Page 6 of Brim Over Boot
“New client special. First shoeing is free! You and your horse will appreciate the Darling touch. Call today.”
“Colton goddamn Darling,” I mutter, shoving the newspaper closed. “First shoeing forfree. Fuck.”
My uncle winces, not even needing to vocalize his thoughts. That’s going to cost me clients.
“It’s just business,” he says, doing his best to soothe my rattled nerves.
I shake my head, tossing the paper in the recycling bin. “He’s got plenty of business. This is personal. It’s always personal with him.”
My uncle holds his tongue until I’ve sat down beside him, my own plate in front of me. “You could always head back to Lincoln. There are plenty of farms and cattle ranches down there in need of a good farrier.”
“We’ve got farms and cattle ranches here. I’m not leaving.”
He shrugs, and I shovel a bite of eggs into my mouth, my thoughts stuck on the man who’s gone out of his way to make sure I feel unwelcome here in Darling. Well, he should damn well know by now he’s not going to run me off.
Colton Darling may have been born in this town. He may have the perfectDarlingname backing his reputation. But I won’t be coerced into leaving the only family I have left by a pompous man-child who wouldn’t know a balanced shoe if it hit him upside the head.
I’ll figure out a way to put Colton in his rightful place one of these days. To reveal thegolden boyfor the uncaring, selfish ass he is.
This town, it’s my home.
And I’ll fight to keep it.
Chapter 3
Colton
‘Whataboutthisone?’my brother signs before tapping the white hat on the rack in front of us. He’s wearing his processor over the back of his ear, but I sign back without asking whether or not it’s on.
I don’t mind ASL over voice one bit, and Remi prefers the former.
‘I’m not sure,’I tell him.‘I think I like brown better.’
I’m also fairly certain Noah wears a white hat, and there’s no way I want to match him, on purpose or incidentally.
Remi pulls one of the brown hats off the rack with a question in his eye. Nowthatone I like just fine. He passes it over, and I weigh it in my hands before trying it on.
‘What happened to your other hat?’Remi asks, his motions loose and distracted as he eyes a few baseball caps nearby.
I groan,reallynot wanting to answer that.
Remi looks back at me with a raised brow.
‘Heather,’I finally spell.
‘The girl you…’
He doesn’t finish his sentence, but he bounces his eyebrows in an obvious manner.
‘The girl Iusedto,’I correct.‘This was just a…slip.’
Heather and I dated briefly last year. We cut things off before it got too serious, a mutual decision. Guess I was just feeling a little lonely the other night when I ran into her at The Barrel, our town’s one and only bar. Unfortunately for me, unless I want to gobackto Heather’s, my hat will remain forever lost.
Remi snorts.‘Get the brown one. Looks good.’
I nod, plucking the hat off my head.
‘Your hair’s getting long,’my brother adds idly.‘Want me to cut it?’
