Page 10 of The Earl's Wrangler
“You owe me, boy.”There was the tone he was used to.“I brought you into this world….”
“And what?”Randall snapped.“You think you can threaten him?”Damn, he drew himself upward.
“It’s all right,” Sawyer said as levelly as he could.“He’s come all this way for nothing.What happened—did you lose your job?”He saw his father flinch ever so slightly and knew he’d gotten it in one.“And now he needs money.Well, he isn’t getting any of mine.”He was staring at him and ready for a reaction, but he still didn’t see the slap coming.Sawyer took a step back, his cheek stinging.“Dammit,” he said with a scowl, turning back just as his father went down to his knees.
“You treat your son better than that, you stupid git,” Randall swore, hitting Sawyer’s father with an uppercut that sent him back into a sprawl on the concrete.“Get up if you want more, because I’ll be happy to give it to you.”
“What the fuck?”Alan demanded as he raced inside.
“He hit Sawyer, so I took care of the problem,” Randall said as through he’d just put his dishes in the sink.Like this was a normal day and he hadn’t just taken down Sawyer’s much bigger father.“I think this man has had enough and it’s time for him to go.Maybe drive him toward town and toss him in a gutter, where he belongs.”
Alan seemed amused.“All right.What do you want, Sawyer?”
“Him to be gone.”Sawyer’s cheek still stung, along with his pride.He hated that his father had treated him that way, but even more, he hated that others had seen his weakness.That made him wish a hole would open up and swallow him.
Chapter 5
RANDALL SEETHED.Hell, he had no idea where this protective instinct had come from.When Sawyer’s father hit him, Randall had seen red and reacted without thinking about it.No one should hit someone else like that.
He grabbed Sawyer’s father and yanked him to his feet, with Alan on the other side.They half poured him into his truck.“Have you been drinking?”Alan asked, wrinkling his nose.
“What the fuck, man?I got a right to talk to my kid.”
“Not if Sawyer doesn’t want to speak to you,” Randall snapped, yanking away the keys once he fished them out of his pocket.“Alan, call the police.He’s driving while under the influence.”He was furious and wanted to teach this asshole a lesson.
“Please,” Sawyer said, “let him sober up awhile and then get him out of here.The police will only make him stick around, and I want him on his way back to whatever corner of hell he came from.”
“All right,” Alan said.“Go on back to work, all of you.I got this.”He turned back to Sawyer’s father, and Sawyer hurried into the barn.Randall thought about going after him, but Chip took his arm and held him back.
“He needs some time on his own,” he cautioned.
Randall stood still, watching as Sawyer disappeared inside.He wanted to talk to him, but then thought better of it.Maybe Chip was right and Sawyer needed time.But that was so counter to Randall’s nature that he nearly followed him anyway.“Bollocks.”
Chip chuckled.“Yeah.I can agree with that.”
Alan still stood next to the truck, with Sawyer’s father lounging inside, looking about to fall asleep.“Come on.I have the cure for everything sad.”Chip hurried away, and Randall had to rush to keep up.
Chip slipped into one of the small outbuildings off to the back of the yard.Inside, Randall found him smiling as a black dog with a white stripe on her nose lay on her side, nursing a litter of wriggling pups.“This is Mary Jane.And that is her last litter of puppies.I’m having her spayed after this.She’s getting older, and I don’t want the poor girl to have any more.”He gently patted her head.“You’re a good mama.”She panted, and Chip hurried away, then returned with some water and a few treats.
“What are those?”
“I make up bites with a little chicken, some rice, and a few supplements.She loves them, and with the pups, it’s hard for her to get enough to eat, so I feed these to her a few times a day.She’s a special girl.George rescued her and her mama, Daisy, when he first got here.He found them in a culvert.When we first met George, we didn’t know who he was.But he needed help, and he came with Daisy and her four pups.I knew he was a good man back then.Alan didn’t trust him, but that soon changed.”Chip snickered.
“Is Daisy still here?”
Chip shook his head.“She passed away last year.Archie, Mary Jane’s brother, is in England.George and Alan took him back with them a while ago.I got to see him the last time I visited, and he’s a daddy too.Really beautiful dog.”Chip sighed as the puppies wriggled and jostled each other.He reached down and gently picked one up.Its eyes were still closed, and Chip held the pup so gently.It yawned and curled up in Chip’s hands.“You’re going to grow up big and strong.”
“Do you give them aspirations?”Randall asked.
Chip shrugged.“I guess I tell them what I hope.They are cute pups, and their mother is good at the ranch, so they should be.I’ll put the word out that I have them, and folks will give them good homes.I want to keep one, but Mom isn’t convinced yet.”
Randall smiled.“Let me guess.You always want to keep one.”
“Nope,” Chip said smugly.“I always want to keep two, but I figure I can wear Mom down to one.It is a ranch, after all, and I care for them.”
“Yeah, but what about when you go back to school?”
“Then the local vet steps in for me.He and I have a deal.I help him out when I’m on breaks, and he gives me practical experience.I’ve still got a long ways to go, but this is what I want.”
