Page 20 of Colt

“Are you hiring anyone parttime?”

She pulled a chair out from the table, sat, and motioned for him to sit, and he did.

“I haven’t thought about it. Why? Do you need a job?” she asked with a grin.

“One’s enough. I know a kid who I think would benefit from working here. He’s sixteen and been in trouble, and has to do community service. I thought he could do it here.”

“What did he do?”

“Horse theft.”

Chelsea gasped. “And you want me to let him work here… with horses?”

“It’s a long story, Chels. His mother died a year ago, and his father ignores him. He said he did it for attention. He didn’t hurt the horses, but he still needs to pay for the crime. I’d rather he didn’t go to juvenile detention. I think that would make it worse.”

“Why can’t he work with your horses?”

“Because I only have three and if he does his chores in the morning, he wouldn’t have anything else to do. Here, he’d be busy.”

“I can see that. Sure, bring him by on Monday.”

“I’ll send him here. He has a car.” Eli grinned. “He used to have a truck, but it belongs to MDOL now.”

Chelsea laughed. “Ouch, that had to hurt.”

Eli chuckled. “I’m sure it did. His name is Joey Callaway.” He looked around. “It looks great in here—” he stopped when someone pounded on the door.

Chelsea shrugged and walked toward the door. Colt angrily entered and confronted her.

“You went to Brian behind my back?”

She could feel his anger radiating toward her.

“What I do on my ranch is none of your concern. No matter how much it bothers you,” she snapped.

Eli stood up, cleared his throat, and raised an eyebrow. Both Chelsea and Colt looked at him.

“Eli. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.” Colt said while shaking Eli’s hand.

“Yeah, I noticed. I’ll let you two talk. Chelsea, I’ll send Joey by on Monday. Have a good day.” Eli put on his hat and left. Chelsea huffed and turned to face Colt.

“Did he come running to you as soon as I left the barn?”

“Does it fucking matter?”

“Watch your language,” she growled.

“It’s nothing you haven’t heard before. This is a ranch, Chelsea. You need to get used to it. And who’s coming on Monday?”

“Why is that any of your business?” She placed her hands on her hips.

“Because if it’s another ranch hand, I need to know so I can talk to him. So, who is he?”

“A troubled teenager.”

“Great,” he muttered sarcastically.

“You’ve dealt with teenagers before.”

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