Page 9 of The Earl's Wrangler
“The three colts should be arriving in a couple of hours,” Mrs.Justice told him as he closed one of the stall doors.He hadn’t even heard her coming.
“All right.Do you want to see the stalls?I have them ready.”He took her back to where fresh bedding awaited the new arrivals.
“Excellent.”
“And I thought we could put them out in the paddock together.There’s enough room, and they shouldn’t bother each other too much.”
She nodded.“I agree, and once they get settled, you can start training them.All three horses are blank slates, so I want to train them right.And we have plenty of time.I’m not interested in breaking these horses.I want to start them.Get them used to us and working with people.That way once they’re ready for the saddle, they’ll take it easily.”
“What sort of training are you interested in?”
“All three of these horses should be cutters, but you know how things go.Some horses don’t work out the way their breeding says they should.So we’ll start there and let the colts tell us where their strengths are.”
“Sounds good to me.”Sawyer waited to see if she had anything else before returning to work.He finished getting the stalls set up with hay and water.The rest of the horses were out in their paddocks, so it was a good time to get those stalls spot cleaned and fresh bedding laid down.“Is Randall coming out?”he asked before she left.
“He went with George and Alan this morning.”
Sawyer nodded and turned away.It was time to get the job done and stop letting his attention wander to Randall.What he really needed to do was get the man out of his head, and the easiest way to do that was to spend as much time away from him as possible.Sawyer should have been happy not to work with Randall today.Why was he disappointed instead?
ALAN, GEORGE,Chip, and Randall leaned on the paddock fence later that afternoon, watching the horses.“These are the new colts?”George asked with a smile.“They look great.”
“I thought so,” Sawyer said, setting the pitchfork aside before joining them.Thankfully his work was finished for the day, and he could finally take a breather.“They’re just settling in and finding their way around.It will take some time before they’re ready for any kind of training.”
“Mom has a really good eye,” Chip agreed as more of the men gathered to watch the young horses.They frolicked and chased one another around the paddock.It was a great thing to see, and Sawyer found himself smiling as he leaned against the fence, almost touching Randall, but not quite.There weren’t many times when everything seemed to grind to a halt, not on a ranch, but this was one of them.The new horses captured everyone’s attention.Sawyer turned to find a smile on Randall’s face, and it stayed in place when he looked at him, the two of them sharing the contentment of one of the simple joys of life.
These moments never lasted long enough, and the crunch of tires on the gravel drive pulled Sawyer’s attention.An old, dented truck with spots of rust marring the faded black paint came to a stop near the barn.The others turned as well.Alan pushed away from the fence.“Can I help you?”he asked as he strode toward the truck.
A voice Sawyer had hoped he’d never hear again answered just as he turned back to the colts.Instantly, he straightened, tightness forming in his belly and running down his back.“Who is that?”Randall asked from next to him.
Sawyer swallowed and slowly turned around, staring at the barrel-chested man with gray hair and stone-cold eyes.“My father,” he answered, the words turning to chalk in his mouth.As much as he wanted to turn and walk away, he knew he couldn’t leave Alan or anyone else on the ranch to deal with the old bastard.“What do you want?”he asked as he approached.
“Is that any way to greet your old man?I haven’t seen you in—”
“Four years and three months,” Sawyer spat.“So I’ll ask again, what do you want?”He refused to turn away from him.Sawyer was no longer a child, and even though years of conditioning tried to kick in, he refused to let them take hold.
“Do you want us to make him leave?”Randall asked from right next to him.He hadn’t even realized he was there.“We will if that’s what you want.”He wasn’t loud, but the force in his voice gave Sawyer strength.
“No.I just want to know why he’s here.”He never took his gaze off the man.He didn’t dare.
“Can’t a father stop in to say hello to his son?”his father asked in a gentle tone that Sawyer knew was completely false and only for the benefit of the others around.
“They can, butyoudon’t.You want something, so you may as well spit it out.”He clenched his fists and then released them.
“Why don’t we give them a chance to talk?”Alan said, guiding the others away.
Sawyer was grateful.The last thing he wanted was to have an audience for a conversation with his POS father.
“Fine.We can talk in the barn,” Sawyer said, leading his father out of the yard.At first Randall held back, but Sawyer turned toward him, and Randall followed.
“I’d like to speak to my son alone,” his father said to Randall, who folded his arms over his chest, doing his best imitation of a cowboy.
“And I’d like to be a prince of the realm, but that isn’t going to happen either.”Damn, his accent came out even more when he used his formal drawing-room voice.“It’s clear that Sawyer doesn’t want to speak to you or see you, so it’s best that there is a witness.”
Sawyer cleared his throat.
“Who’s the uppity fella?”
“Oh,” Sawyer said.“That’s Randall.He’s the Earl of Plymouth, apparently.The man who suggested we speak privately is married to the Duke of Northumberland.”He flashed a quick smile.“Yeah.You wandered into the part of Wyoming that’s just chock full of cowboy nobility.Tell me what you want so I can go back to my life and you can get the hell out of here.”
