Page 79 of More Than a Fling

“No wait—” she held up a hand, “—hear me out. He swears he didn’t set the fire, and he knows that he is the prime suspect. I believe him. He apologized for everything he wants us to find the person who set the fire.”

“How can you believe a word he says? I don’t get it.”

“I just know. I could tell. He didn’t smell like smoke, he wasn’t covered in soot, he looked like he hadn’t bathed for days, he was unkempt and haggard but not from just coming from burning down a barn. It came from being eaten up from the inside.”

“You’ll have to let the police know about his visit. It’s not up to us to clear him.”

“I know but hopefully when I tell them everything I know, they’ll look into it deeper and not make assumptions that it was Bradley,” she said.

“If it wasn’t him then who? I just hope they find the bastard that did this,” he rubbed the back of his neck the fatigue setting in. “I need to get back to the farm,” Gabe said, reluctant to leave Slim and even more so Annie.

Annie kissed Gabe then got up from his lap. “I canceled all of my appointments for the rest of the day. I’d like to sit here with Slim for a while. I’ll stop by the farm later.”

“Yes. By the way, some good news, my offer on the house was accepted. It should be mine in month or so,” Gabe said.

“Congratulations.”

“Annie?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll stay with me tonight?”

“Yes.”

“See you later then,” Gabe said, then paused as if he wanted to say more then changed his mind. He kissed her again then left.

Annie settled down to wait for Slim to wake up.

* * *

Gabe returned to the farm and found Sam and Cal already in full swing, building the shelter overhang area for the horses to stand under. He immediately picked up some tools and joined in.

“What’s the word on Slim?” Cal asked.

“No change, still in a coma,” Gabe said.

Cal shook his head sadly and said, “Any idea of the prognosis?”

“Not really. Pepper thinks he’ll pull through, but just coming off that heart procedure and being so frail, I’m not convinced.”

“Annie said Bradley paid her a visit in the early hours and claims he didn’t set the fire. She believes him. I trust her judgement…so, if not him then who?”

“The million-dollar question,” Sam said.

They worked silently for quite some time, each deep into their own thoughts until Cal said, “I hate to leave you guys to all of this work alone, but I have to be somewhere in about an hour. I’m going to have to take off now, so I have time to go home and clean up.”

“Will you be back later today? It’s kind of bad timing,” Gabe said. “We really need the extra hand.”

“I’ll try my best. I have a doctor’s appointment. I’ve been having some stomach issues,” he explained.

“Can’t stop ya, hopefully it’s nothing serious.”

“I’ve had this appointment for a while, it took forever to get in, sorry about the timing.”

“Hopefully we’ll see ya back here after,” Gabe said.

“I’ll do my best.”

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