Page 44 of We Redeemed the Rain

I shook my head, fighting the urge to reach for a chaser.

“That pot needs to be tossed. Cade go get some fresh grounds from our cabin for Miss Bea.”

An hour later, I cut the wheel hard right, watching for the fence through the side view mirrors. I eased off the brake, letting the hitch fully straighten, then let the turn unravel, the wheel spinning against my hand.

“Good. Good.” Jesse said from the passenger’s seat where he was squished in with Cade. “You’re doing amazing.”

Once straight, I watched the back-up camera until the trailer doors almost kissed the fence. I put it in park and turned to my passengers with a smirk. “How was that?”

“Real good. One more time.” He pointed across the field to a little fence full of crammed together sheep. “Drive up the road then back up to the green painted fence there. See it?”

“Yeah. I see it.”

I drove up the gravel driveway, where we passed Tag and an older gentleman loading horses into the back of a semi. Tag looked at thetruck, then did a double-take. I smiled and zoomed past him, gassing a little more than I should’ve.

“So, rodeo, huh?” I asked as I drove. “What does Meadowbrook do, exactly? Back in the day it used to be a beef outfitter.”

Jesse nodded. “Yep. It’s only about eighty acres now. Tag is a roughstock contractor. He has a reputation for training some vicious broncs.”

“Broncs?”

“Bucking horses.”

Vicious? Tag used to be so tender with animals. Did he have to mistreat the horses for them to be vicious? I gave my head a light shake. I couldn’t imagine Scribbs ever mistreating anything—especially a horse.

And eighty acres? Didn’t Meadowbrook used to be hundreds? What happened to all the land? There was so much to unpack in what Jesse had told me. I shoved it out of my mind as I put the truck in reverse, a low beeping signal filling the air as I eased off the brake.

I didn’t vocalize any of those thoughts. “Huh. Rodeo horses. How many are there?”

“Forty.”

“Wow. That’s a lot.”

“Yeah, keeping them in tip top shape is a lot of work.”

“How many employees are here?”

“Aside from Tag, there’s me, and a weekend employee.”

I couldn’t stop the physical reaction to his answer. My head jerked backward in surprise. “You and Tag do everything?”

“Sure do. I mean, Tag contracts a trainer, but we do everything else.”

Once I parked, Jesse hopped out and pulled the trailer doors down to load up the sheep. Tag walked across the drive toward us. I rolled the window down, simultaneously annoyed and amused by the frown on Tag’s face. Was he always so cranky?

“What’s goin’ on here?”

“Jesse said you needed a driver.”

“I don’t. I was just about to call Billy and tell him I wasn’t bringin’ the sheep.”

“That’s too bad, Jesse says I’m a natural. Like I got diesel running through my veins or something.” I quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering if he’d remember my dad’s occupation. Years ago, I’d told Scribbs my dad drove trucks. My guess, for reasons I hadn’t worked out yet, was he’d ignore everything about our past and pretend we were strangers.

His jaw clenched, but he turned toward the trailer before I could say anything else.

I quietly slipped out of the seat and followed him, leaving the driver’s door ajar.

Tag said, quiet and hurried, “I told you not to ask her.”

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