Page 56 of His Fresh Start Cowboy
Hugo resisted looking at Brand, whose back was to them both, a little surprised by that tidbit. And yet not. Brand had come up with a good way to get them away from the main ranch so they could talk (among other things). The fact that Brand wasn’t much of a camper was both amusing and endearing as hell. “Brand did pretty good out there. Might have only been one other person, but being surrounded by dozens of steer makes it seem a lot less lonely.”
“Not my fault I got bit by a snake the first time me and Rudy camped out with the herd for two nights,” Brand said.
Hugo made a mental note to ask later if Brand was afraid of snakes, because that could be fun blackmail material.
Wayne laughed. “Come on, let’s get up to the house and wash for supper. Hugo, you up for a home-cooked meal after three days of canned stew?”
“I appreciate it, sir,” Hugo replied with a shake of his head. “But I am dog-tired and just want my bed for a long while. I appreciate the offer, though.”
“No trouble. And you take tomorrow morning off if you need the extra rest.”
“Thank you. I might take you up on that.” If nothing else, a few more hours to let his ass rest before riding again sounded like a terrific idea. “Be back around lunch?”
“See you then.”
Wayne headed down the length of the barn, leaving Hugo and Brand alone near the tack room. Once Wayne was nearly out of the barn, Hugo asked, “Snakes?”
Brand groaned. “I was thirteen, okay? And maybe it wasn’t poisonous but the bite hurt like hell. The dogs and barn cats do a great job of keeping snakes and vermin away from the barn and house, but out on the plains...yeah.”
“So you suffered your fear of snakes for me?”
“No.” He tilted his head, unable to hide a shy smile. “For us. The us we could possibly be.”
Hugo pulled back hard on his urge to kiss Brand. “Thank you. So I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow?”
“Definitely. Rest up, Hugo.” Brand winked, then went down the opposite end of the barn.
After taking a moment to admire Brand’s departing backside, Hugo turned and headed for his scooter. Riding home on that thing was only slightly more comfortable than a saddle, but he managed. And he was surprised to see a sheriff’s car parked behind Elmer’s pickup. Hugo parked his scooter near the trailer and stood by it for a moment, torn between wanting to make sure Elmer was okay and not wanting to intrude on a private matter.
Before he could make a decision, the house’s screen door opened, and Elmer and Sheriff McBride stepped outside. They must have heard the scooter’s engine, because both men headed in his direction. Curious, Hugo met them in the yard about halfway. “Everything okay, Elmer?” Hugo asked.
“Something ain’t quite right, no,” Elmer replied, his voice thin and his face pinched. “My coin collection’s gone missing. A couple thousand dollars’ worth of gold and silver, a lot of them passed down from my own grandfather.”
“Holy shit. Did someone break in?”
“No sign of forced entry,” Sheriff McBride said in a stern tone. The man was tall and thick all over, and he had the kind of openly suspicious stare that made Hugo feel as if he’d committed a crime simply by existing. This was also the hard-ass who’d made sure Buck went to prison for assaulting a deputy, but this definitely wasn’t the time to thank the man for that. “But Mr. Pearce also admits to not always locking up when he’s running errands or out in his shop.”
“Wow, that’s a shitty thing for someone to do.”
“How long have you been residing on the property, Mr. Turner?”
Hugo blinked dumbly for a few seconds. “Um, since late February. I work up at Woods Ranch.”
“So Mr. Pearce tells me. Does the ranch pay well?”
“It pays fine, Sheriff, and I don’t—Wait.” He cast a helpless look at Elmer, who wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You don’t think I stole your coins, do you? I swear I have never been inside your house when you aren’t home, too. Not even to do laundry.”
“I’m simply covering my bases,” Sheriff McBride said. “Can you account for your whereabouts these last three days?”
“Sure, I can. I’ve been camping out with the organic herd with Brand Woods, way out in the north pasture. You can verify that with Brand and Mr. Woods. Rem, too, when he gets back, because him and Alan Denning relieved us a few hours ago.”
“I haven’t seen the lights on in the trailer these last few nights,” Elmer said.
“So you obviously weren’t around to see if anyone suspicious was lurking about?” Sheriff McBride asked.
“No, I wasn’t,” Hugo replied. “I don’t know when the coins went missing, but even before the camping trip, I don’t recall seeing anyone lurking around the yard or the house. Elmer almost never has guests, just the mailman and occasional package delivery.”
“All right. In the interest of putting the matter of your possible involvement to rest, do you mind if I search your trailer?”
