Page 22 of Colt

Colt swore as he felt sweat rolling down his chest. He leaned the pitchfork against the wall, lifted his hat off, hung it on a nail, then removed his T-shirt, and tossed it onto the stall gate.

He picked up the pitchfork, stabbed at the straw, then dumped it onto the floor. Once he finished with that, he pushed the wheelbarrow out of the stall, picked up the rake, and spread the straw around the stall.

“I can help out here, Colt.”

He glanced at the gate to see Joey there.

“Hey, Joey. How about working on the ones on the other side of the barn? Brian and Jett are in the middle barn.”

“Okay.”

Colt shook his head. He was surprised at how well Joey worked. He’d been quiet at first, but once he got to know everyone, his personality came out a little more. He’d come a long way in a couple of weeks, and Colt was proud of him. A while later, he found him sitting on a hay bale.

“Joey?”

“I’m just taking a break,” Joey said as he quickly got to his feet, but Colt waved him down.

“That’s fine. Do you have water or Gatorade?”

Joey held a bottle of water up. “I go through a lot of these a day here.”

“You have to, or you’ll get dehydrated.” Colt sat beside him on the haybale. “So, how’s it going here?”

“I like it.” Joey grinned. “I didn’t at first, but I like working with the horses.”

“Good. Are you getting along with the men?”

“Yeah, they’re great. Everyone is. Chelsea is so nice to me.”

Oh, boy. Sounded like he had a crush on Chelsea. Colt could see how a sixteen-year-old boy would fall for her. Hell, he was forty-three and close to falling himself.

“She’s a good boss.”

“And beautiful. She has the prettiest blue eyes.” Joey sighed and Colt bit his lip to keep from smiling. He’d never embarrass Joey about having a crush on her.

“How are things with your dad?”

Joey shrugged. “Other than him grounding me for the rest of my life, it’s the same.”

“So, tell me why you took the horses.”

“It was stupid. I didn’t know I’d get into so much trouble. I planned to put them back. I even went back and cut the fence again, but I was too afraid I’d get caught.”

“You did get caught.”

“Yep.” He shook his head and laughed. “I hated Eli with a passion.”

Colt laughed. “He was just doing his job.”

“I know that now, but to be honest, he scared the hell out of me. He’s like you.”

“I scare you?”

“No, I meant because you’re built the same. Tall and muscular. I told him when he came to arrest me that I wasn’t going.” Joey shook his head and grinned. “He told me we could do it the easy way or the hard way but if I thought I could take him, to go ahead and try.”

Colt chuckled. “Sounds like Eli.”

“Do you know him?”

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