Page 96 of Love in the Wild

The mention of Hadley had Gage looking around for her before remembering she wasn’t here. In his sweep of the place, his attention focused on a blonde woman grooming a horse at the other side of the barn.

Jess Patton. It had been years since he’d seen her, but she looked the same as she had in school. Her hair was a shade lighter than Brett’s, but there was a resemblance in their stance.

Gage kept walking beside Mr. Chambers as their path continued toward Jess.

The old fire stoked in Gage’s middle, but the anger burnt fast and died quickly. Why should Gage have anything against Jess Patton? He’d never even spoken to her, and she hadn’t done anything bad to him or his kin.

That he knew of.

Mr. Chambers stopped beside Jess, and she looked up at him with a faint smile before her attention shifted to Gage. With that movement, her expression morphed into something wary and alert.

“Jess. This is Gage Howard. He’s gonna be helping with the horses for a little bit. Which one needs grooming next?”

Well, that was news to Gage. He’d never touched a horse in his life.

Jess nodded. “Yes, sir.”

As soon as she walked off, Mr. Chambers slapped a hand on Gage’s back. “One thing you should learn is how to be the same person with everyone. It’s easy to be nice to the people you like, but what about the people you don’t like?”

“You mean the Pattons.”

“And everyone else. You’re not going to get along with everyone, but you’ll never find out if you could if you don’t give it a fighting chance.”

Gage nodded. “Noted.”

Jess returned leading a brown horse with a light mane and tail over to them.

Mr. Chambers greeted the horse and brushed his weathered hand over its neck. “You ready for the lesson?”

“This is the lesson?” Gage asked.

“Yep.”

Holding up the Bible, he asked, “What about this?”

Mr. Chambers furrowed his brow at Gage. “What about it?”

“Why’d you give it to me if we’re not going to use it?”

“You will, and I want you to get used to carrying it around.”

Gage shook his head, but a grin spread on his lips. At least Mr. Miyagi was full of surprises.

29

GAGE

Gage finished filling out the paperwork for Ted and handed over the clipboard. “Just sign at the bottom, and it’ll probably be ready in a couple of days. We’ll call you.”

Ted Finch quickly scribbled on the line and eyed Gage as he handed the clipboard back. Gage had seen the guy around town plenty of times, and he always had a cynical look in his eyes. He was used to being watched, so the guy’s skepticism wasn’t anything new.

“Thanks. Tell Beau I said hello.”

“Yes, sir. Thanks for bringin’ it by,” Gage said as he tipped his head toward the beat-up Ford in the bay. “We’ll take good care of her.”

Ted nodded and turned to leave without any fanfare.

Gage headed to Beau’s office where he found his boss sitting in front of the computer. His eyes were glazed over like a hot donut.

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