Page 10 of Say the Words
“The Unbreakable Ty Hardy got kicked?”
I sure hadn’t started it, but that nickname did bring out a surge of pride. Kicks were part of life in my field, but I had a reputation for avoiding them. I was in charge, and no horse had ever got the drop on me.
All of that changed this morning. I’d just have to hope and pray the story didn’t spawn any new nicknames. “Not unbreakable now. I’ve got a few cracked ribs that say otherwise.”
“Damn. Who got you?”
“Bullet.”
Booker’s laugh rang through the phone. “Bullet? That sweet little thing?”
“Yeah, and that sweet little thing is still standing in the pen where I left him when I went to the Medical Center. I wouldn’t ask you to let him out into the pastures if I was in any shape to do it, and Aaron won’t be back until morning.”
“Sure, I’ll swing by. But you know I have to ask—how did it happen?”
The vision of June standing by the pen came back to me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever forget it. Flowers danced over her knee-length skirt, and the sleeveless top she’d worn had been just tight enough to mesmerize. I had no idea how long she’d been standing there watching me work. For a few glorious seconds, I thought she’d come to me for something other than the wedding.
Instead, she’d come calling to make sure I wouldn’t be an ass to her.
My stomach kicked again over this whole mess.
“I got distracted by a woman.”
Booker hummed a low note, sounding pleased as could be. “I am loving this story already. Who’s the woman?”
I hesitated but couldn’t see much sense in trying to hide the truth. We would all be together in a few weeks, anyway. “June Evans turned up on my property.”
“June? What for?”
“She wanted to check up on me, make sure I’m fulfilling my wedding obligations.” I couldn’t tell him the rest, how she’d wanted to clear the air between us, her request forfriendliness. Everything would be easier the less I said.
“Huh.”
That one little syllable told me plenty. A little too thoughtful, a little too curious. A little tooYou’re full of it.
I’d never shared my interest in June with Booker. Just admitting my feelings for her to my best friend felt like crossing a line, inching closer to giving myself permission to act on those forbidden feelings, so I’d kept my mouth shut. I didn’t have many secrets from him, but I’d held onto that one. Still—we’d known each other going on thirty years. The man knew me better than anyone.
“So you’ll come turn him out?” I said before he could ask more questions.
“Yeah, you got it. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Oh, and Ty?”
“Yeah?”
“Is Glass Ribs a good nickname, or—”
“Just get your ass over here.”
FIVE
june
Okay,so that had been a disaster.
I walked into my parents’ house, amazed at how perfectly wrong everything had gone at Ty’s. I’d driven over there specifically to smooth out potential wrinkles, and instead, I’d created about a hundred new ones. The kick, running him to the Medical Center, my feeble explanation that I just wanted us to play nice for a few hours at the wedding. I couldn’t have designed a worse mess.
