Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Monty’s plan worked perfectly. He roused Tex before any light showed in the sky and the little guy took his shift. Monty stretched out on his bedroll with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.
Tex spent the time telling stories to Speckles, her foal, and Smokey, but he kept his voice down. The tales included familiar characters — the Lone Ranger, Hoss Cartright, Bret Maverick, Roy Rogers.
Hard to keep a straight face during that earnest recitation. He’d seen those old shows as a kid, too. They’d probably live forever.
As dawn arrived, shining gently through cracks in the weathered barn walls, he stayed quiet, waiting to see what his young partner would do.
“Sun’s comin’ up, Smokey.” Tex climbed down from his stool, crouched beside the bedroll and patted him on the chest. “Wake up, Mister Monty. It’s morning.”
He slowly opened his eyes. Tex’s face hovered about six inches above his. “It is?”
“Yep! Speckles eated hay and Monty….” He made a sucking noise.
“He was nursing. Perfect. Just what they each should be doing.”
“Guess what? You gots a beard! It growed in the night!”
“I’ll bet it did.”
“Are you gonna shave it? Do you gots that cream? That goes ppffft and makes you look like Santa?”
“Not with me, sport.”
“Oh, well. You can use Uncle G’s.”
“Probably better if I wait until I go home. Could you move away a little so I have room to get up?”
“Yep.” He settled on his heels, worry clouding his green eyes. “Are you going home now?”
“Not yet.”
He sighed in relief. “That’s good.”
Uh-oh. The kid’s distress about his inevitable departure was not good. Not good at all. Maybe having him stay in the barn all night wasn’t such a brilliant plan after all.
Sitting up slowly, he rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks. He hadn’t spent the night on a hard surface in years. He’d considered switching to the cot after Tex vacated it, but then he might have dozed off. He wasn’t about to do that when Tex was awake.
When he stood, Tex popped up like he was on springs. “We gots to turn out the herd.”
“Don’t you do that with your Uncle G?”
“But you’re a cowboy, too. We can—”
“He’s the boss of this outfit. We should wait for him.”
“Okay.” Clearly not what he had in mind.
“While we wait, I’ll check on Speckles and Monty.” There, he’d used the foal’s name. Progress.
“Can I come in?”
“You sure can after I give them each a quick examination. Just hang out on your stool, please, and I’ll be done in a jiffy.” If the kid could get involved with his foal, that might ease his separation anxiety.
Fortunately mare and foal were doing great. During the night he’d been able to stealthily clean the stall, at least somewhat, and roll the wheelbarrow out the front door.
Speckles had remained calm through that process, which was a very good sign. He could safely leave them, knowing they didn’t need him to monitor their progress. Zinnia, Marigold and Graham could take it from here.
As for Tex, the adorable little boy who’d attached himself like a cocklebur….With luck he’d find such joy in having this foal to love that his neediness would gradually fade.
Just as he was ready to turn the stall over to Tex, the barn door opened. The rest of the family came in, Zinnia in the lead.
Right on schedule, his traitorous body reacted to the visual. What she did for a pair of Wranglers and a blue plaid shirt should be illegal. Adding to the impact, she’d left her hair loose and her curls bounced temptingly against her shoulders. No fair.
“Hey, there.” He called a husky greeting and cleared his throat. Maybe she’d think it was the early hour that put that rasp in his voice. “They’re in terrific shape.” Yeah, that phrase had popped right out. He barreled on. “Tex was just about to go in if anybody would like to join him.”
“I’ll let Mari go.” Zinnia glanced back at her sister. “Since you haven’t—”
“Right, and I—oh, my goodness!” She peered into the stall and put a hand to her chest. “If he isn’t the most—” She broke off with a little sob and pulled a bandanna from her hip pocket. “Sorry. He’s just so….”
“We get it.” Zinnia wrapped an arm around her. “We were all bawling last night. Now it’s your turn.”
“Here’s a bucket, Auntie Mari.” Tex thrust one in her direction.
Laughter mingled with her tears. “Thanks, but I doubt I’ll throw up. I’m just crying happy tears.”
“You gots to sit on it.”
“I do?”
“You gots to sit and wait for Monty to kiss you.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Zinnia sighed. “We’re talking about the foal, Mar, not the cowboy.”
“I knew that.” She grinned at him.
He rolled his eyes. And so it begins. Time for him to make his escape. “Since everything’s going well, I should probably shove off.” He tucked everything back in his case and snapped it shut.
His bucket clutched to his chest, Tex swung in his direction. “Are you coming back?”
“Not today, sport.”
“Tomorrow?”
He grabbed the best response he could find. “Tomorrow’s my birthday.”
He brightened. “And the party?”
“Yessir.”
“Okay!” His attention shifted to his mother. “Do we gots a present?”
“We’ll get one today.”
He winced. “Oh, hey, you don’t have to get me a—”
“We want to.” Zinnia met his gaze. “You’ve gone above and beyond for Speckles and… Monty.” The hesitation was still there, but she used the name.
“I’ll add my thanks, too,” Graham said. “It meant the world to all of us that you were here.”
