Page 13 of Piece Of Me

“He was a champion cutter.”

His voice must have startled her, because she jumped and Ranger raised his head and nickered as if to say, back off buddy.

“He’s beautiful,” she said, recovering quickly.

Taz nodded and paused a few feet from them. Scarlett’s hair, tinged with purple, seemed to have pieces of fire burning from the ends as the last rays of sunlight filtered through the windows opposite to the stalls and hit her perfectly. Her eyes, big and luminous, watched him carefully.

“He was something else in his day.”

“Was he yours?”

“No. I rode bulls not horses. But I saw him compete. Knew his owner, a good guy who died of cancer a few years back. No one could ride Ranger except Davis and his family couldn’t find a buyer. They packed him up and sent him to auction. He would have gone to Mexico most likely, to a meat packer but a pal called me up and I drove all night to get him.”

“He lets you ride him then?”

“I’ve never tried. I figure he gave a lot when he was on the circuit and then lost the only human he trusted, so now he gets to live. He’s earned that right.” Taz nodded toward the next stall. “Same as Billy. He was a work horse and spent most of his days pulling heavy machinery on an Amish farm in Pennsylvania. When he was too old to work they sent him off to auction.”

“How did you find him?” Scarlett seemed genuinely interested.

“Angel Simms.”

Surprise lit up her face. “I know Angel. We went to school together. I didn’t know she was still in Big Bend.”

“She works for me. I have a lot of animals that need looking after. Rescues she helped locate and get back here to the ranch. She organizes that part of it and some other things.”

“You pay for all of this yourself?” She blushed. “Sorry, that’s kind of rude to ask.”

“I don’t mind answering. I set up a foundation that pays for it. Most of the funding comes from the family business, so I guess I do.”

“Family business?”

Now they were into territory he didn’t much care for, so he kept his mouth shut and nodded, but didn’t offer up any real information.

“How many animals do you have?”

Taz shrugged. “I have no idea. What started out as a way to get Ranger back here kind of ballooned. Now we’ve got horses, donkeys, cows, goats, pigs, an emu, and a herd of bison.”

“All rescues?”

He nodded.

“You collect things.” Scarlett’s fingers trailed overtop of Ranger’s head, her voice husky and low.

“No,” Taz replied as he came up alongside her. “I don’t collect things. I give shelter and I provide a safe place. Room to roam and be free for animals that deserve a hell of a lot more than what they were given.” Ranger nickered softly and moved his head toward Taz.

“He likes you,” Scarlett murmured.

“Most animals like the hand that feeds them.”

“And Eddie?” she asked, pointing toward the far end of the barn where the snake’s large habitat stood.

“Eddie came with the place. I have no idea what my brother-in-law was thinking, but apparently he’d been a part of some collector’s menagerie, and the owner wasn’t looking after him. He was damn near starved to death. Practically broken. My sister and her husband intervened. He’s the one animal I don’t get too close too,” he chuckled. “I never did like snakes, but just like every other animal on this ranch he deserves a chance to live same as the rest.”

“Do others know?”

“What’s that?” She was inches from him. So close he could count the freckles that fell across her nose. The dark lashes that framed those intense eyes.

“About your affinity for broken things?”

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