Page 61 of Blame It On Midnight

“He doesn’t have a barn name. Just the registered one and it’s a mouthful.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Well, his father is Steel Hammer Smith, and his mama is Shiloh Falls Fast And Runs.” Ryland shrugged. “Blue?”

He chuckled and nodded. “Simple is good, and that suits him. Blue it is.” His brother headed to the house, and it was a couple of hours later that he and Nora made it back up. They both showered, and while she pulled on her sparkly dance clothes, he checked his phone, but there was nothing. He hadn’t heard from Collins since the day before, and she generally sent him messages in the mornings. He’d gotten used to them. He figured she was busy.

His finger hovered over her contact icon, and while he debated whether or not to send her a message, Ryland appeared, keys in hand. The kid’s eyes were bright and he sure didn’t look like he’d been on the road for hours.

“You have a funny look on your face.” Ryland grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Huh?” He glanced at his brother.

“Just saying.” Ryland took a swig. “You still seeing Miss Sports Illustrated?”

He frowned. “Collins?”

Ryland nodded. “She was on the cover last year. I know you’re an old man and all, so you might not know what that is. But it’s this special magazine that?—”

“You can stop now.” He stood a bit straighter. “You think I can’t kick your ass from here to?—”

“I have it on my phone if you care to see. I saved it as a screensaver.” Ryland’s grin widened, and something dark unfurled in Benton’s gut.

“Don’t fuck around with this.” His voice was low but coated with something mean and dark.

Ryland’s grin faltered.

“Daddy, you said a bad word.” Nora stood a few feet from the men, her eyes wide. “Like that’s the baddest one. You need to put a fiver in the swear jar.”

He held Ryland’s gaze a beat longer, then turned to his daughter. “How do you know about the swear jar?”

“Because you boys are always swearing.” Her reply hit that sweet spot of light and cheekiness; enough to make Benton glance at his brother one last time.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to be such an asshole.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ryland headed for the door. “You like her. I get it.” He paused, a bit of the devil on his face. “Does this mean I have to delete my screensaver?” He ducked out before Benton could reply.

“You ready?” he asked Nora.

“Yep.” Her hair was freshly brushed, and she was wearing a pink sparkly body suit, with a purple tutu. On her feet, her favorite blue cowboy boots. “

“I’ve got your dance shoes.” He grabbed the bright pink bag from the table, dug through it, and found a hair tie. “You might want to use this.”

“And my water bottle?”

He nodded.

“My bag of grapes?”

“Yep.”

“The bag of carrots, too?”

Again, he nodded and pointed toward the door. “I even tossed in some celery with peanut butter.”

An hour later, he pulled into Miss Nancy’s School of Dance. Nora grabbed her bag and hopped out. “Are you coming in to watch me?”

He’d planned on heading over to the Sundowner while she took her class, but the look on her face was so hopeful he couldn’t say no. “Sure am.”

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