Page 51 of Cowboy Don't Go

“I’ve got my own,” Cooper said.

“Cooper, I’ll stay out here tonight,” Liam said, “that’s not your job.”

Hesitating, Cooper frowned at the mess. “He’s still out there somewhere on foot in the dark. Stands to reason he’s got a vehicle parked somewhere down the road. Maybe I should—”

“No!” Shay pointed at Cooper. “Neither one of you is going to go chasing down whoever it is in the dark. You stay right here. Tomorrow, we’ll get the sheriff out here to figure things out. Meanwhile, just leave everything as it is. Maybe there will be a fingerprint or two left behind.”

Surely, there was no connection between what Trey had told him and this. Even if Evan Clulagher was foolish enough to return to Marietta, the Hard Eight could hardly be his destination. Could it?

*

If anything had been stolen last night in the break-in, the family couldn’t find it. Aside from the mess the intruder had made, there was seemingly nothing of value missing. Not even the computer was taken. While Deputy Dominic Braehill, a young, thirty-something new hire—had dusted for fingerprints the next morning, he wasn’t hopeful that he’d get much that was usable after eliminating all of theirs.

“I’ll admit, it’s odd that nothing obvious was taken, especially the electronics, but you said he was on foot and possibly just looking for something he could carry easily in his pockets to sell for cash. Y’ know how that goes. If he got spooked, it’s possible he didn’t have time to take what he wanted.” The deputy closed up his kit and headed back to his car with Shay and Cooper following behind.

“As far as the stranger you’ve seen around Marietta, I wouldn’t call that too unusual. It’s nearing the end of tourist season. We’ve got the autumn festival coming up in two weeks. We get all kinds of folks in town as that gears up. Cowboys. Tourists.”

Cooper exchanged a disconcerted look with her. “But you’ll keep an eye out for this guy she described, right?”

“Well, sure. But that could describe a lotta men in these parts, frankly. If you see him again, try to get a plate number or something like that.”

Shay refrained from rolling her eyes. It didn’t surprise her that he didn’t take her seriously. She was having a hard time with it herself. Maybe all of it was her imagination. Except for the break-in of course, which could be merely a coincidence.

They passed the newly acquired horses in the pen and he stopped to admire Kholá and her pretty Appaloosa coloring. “Hey, now, she’s a looker.”

“That’s my son’s horse.” Shay patted Kholá on the neck across the fence. “He’s entering her in the Youth Horse Encounter this year. She’s coming along well.”

Braehill stepped back admiring her with a whistle. “My boy’s got an entry, too. Havin’ the devil of a time with that crazy gelding he’s training, though. Finally got a saddle on him and a minute later, Kevin was flat on his back on the ground. But he’s got a never-give-up attitude. Gotta give him that.”

Shay mused that perhaps the investigation into their break-in could use a little of that never-give-up attitude.

“Well, if we learn anything from these fingerprints, we’ll be in touch. Meanwhile, y’all stay safe.”

“Thanks, Dom. We sure will try,” Liam said, walking up behind Shay and Cooper. As they watched him drive down their long road, he put his arm around Shay’s shoulders. “That was a plain waste of time.”

“Maybe. Maybe it was just a random break-in, and we’ll have to install a better security system. Better locks. Maybe we should consider moving Dad’s office back up to the house.”

Liam nodded. “Good idea. Let’s do it. We can use Will’s old room as the new office. Getting the house security upgraded makes more sense.”

“I can help with the move.” Cooper scratched Kholá under her jaw. “Back up the pickup to the small barn and we can just load it up. Shouldn’t take more than half a day.”

“That’s a half day we can’t spare right now. It’ll have to wait until we can find a minute. Meanwhile, I’ve hired a couple of guys to start bush clearing that trail you and Cooper took up to the spring and that starts today. Cooper, you and I will be finishing setting up the meadow glamping tent site. Shay, install is tomorrow. Truck should be here by eight a.m. with the furniture. Carolyn and Jess Brody arrive next weekend from New England for their mini-honeymoon to try out our first glamping tent experience. Brody is an old friend of mine,” Liam explained to Cooper, “from Marietta. He moved away a few years ago, but he and his bride wanted to be our test couple, trying out our facility. For them, it’s a free weekend with all the fixin’s. My wedding gift to them.”

He went on, “I have another construction crew working on Nuthatch Cottage down the road, that’s getting sheet-rocked today. I need someone to check the fences up in the north pasture, because our neighbor just called to say a few head of our cattle had found their way into his pasture. He rounded them up and drove them back home. But new fence needs to be strung. But after all that’s done, by about two o’clock, my head is scheduled to explode.” His graphic gesture of just such an event made them all laugh.

“Don’t worry about the fence,” Cooper said. “I got it.”

“I’ll go, too. Two of us should make quick work of it,” Shay added. “We can take the Gator up and be done quicker.”

Liam eyed the two of them with a knowing smile. “Yeah. Quicker’s better. Sure.”

Blushing, Shay silently dared him to say anything more. “See you later, little brother.”

“Yup.” He bid a knowing adieu to Cooper with a small finger salute. “Cooper?”

Cooper shook his head and followed Shay to get the supplies.

Chapter Ten

---