Page 21 of A Cowboy in the Streets

“What?” I grunted.

“Nothing,” he said, in a way that clearly meant something.

“You think I was too hard on him?”

“Nah. Steven needs to learn some manners.” He shook his head. “He can’t go running his mouth with every fool thing that pops into his head.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I don’t have a problem. Do you have a problem?”

“I don’t have a problem,” I ground out. “Except for this stupid conversation.”

He held out the container of cookies and gave it an inviting shake. “Have a cookie.”

I glowered at the container. Damn, they looked good. Smelled good, too. “I don’t want a cookie.”

Blaine’s lips twitched. “See, I think maybe that’s your problem right there. You do want a cookie. You just don’t want to admit it.”

My mood did not improve as the morning went on. I couldn’t get my mind off those cookies. Around noon, I finally caved, but of course they were long gone by then. I hadn’t seen Ben since breakfast. He had texted an hour ago, so I knew he was alive, but there was no sign of him anywhere—or James, for that matter. That meant they were probably together.

Like everyone else, Ben had taken a shine to James. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. He had always been a barn rat, but mostly he stuck to the horses, not the people. When he wasn’t hanging around the stables, he was in his room, reading—also alone. He had two close friends at school, but both of them lived far enough away that he didn’t see much of them when school was out. I felt guilty about that. I worried that he was lonely, that I wasn’t doing enough to give him the kind of childhood a kid should have.

His quick attachment to James was just one more thing to worry about. Was it weird? Did he miss his mom? His grandma? Or maybe he—

The sound of laughter jerked me out of my thoughts. It was the same laugh I first heard at Jo’s. Full and robust, like she pulled it deep from her soul. Something in me shifted at the sound. I headed toward it, exiting the barn, blinking in the sunlight.

There she was. On horseback, Ben riding next to her on Ginger, coming down the dirt path back to the barn. Her head was thrown back as she laughed at something Ben said. And Ben? Ben looked at her like she hung the damn moon.

Irritation rolled through me in a wave. Of course he did. She was fun. She didn’t have to worry about things like rules and duty and responsibility.

“What the hell is this?” I demanded.

James’s pink lips popped open in surprise at my tone. “A trail ride? I wanted—”

“I don’t care what you wanted,” I cut her off. “You took my kid for a ride without telling me. I had no idea where he was.”

Ben blanched. “Dad—”

I held up my hand. “Ben, you know the rule.”

James’s head whipped in his direction. Her eyebrows went up in a question. “We didn’t leave the property.”

“He knows he’s supposed to tell me before he goes for a ride. If he’s on horseback, I need to know where he is, even if it’s only in the training ring. You had no business taking him anywhere on horseback without telling me.”

Two red splotches appeared on her cheeks. Her eyes narrowed. “Do I need to remind you that I’m not the babysitter?”

The anger in her dark eyes caught me by surprise. It might have been the first time I had seen her anything but smiling. And why? What the hell did she have to be mad about? “Damn right, you’re not. I would expect anyone I paid to watch my kid to know what is and isn’t acceptable behavior. Untack the horses. When you’re done, I want to see you in my office.”

The heat of her glare scorched my back as I strode back into the barn. Figuring I would get some paperwork done while I waited for James, I threw myself into the rolling chair behind my desk. A wheel popped off, and it wilted on one side. Great. Fucking great.

Fine. I wasn’t in the mood for paperwork anyway. Actually, I was never in the mood for paperwork, but I could usually force myself to focus long enough to get it done. Right now, there was no chance of that happening. I pushed to my feet, resisting the urge to kick the chair on my way out. Because I was an adult.

Needing something to take the edge off, I grabbed a pitchfork and headed for a stall. Nothing like shoveling shit to work out a shitty attitude, Dad always said. And my attitude was shit, I couldn’t deny that. There was no reason for me to lay into James like that. She was right; she wasn’t the babysitter. It was on Ben to tell me he was going riding, not her. He knew the rule.

Goddamn it.

I didn’t want to do this right now. He had just spent the last hour having a fantastic time with James and now I had to come in and dole out the punishment. It was always me. I didn’t have a wife I could share the crappy parenting jobs with. Lord knew my dad wasn’t up to the task—and I didn’t want him to be. Grandparents were for love and sugar, not lectures and punishments. Keeping Ben safe was my responsibility.

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