Page 33 of Baker
He blinked, then silently nodded. “We can take an ATV.”
“Nope, let’s take some horses. We’ll take our time.”
He followed me to the horse barn like a child being led to the principal’s office by his teacher. I let him saddle Prissy and one of our most gentle geldings, a pretty red appaloosa named Upton. Upton and Prissy got on well—Prissy could be snotty with the other mares—and he was old enough to have seen it all a dozen times over. Nothing rattled Upton.
It took the boy a bit longer than it should have, but I was patient and did my best to use gentle reminders about things as he went. Soon enough, we were on our way. Talking always came easier to me when I was on a horse’s back. Most things seemed to be easier when out on the range with a faithful friend under you and the warm sun on your head. Or maybe that was just me…
12
Chapter Twelve
Prissy and Upton stood silently as Ford and I looked down on what remained of the second old line cabin.
“Well, guess we’ll save costs on having to redo the place,” I commented as my gaze roamed over the old stone foundation and half the old chimney. That was all that was left. The walls and roof were probably somewhere in the next county.
“Told you,” Ford replied, his seat on Upton more relaxed now that we’d put some miles between us and the homestead. The Appy holding him was nibbling on the fresh spring grass shoots as his red tail swayed back and forth. Prissy was staring off into the distance as she was prone to do at times. “It’s a total loss. I told Dodge I could do most of the carpentry work and get her ready for finishing.”
I tossed him a questioning look. “You know that much?”
“Well, I did work for someone back in New York. I was studying and working toward completing my journeyman’s certification when Bella and I came out here.”
A pair of bluebirds flew past, a male and a female, twittering at us as they banked high into the air. Probably they had a nesting site nearby. Most of the trees had been blown down, but a few remained, scraggly blackjack oaks and such. They were known to use the same nesting sites every year.
“Oh right, I recall someone mentioning something about that.” I glanced down at the mess that used to be a cabin. Not much of a cabin, mind you. “Funny that you’d give up such a good future to ride a damn bus all the way to Oklahoma to an unsure future on a ranch. No disrespect, but you and Bella ain’t exactly the sort I’d expected to try to make a go of slinging horseshit on the daily.”
His lips flattened as he stared down hard at the stone chimney. “Sometimes things happen. Bella and I had to leave the city anyway, so when Mom told me about the ranch, it seemed a good place to start over.”
“Right. And why did you two have to leave New York?” I leaned up just a bit to try to see around the brim of his borrowed hat. His shoulders were stiff. Upton shifted slightly under him, probably sensing his rider’s unease.
“Parking tickets,” he blurted out far too quickly.
“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t buying that for a fucking second. I knew lies. Alcoholics were the champions of deception. No one could lie like an addict. “Is that why you and Bella have refused to let Ollie run a background check on you for Dodge?”
He threw me a look that would have incinerated a rock. “You bring me out here to interrogate me?”
I held up my casted arm. “I brought you out here to help, and to talk, yes. Look,” I leaned back in the saddle, just a bit, and flicked my hat back on my head, “I’m not trying to dig into your past. Everyone has shit they’re not proud of. I’m a recovering drunk. I’ve got so many damn skeletons in my closet that on Halloween we just toss my wardrobe and let the kiddies go through for a buck. Scares most of them shitless. Hell, scares meshitless most nights.” Ford seemed to unclench a little. “I don’t even really care why you two come out here on a bus. That’s your past. What I do care about is if that past is going to bite us on the ass. Dodge is dealing with an asshole of an ex-husband who is making him dance on fire to see his own kid. I respect that Dodge is such a good dad. Fuck knows our old man did us all wrong, so I’d like to see a good father be rewarded.”
He nodded, not saying a word, his gaze and lips tight. I sat there waiting. I’d said my piece. He would either talk or not.
“We came out here to get away from a bad ex,” he somehow managed to push through lips so flat it was a wonder he could get anything through them at all. “It’s Bella’s story to tell. But we didn’t come out with the law on us or anything, that I promise you.”
He looked right at me then. I met his look and nodded. “Okay, I believe you. I think you could both let Ollie do a fast background check to make things easier for Dodge.”
“I don’t know him at all,” he said with a frown. “I know Bella. We’ve been friends since elementary school. I’m not agreeing to anything unless Bella says it’s cool.”
“That’s very decent of you. When we get home, why don’t you talk to her about it? I know it would mean a lot to Dodge. And as for not knowing him, I get that. I don’t know any of you dumbasses, but here we are trying to make something good out of the bad shit Cash did to us. We’re trying to rebuild family bonds. Jesus, I sound like Granny.”
Ford chuckled roughly. I could tell that whatever had driven him and his best friend west was something upsetting. He didn’t hide his emotions all that well. I felt bad for Bella if her old boyfriend had pushed her into leaving in the middle of the night on an old Greyhound bus. His loyalty to her was commendable. He may be a city boy, but his heart was pure country when it came to steadfastness for a friend.
“Yeah, you kind of do,” he conceded, and that ended the talk. There was nothing more I could add. I’d done what I could. If they agreed to a check, then fine. If not, I felt bad for Dodge, but I wasn’t going to force anyone into doing something they didn’t feel right doing. That was not the legacy that I wanted for our new and improved ranch.
“So, tell me, Ford, what do you think it would take to get this cabin fixed up for city folks like you to enjoy?”
He squinted down at the rubble. “First thing would be walls.”
That made me laugh so loudly, the bluebirds scolded us twice as strongly.
***