“It sure did.” Mari laid a hand on his arm. “Because you were on duty, I was able to handle my shift without worrying myself sick about things back home. Thank you.” She gave his arm a squeeze.
“You’re welcome.” Something about her smile and the twinkle in her eyes put him on alert. She looked like a woman with a secret. “Glad to do it.”
“I’ll fold up your cot.” Graham walked back to where it sat with a pillow and blankets piled on top.
“I’ll get the other stuff.” Zinnia followed him.
“C’mon, Auntie Mari.” Tex marched over to the stall door. “We gots to go in.”
“Be right there.” She lowered her voice. “Stay open to the possibilities, my friend.”
He frowned. “I don’t—”
“You will. I hope.” She gave his arm another squeeze before joining Tex and sliding open the stall door.
“Here’s the cot.” Graham handed it over and clapped him on the shoulder. “Can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am.”
“This is the best part of being an equine vet. I love delivering foals.”
“Then it’s win-win. I’ll walk you out to the truck. Oh, and I saw the full wheelbarrow. Thanks for that, too.”
“Like I said, above and beyond.” Zinnia came toward them holding blankets under one arm and pillows under the other. “I’ll walk out with you, too. I have my checkbook in my back pocket.”
“Alrighty, then.” His mom had advised him to accept the check, which would establish a professional relationship instead of encouraging a personal one. So he’d do that. But he’d give her the family discount.
“Then let me take that bedding off your hands.” Graham relieved her of the pillows and blankets. “Where does it go?”
She glanced over her shoulder as she walked out of the barn. “You can leave it on my bed. How’re we doing on time?”
“Not bad. We can have breakfast and still make it to the Stevens’ place, no problem. I’ll start cooking. You’re welcome to stay and eat, Monty. I make a mean omelet.”
“Appreciate the offer.” He stepped out into the warm sunshine. “But I want to get started on that fungus you spotted on Banjo’s heel.”
“It’s not bad yet, but yeah, the sooner the better.” He grinned. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, birthday boy.”
“About that. Please don’t bother getting—”
“Too late. Zinnia and I are on it. Besides, you heard Tex. That kid knows you don’t show up to a birthday party empty handed. You wouldn’t want to upset him, would you?”
“You got me, there. See you soon.” He and Zinnia walked toward his truck and Graham headed up the porch steps.
“I didn’t want to ask in front of Tex.” Zinnia glanced at him. “Did he sleep okay? Did your plan work?”
“Like a charm.” He stowed his case and the folded cot. “He used his early morning shift to entertain the horses and Smokey.”
She chuckled. “Stories from old TV shows?”
“Yes, ma’am. Cute as hell.”
“I assume you pretended to be asleep.”
“Had to. I wanted him to experience being in charge. He did a great job.”
“Thank you for that. I held my breath when he asked when you were coming back. He sounded panicked.”
“I know. That’s exactly what we don’t want. Good thing the birthday party distracted him.”
“Just so I know, how soon do you have to come back and check on those two?”
“Unless something crops up, not until vaccination time, which is around five months.”
“Five months?” She took a breath. “He’s gonna drive me nuts asking about you.”
“To be honest, I’ll miss him, too.” And her, but saying that wasn’t helpful. He was supposed to work on forgetting this crazy infatuation.
“Five months is a long time at his age.”
“Yeah.” When he focused on Tex’s problem instead of his own, the answer was obvious. “How about this? At lunch yesterday it sounded like Graham misses his visits to the ranch.”
“He does seem to love it there.”
“Mom picked up on it. I’ll bet she’ll start specifically inviting him every now and then. She said you were always welcome, so you three could come along.”
“That’s a good idea. Then Tex won’t feel abandoned.”
“Abandoned?”
“Think about it. You’ve become buddies and now you’ll disappear for five months. Visits to the ranch will show him you’re still buddies. You’re just super busy.”
“Then I’ll mention it to Mom. She’ll make sure those visits happen.”
“Good. We have a plan.”
“Speaking of plans, are you and Mari cooking something up?”
“What do you mean?”
“She said something that made me wonder if there’s a secret plan in the works.”
She flushed. “Don’t pay attention to her. She’s always dreaming and scheming.” She hesitated. “But now I’m curious. What did she say?”
“Stay open to the possibilities, my friend. I started to say I didn’t understand when she interrupted me with You will. I hope.” He held Zinnia’s gaze. “Any clue what she’s talking about?”
“Absolutely not.” Her flush grew brighter and she broke eye contact.
“Are you sure? Because I think you—”
“I really need to get going or I’ll make us late for the Stevens’ appointment. How much do I owe you?”
He longed to tell her it was on the house, but he heeded his mom’s advice and gave her a figure.
She wrote the check quickly and nicked off the corner when she ripped it out of the checkbook. “Thank you so much. That doesn’t sound like enough, but…see you tomorrow!”
“You bet.” He folded the check and tucked it in his shirt pocket as she raced away. Something had her flustered. Something to do with him.
He could go back to the barn and try to coax more details from Mari. Except Tex was in there and he’d have to extricate himself a second time.
He’d just have to deal with uncertainty. His least favorite thing.