Page 10 of Burned & Bound

And if I took that far left path, I’d end up straight at Harrison’s house. That thought made my heart race. I wanted nothing to do with that. It could burn to the ground for all I fucking cared. There was no way I was going back there. I didn’t give a fuck if my old man was dead.

To the stables with me, it was. At least I’d always felt at home around the horses.

The stables were dark when I pulled my truck along the back of the old building. The red wood was peeling and in definite need of cleaning. Even the smell was off as I got out.Fuck, had they not been taking care of the goddamn horses?Hard to believe Jackson would let that happen considering the horses were his mother’s passion project.

I let myself in and let out a sound of frustration as I flipped the overhead light on. The herd had dwindled, and the stable was in crap condition. It needed a damn good cleaning, and the horses needed more attention than they were getting. It pissed me off. They deserved better.

I took a quiet survey as I walked down the center aisle. Most of the horses I didn’t recognize, but there were a handful along the way that I did. Older horses that Mrs. Myles had let me help take care of when I was younger.

Somewhere in the middle of my inspection, I stopped and stared at the horse with her snout hanging over the stall door. My chest tightened painfully. The soft gray leopard Appaloosa watching me was fucking gorgeous.My girl was gorgeous.

“Hey, pretty girl,” I whispered and held my hands near her snout. I wasn’t sure how to approach her.Did she even remember me?Bailey’s ears twitched as she let out a huffy breath. It took a moment but she pushed her nose into my palms. For the first time in a very long time, a genuine smile turned my lips. I ran my hands over her velvet snout as she pushed harder into me. “Oh, I missed you, sweet thing.”

Emotions choked up my throat, and I stepped closer, bringing her head against my chest. The fact that Bailey was still alive surprised me. She had to be twenty years old. Sure, it wasn’t uncommon, but I hadn’t pictured reuniting with her.

Pulling open the stall door, I took the time to inspect her head to toe. Her coat was dusty, her mane and tail needed a good brushing, and her hooves looked in desperate need of trimming. I frowned as I smoothed my hands down her neck once more. How she leaned into me was reassuring.At least I hadn’t quite lost everything.

“I’ve got you, pretty girl,” I promised. “I’ve got all of you.”

CHAPTER 06

jackson

Mickey’s face wasn’t thefirst thing I wanted to see in the morning. I stood in my doorway wearing a pair of sweatpants and nothing else as I waited for my coffee to brew. I scowled at my foreman’s presence in my doorway, but as always, Mickey never flinched.

He did, however, spoil Tess with one too many treats as he stood there. Tess was my red border collie. She was smart as a whip, great at herding, and a big fucking baby for Mickey whenever he was around.

“What the fuck do you want this early?” I demanded.

“Mornin’ to you too, you grumpy shit,” he greeted with that toothy grin of his. “I got a question for you.”

“What?” Without explicitly saying so, I invited him in just so I could get my coffee. He followed, removing his hat and holding it close to my chest.

“What exactly do you want my boys doin’ this mornin’?”

“It’s stables day,” I reminded him. I fucking hated my mother’s horses, but I kept them as an honor to her. All we really needed were a few horses for the men to use to get around the ranch. Keeping a fucking herddidn’t interest me. It was just more work, more money, and more time wasted—things I didn’t need and didn’t have.

“About that,” Mickey began, “West did it all already.”

That sentence both gave me pause and made my blood run hot. I didn’t want West doing a damn thing on my ranch without my permission, and he didn’t have my permission to fuck around with my horses.

“West didwhatexactly?” I frowned. I certainly didn’t give him permission to do shit.And I didn’t need that man waking up before me just to show me the fuck up.

“Oh, he cleaned the stables, but he fuckin’ cleared it all out,” he explained. “Power washed that thing top to bottom. While that dried out, he’s been washin’ and groomin’ the horses. He’s takin’ his time with that one to trim their hooves too.”

I took a long sip of black coffee, doing my damnedest to process what he’d just said. It wasn’t even six.In the fucking morning.

“There ain’t no way in hell he did all that this morning,” I snapped finally. “Not unless he did a shit poor job.”

Which he probably did.As far as I knew, ranch hand wasn’t on his resume of odd jobs. There was no way in hell he knew how to take care of the horses. I highly doubted he remembered all that shit from when we were kids. Sure, West had always taken to my mother’s horses. He’d skip out on the lessons our dads taught us about running a ranch to go spend time with my mom and the horses. He’d lose himself in them for days on end if we let him.

“Nah, he did a damn fine one,” Mickey replied. “It’s lookin’ better than it has in fuckin’ years. “

“Give me five.” I didn’t wait for an answer as I stormed up the stairs. There was no way in hell West pulled off some shit like that. I refused to believe it until I saw it for myself.

It took me less than four minutes to get into clothes for the day. I found Mickey on the porch with Tess eating up every bit of attention he gave her. Snapping my fingers, I tried to get her attention, but she just gave me a judgy side-eye while Mickey laughed.

“Damn dog,” I muttered and didn’t mean it. Mickey just babied the hell out of her, and she lived for every second of it. “Let’s go, Mick.”

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