Page 126 of Nate

After sending it to the men in an email, he also printed it out. He pushed his chair back, stood, walked to the printer and removed the paper, then he opened the door, strode across the barn toward the corkboard, and pinned the paper to it.

“It’s cooled down a lot since the weekend,” Jobe said from beside him.

“Yeah, but it is September. Nice temps one day, snow the next.” Nate grinned.

“How did the race go?”

“Rafe won. I knew I wasn’t going to, but since I entered, I wanted him to. That horse of his is so fast.”

“I can’t believe he beat Warren.” Jobe laughed.

Nate chuckled. “I think Warren knew he had a challenge on his hands, but he didn’t care. It’s all for fun anyway.”

“I didn’t think any horse could beat Blaze.” Jobe shook his head.

“I had a feeling Rocket could. I don’t think I’ve seen a faster horse.”

“I’d better get busy. The guys need to get started. I’ll talk to you later, boss.”

“Alright, Jobe. I’ll be around. If you need me, you know how to find me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nate watched Jobe leave the barn and headed back to his office when he got a message on his phone. He removed it from his pocket to see a text from Markie.

Hi!She sent a heart emoji with it, making him smile.

Hey, darlin’. How’s your day?

Good. I just wanted to say hi. I was thinking about you.

You’d damn well better.

I’ll see you Friday.

Yes, ma’am. I love you.

I love you too.

I know.He grinned when she sent a heart emoji.

At the end of the day, Nate strode through the barn to head for his truck. When he walked toward it, he saw he had a flat tire.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, hating the idea of changing it.

With a heavy sigh, he squatted down to see if he’d run over a nail, but he saw a slash in it. Someone had deliberately cut the tire, and he had no doubt who it was. But how did Knowles know where he worked? Unless he followed him and Markie from the fair on Saturday, or when he’d been in town before for the pills.

Nate straightened up and looked around. He didn’t like the idea that Knowles could be out there, right now, watching him. He changed the tire as quickly as he could, then drove home, pulling into the garage.

After pushing the remote to close the door, Nate stepped from his truck, entered his house, and locked the door behind him. In the years he’d lived here, he had never locked his place, now he made sure he did anytime he left.

He made his way to the bathroom to shower, then he’d get something to eat. He was damn tired. It had been a long day. No one left before eight this evening. One of the combines broke down. Nate ran to town for parts, while Jobe worked on getting the broken parts off.

When Nate returned, it took them a few hours to get it running again and then they had to do the rest of the chores around the ranch. He did his part because otherwise, they’d still be working.

After his shower, he headed back toward the kitchen to make a sandwich. He was too tired to cook anything. He just wanted to eat, then go to bed.

He wasn’t sure about telling Markie about the tire. He knew it would just scare her and he never wanted to do that, but he needed her to keep an eye out for Knowles. After eating, he walked toward the bedroom, crawled under the covers, closed his eyes and drifted off.

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