Page 21 of Holding The Reins

“Hey, Pa respected our differences,” Cole retorts.

“He grew to respect them,” I say. “When you told him you were a Yankees fan, he almost made you sleep in the garage.”

“I believe his words were ‘where did I go wrong?’” Wade chimes in.

“Shut up, y’all,” Cole mutters as we all chuckle over ancient history.

Grief floods my chest in a fresh wave as I remember that he’ll never sit with us and hound Cole again.

“We’re gonna have to talk about it sooner than later, is all I know.” Wade is gruff and speaks matter-of-factly. He’s in deep discussion with Mama and Cole about our need to hire a new horse trainer, as we eat the cobbler Nash brought from Spicer’s.

Our resident horse trainer is adopting twins and needs to take an extended maternity leave. Replacing her will be a bitch, partly because Wade isn’t exactly an easy man to work for.

“How long will Sam be gone?” I ask.

“A year at least,” Wade answers as he rubs his forehead.

Samantha has been with our family since I left for college.

“With Sam gone, I won’t be able to keep up and we have four horses that need to retire. We need someone that can train the new horses and train jumpers, and y’all keep telling me to make another derby run.”

Mama Jo nods, and Wade continues.

“Starting wages aren’t what they used to be, I think we’ll have to offer more to get the best. We want to attract someone who has a lot of experience. I don’t want to spend months training someone fresh.”

“Much as I hate to admit it, he’s right,” Cole pipes up in between bites.

I look over to spy Mabel feeding Harley from the table. She looks up at me but I just wink at her. That tricky dog knows where the money is.

“What are we talking here?” Mama asks.

“Maybe a fifteen percent increase, twenty? It’s a temporary position so we have to make it more enticing,” Wade replies.

Mama thinks for a moment, and then looks to Nash of all people, with the quickest of glances. He locks eyes with her across the table for only a fleeting moment and I swear I see him nod.

“Alright, get it done—we only have a couple months before she leaves,” Mama commands.

“Will do,” Wade retorts in his usual terse tone. “I’d like to have the new person work with Sam until she leaves and have them ready. She also might face an early birth, since it’s twins. I just want to be ready, that’s all.”

I narrow my eyes and look at Nash, he looks back at me but looks away quickly.

Something is up, my Spidey senses are tingling. What the hell have I missed around here? I’m making it my mission to find out why my Mama is looking at Nash Carter before making a financial decision.

In true Ashby fashion, Mama and I sit in the living room after dinner listening to Papa Dean snooze while we get manicures from Mabel and all the boys clean up the kitchen. I can see the three of them in there talking while Cole washes, Nash dries and Wade sweeps the kitchen floor.

“I know this must seem foreign after so long, but you’re in the right place, baby. Andrew turned out to be no good,” Mama says with a wink as she turns to look at Mabel. “And we’re almost even numbered with the boys now that Auntie is home.”

Mabel giggles. “Is that why we didn’t have to watch baseball at dinner tonight?” Mabel asks.

“If it is, I’m glad I could help save you from that.” I grin at her while she paints my nails the most hideous shade of blue imaginable.

I look over at my Mama.

“Speaking of help, what sorts of things has Nash been helping you with since Daddy…” Just saying the words gives me a shooting pain in my chest.

Mama looks away and shrugs. I’m definitely right—something is up.

“Same thing he’s always helped with, he comes three times a week and works with Wade in the stables. We’re short staffed, people aren’t taking jobs in ranching as much anymore.”

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