Page 29 of Wild, Wild Cowboy

I tilted my head, studying him. “Is that why you picked a fight with your brothers? Because of a horse?”

He turned his head like he was more concerned with the view outside the kitchen window than our conversation. His throat moved as he swallowed. “It wasn’tonlythe horse. Lots of shit makes me angry these days. In my defense, if my brothers don’t want to get hit, then they shouldn’t be assholes.” When he looked at me again, that smirk was back on his face.

This time I let him keep it. “All right. Let’s go save your horse, then.”

He shook his head. “If it were that easy, I would have done it already. But there are dozens of auction pens west of the Mississippi, and they could have dumped him at any one of them. If he’s not already in Canada or Mexico, that is.”

I already had my phone out and Jeremiah’s text conversation open. “My brother is great at finding things. Alive or dead.”

Zack grasped my waist right above my hip bones, lifted me off the counter, and set me back on my feet. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, but don’t get your hopes up. Looking for a horse in an auction pen is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Now it was my turn to smirk. “You don’t know my brother. He’ll find him.”

Hopefully alive. I had the feeling Hurricane Red’s death would hurt Zack more than his stomping had.

“Hope you like tacos,”Ted Hale said as Zack led me into the kitchen.

“I love them,” I said. The smell was making my mouth water.

“Good.” Ted’s blue eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled at me. “Because that’s what we’re having.”

Ted’s way of saying ordinary things that made you feel like it was an inside joke just between the two of you that reminded me of Zack. He looked like Zack, too, or what I imagined Zack would look like in another thirty-five years. His hair was thinner and a whole lot grayer, and he was a little thicker in the middle,but he was still tall and leanly muscled, and his smile was open and easy. We had met a few times before, but this was the first time I’d seen him standing next to Zack, and the similarities were astounding.

“Wow, you really said copy paste with your sons, didn’t you?” I said. “Zack is your spitting image.”

Ted chuckled softly. “You haven’t seen Jenny. All our boys look a little like me, but Zack takes after her in ways I can’t put my finger on.”

“I’ll show you her picture after dinner,” Ben, Zack’s nephew, piped up. “We’ve got lots of photos. There’s some of Uncle Zack, too.”

“Hannah doesn’t want to look at our photos, bud,” Zack said. “She doesn’t know any of those people.”

“I do want to look at your photos,” I said. “I absolutely do.”

“Yes!” Ben shouted, with more enthusiasm than I expected.

“Ben’s been looking through the family photo books for a project for his history class,” Adam explained. “Now he’s obsessed with the history of Aspen Springs and the Gold Rush.”

“Really?” I said. “We’ve got tons of resources at the library. Stop by sometime, and I’ll show you some old newspaper articles I found.”

Ben’s face lit up. I had the feeling he was going to show up sooner rather than later.

“Did you get the drain figured out, Zack?” Ted asked as we gathered around the dinner table.

I froze halfway in my seat and my gaze skittered to Zack.Do not start World War Three, I silently compelled him with my eyes.

But Zack just grinned. “Had a minor setback, but I’ll take care of it right after dinner.”

Apparently the thing that had brought the Hale brothers to blows not even two hours ago was no longer a big deal. I glancedaround the table to James and Essie, then Adam and Brax, but no one seemed to think anything was amiss. Maybe this was just how things were with the three brothers. They fought it out and then got over it.

Maybe.

Zack was his usual self through dinner. Charming, mischievous, always ready with a teasing smile or joke. But I had seen through the cracks in the humor he wore like a shield. Maybe he didn’t care about that stupid drain anymore. Maybe he really was over it.

But…

Every horse. Every ride.

There were some things Zack never got over at all.

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