Page 13 of Winter Vows

“Wouldn’t Slade be better for the job? He’s the expert with horses.”

The old man was undeterred by his logic. “He’s tied up tonight or I’d have asked him. Since you’re free, would you mind? Kelly’s been real worried about a little filly she’s got over there.”

Hardy sensed a trap, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it might be. “Let me clean up, have supper, and I’ll ride on over.”

“Take a shower, if you want, but forget supper. Kelly will have something for you over there. She’s quite a cook. Better than Sweeney any day of the week. She said it’s the least she can do to thank you for taking the trouble to stop by.”

Nothing about this added up. There were a dozen or more men around White Pines who were every bit as qualified to look at that horse as Hardy was, some more so. To top it off, Kelly and Jordan’s daughter, Dani, was a vet. Granted, she dealt primarily with small animals, but she surely could have examined the horse if her mother was so worked up about it. Add in the offer of dinner and Hardy was all but convinced there was something odd going on. He just couldn’t figure out what.

Well, it hardly mattered now. He was committed.

He’d find out soon enough.

“If you speak to Kelly, tell her I’ll be by in fortyfive minutes or so,” he advised Harlan Adams.

“Will do, son. Thanks. It will put her mind at ease, I’m sure.”

He turned and walked off, whistling something that sounded suspiciously upbeat. Harlan Patrick arrived just in time to see him go.

“What was Grandpa Harlan doing here?”

“Beats me,” Hardy said. “Something about a sick horse at your uncle’s. He wants me to take a look at it.”

“And you agreed?”

“Why not? I couldn’t see how I could say no.”

To his astonishment, Harlan Patrick burst out laughing.

Hardy’s gaze narrowed. “Okay, what’s going on? What do you know that I don’t?”

His friend held up his hands and backed off. “Oh, no, I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

“In the middle of what?”

“Nothing. Not a thing.” He winked. “You have yourself a fine evening, Hardy. Something tells me it’s going to be downright fascinating. I might just drop on over to my uncle’s myself. Haven’t seen Jordan and Kelly in ages.”

Harlan Patrick’s gleeful response nagged at Hardy the whole time he was showering and changing into something halfway presentable. When he was ready, he hopped into his pickup and made the short drive to the ranch that had belonged to Kelly’s family for years. She had saved it singlehandedly after her folks died, and even though she and Jordan could have built something far more lavish on the property, they had kept the small, original house and simply added a few luxurious amenities to it. Hardy had been inside on a few occasions and admired the lack of pretension. This was a home, not a showplace.

When he pulled to a stop in front, he debated whether he should just go around to the corral, but finally decided on trying the front door first. As he stood on the porch waiting for someone to answer his knock, he thought he heard crying. Something about the sound reminded him of the wails of another baby, a baby he had held in his arms just the day before.

“Why that sneaky old coot,” he muttered under his breath just as the door opened.

“Hardy, you’re here,” Kelly said just a shade too cheerfully. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you had time to stop by tonight. Come on in.”

He stayed right where he was, still stunned by the baby’s cries. “Why don’t I just go on around back and take a look at the horse. No need to go tromping through the house. Sounds as if you have enough commotion in there.”

Kelly sighed. “I was afraid you’d hear that. Laura doesn’t waste any time letting us know when she’s ready for a meal.”

“Laura,” he echoed, his worst suspicions confirmed. “Trish’s baby?”

Guilty patches of color flared in Kelly’s cheeks. Then her chin went up a defiant notch. She might be an Adams by marriage, but she was as brazen as the rest of them. “Yes. They’re staying with us for a bit.”

“Funny, no one mentioned that to me.”

The color in her cheeks faded, and she actually managed to look totally innocent as she said, “Really? It was hardly a secret.”

“Just tell me one thing.”

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