likely to be interested in a middle-aged mother of three, I think Wally’s perfectly safe. ” She laughed at her own joke.
“Thanks.” He chuckled as she went back inside the barn, and Brendan got busy.
He checked on the goats and made sure they had feed.
It was probably time to move them to a new location.
They had eaten much of the grass in this area, and he had a new spot picked out for them that they would really like.
Maybe Lucas could help him with the move.
The little ones came right over to him. They were so cute.
The family had had goats when he was Jameson’s age, but over the years, they had grown old and his father had let those particular animals die off naturally.
So when he inherited the property, one of the first things he had done was to reestablish the goats.
He had loved them when he was young, and Jameson seemed to be the same way.
One of his son’s favorite things was to feed and watch then.
“Daddy, I help,” Jameson said as he ran over the lawn to where he watched the kids frolic.
“Okay. Do you remember where the goat cookies are?” Brendan bought large containers of animal crackers, and Jameson had christened them “goat cookies.” He returned with the container, grinning as he handed it over.
The goats had already gathered by the time Brendan twisted off the top and handed some of the crackers to Jameson.
“Make sure you give some to all the goats.”
“I will, Daddy.” Jameson handed out the treats so seriously. “Not you,” he told one of the older goats who tried to muscle in. “You piggy.” He managed to give the last goat cookie to one of the kids who hadn’t had one.
“Is it goat feeding time?” Lucas asked as he joined them.
“I a good feeder,” Jameson pronounced.
“Yes, you are.” Brendan ruffled his son’s hair and closed the container. “Did you find anything?”
Lucas nodded. “Yes and no. I found the time the horses were released. I checked the driveway camera first. There was no car, though a vehicle passed the drive maybe five minutes earlier. All I got were headlights, but I think they had slowed down. Anyway, a few horses went down the drive a little before five in the morning. I haven’t been able to check the other feeds, but at least I know what time to look for. ”
“That’s good. I suppose that will save time with the others.”
“Yeah.” Lucas drew closer. “Do you want me to watch Jameson?”
“No. He and I are going to check on the chickens and gather eggs. You go ahead and see what you can find.” It was still a little drippy, but the rain had mostly let up for now, so he figured he needed to finish as many outside chores as he could.
He let Jameson feed the chickens while he gathered the eggs. Then he went to the barn and found everything as it should be. Claire seemed to have taken change and had everyone working to make sure all the horses were comfortable.
“It’s all good in here, though I do think your mama-to-be is going to foal at any time. She’s restless, and when I touched her sides, she might have been contracting, but I couldn’t quite tell.”
“Thanks.”
“Can I watch the baby horse be born?” Jameson asked.
“We’ll see. It depends on when the baby decides to come.”
Jameson looked at him with his big eyes. “But I want the baby to come now. I want to watch.” He ran to the stall and climbed onto a bale, peering over the wall. “Baby horsie you come now. I wanna see you be borned.”
“Buddy, it doesn’t work that way,” Brendan explained as he took Jameson, zooming him around. “The babies come when they’re ready, and it could be days or a week yet.”
“But, Daddy,” Jameson said as though life just wasn’t fair.
“Sorry.” He carried Jameson out of the barn and over toward the house. “Besides, it’s time for lunch. What do you want to have?” He hurried inside because the rain had picked up again.
“Will the goaties get wet?”
“No. They’ll gather in their goat house and stay there until the rain stops.
” Jameson worried about all the animals.
“And the chickens will stay in their coop. So they will all be fine.” He got inside to find Lucas coming to meet them.
“Go take your shoes off and you can play.” He set Jameson down and met Lucas at the kitchen table.
“I found something.” He turned the screen, and Brendan sat. “See there. That’s our culprit. They came along the side of the house and entered the yard, passing the goat pen.” He had it on slow so Brendan could really see it. “Do you know who that is?”
It certainly wasn’t Jenn. There was no way his ex-wife had added six inches and at least forty pounds. “Not offhand. Is there any way we can get a closer view?”
“Let me check the other camera,” Lucas said.
“At least we now know the exact time.” He brought up the feed for the camera facing the barn.
It took Lucas a few minutes, but he reached the same time stamp.
And just as expected, their intruder crossed the yard and approached the barn.
He opened the door and turned around. For a second, maybe two, the overhead light caught his face.
“Sonofabitch.”
“What? Do you know him?” Lucas asked.
“You’re damned right I do. That’s Henry, Jenn’s brother. She must have put him up to all of this. It wouldn’t surprise me if she did the other incidents herself and then went to Pittsburgh and got him to do some of her dirty work for him.”
“Hey, Jameson,” Brendan called. “Did Grandma ride back from Pittsburgh with you and Mommy?”
“Yes. Grandma rode back wif us, and Uncle Henry too.” Jameson made a face. “I don’t like him. He looks mean and grumpy.” Jameson climbed on his lap. “I wanna watch too.”
Brendan scooped Jameson up. “How about we make lunch. What do you want?”
“Crunchy cheese!” he cried.
“Okay. Grilled cheese it is. I’ll make them if you wanna play.” Jameson hurried out of the room, and Brendan leaned over. When Lucas turned toward him, Brendan took a second to kiss him. “You really are pretty amazing.”
“And this guy is pretty dumb. Here he is on camera going in the barn, and out come some of the horses. Then, on camera, he opens the paddock gates. The thing is, if he had just gone in and left the barn door open, all the horses would have been gone. But he opened the side doors as well, not realizing that not all the paddocks have a way for the horse to leave. Now he closes the barn door, probably to cover his tracks, but that also saved us work.”
“Yes, and look, there’s a real good look at his face.” Brendan picked up the phone and called Greg. “We have images of the person who has been causing trouble,” he said as soon as Greg answered. “What do we do with them?”