by Raeann Blake
Clay snorted and shook his head. It scared the life out of him for her to climb on that horse, but he kept his mouth shut.
Hailey led the horse away from the corral then talked to him gently as she put her foot in the stirrup and then swung in the saddle and waited. His ears twitched twice, but nothing else. The slow smile spread across her face as Laine and Shack both chuckled softly and Clay dropped his head.
“Alright. That’s my guy,” she cooed to him as she reached down and patted his neck. “Now, let’s see what you can do,” she said then nodded at Laine to open the corral gate and quickly moved the horse inside to keep the young cows inside from running out. Just as soon as he stepped past the gate, the horse surprised her again when she felt him settle into a ready position with the muscles twitching and poised to move.
Shack nudged Clay’s elbow in surprise. “Would you look at that?” he whispered.
Hailey urged him forward until the cows started to scatter and she isolated one. She concentrated on what she was doing because Soldier moved so quickly that he could easily jump right out from under her if she didn’t. But she couldn’t keep the slight grin off of her face as she and the horse moved as one to keep the cow isolated from the others. The horse spun and canted from side to side to keep the cow exactly where he was supposed to be without any direction from Hailey at all. She finally pulled him back and let the calf run to join the others then repeated it, singling out a different one with the same results.
When she finally pulled him back and turned him back to the gate she flashed a wide smile at the surprised look on every man’s face. And it wasn’t just Laine, Shack, and Clay anymore. They had gathered an audience of several hands behind them.
“I’ll be a sonofabitch,” Laine said quietly. “Who knew that this black bastard could do that?” he said and reached out a hand but quickly jerked it back when the horse nipped at him.
Hailey flatted her lips but more than one of the men around them burst out laughing. “That’s what you get for calling him that,” Hailey said with a little smile.
“I want to take him out and let him run for a reward. Can you ride with me?” she asked as she looked down at Laine.
“Sure. Let me go saddle up, cowgirl,” he said then grinned up at her when she laughed and turned her head back to Clay.
“What do you think of him now?”
“I think he’s safe from the glue factory,” Clay said quietly. It bothered him to watch her ride out with Laine even though he knew it shouldn’t. But it did.
“I know you just got back, but could you ride with us?” Hailey asked.
His head came up to meet her gaze and he looked back down. It was like she could read his thoughts. “I’ve got some things to do. You enjoy yourself. Besides, I owe you a steak dinner and Isobell’s taking the night off. Have a good ride,” he said quietly and started away but then turned back to her.
“That was good riding. You’re really good at that,” he said then walked away. She watched him go then turned her eyes back to Shack.
“I’d like to talk to you some time if that’s okay,” she said softly.
Shack nodded. “Anytime. I’m always around. I understand you’re going on the trail with us. Maybe we’ll have some time then.”
“That would be great,” she said then checked around her to make sure nobody was close enough to hear her then turned back to him again.
“He hurts a lot, doesn’t he? Inside.”
“Yes, ma’am. He does. You enjoy your ride now,” he said and waved a hand as Laine came through the stable doors and immediately mounted.
“Ready?”
“I’m ready,” she said and looked back at the house once before she turned Soldier and fell in beside Laine, kicking him into a canter.
Shack watched them go and turned his gaze back to the porch where Clay was smoking a cigarette. He watched him until he saw his head drop slightly after the pair rode out of sight and he ambled over to him.
“Why didn’t you go with them, son?”
“I got things to do.”
“Nothing that wouldn’t wait. I know you've had a lot going on lately. Don’t sit on the sidelines too long, Clay. A woman like that can only be pushed away so many times before something breaks inside of her.”
Clay stubbed out the cigarette and threw it away then turned an angry glare to him. “Go away, old man.”
He quickly turned and walked in the house without waiting for Shack’s reply then immediately felt bad and walked back out and down the steps to catch up with him.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he fell in beside him.
“I know you didn’t mean it, Clay. Boy, I know you like I know the back of my hand. Oh, damn. Where’d that mole come from?” Shack said as he held his hand up and examined it.
Clay chuckled and shoved him on the shoulder. “See you later.”
“You bet, kid.”
* * *
“Damn, he can fly,” Laine said as they slowed the horses back to a canter then finally to a walk.
“How long has he been here?”
“About three months. Clay’s the only other person who’s even had him out of the yard. He’s a real pill now. Bucks and kicks. Bows up. But he loves you.”
“I love him, too. He’s perfect. We’re going to have a good time on this drive, aren’t we Soldier?” she said then flashed a smile at Laine that slowly collapsed when he wouldn’t look at her.
“Aren’t we? Laine? Clay said I could go,” she said quietly.
“Yeah, Hailey. You can go, but…”
She quickly reined the horse to a stop and waited for Laine to turn back to face her. “Say it,” she snapped.
“Come on, Hailey. Go talk to Clay.”
“Oh, you bet I’m going to talk to Clay. But you tell me now. You saw him in there, Laine. You saw what he can do. He’s bred for this, trained for it. I didn’t even have to tell him what to do. He just did it.”
“Hailey, we’ve never had him out with the herd. He just doesn’t want to take a chance on you getting hurt. That’s all,” Laine tried to explain.
“Get hurt? I’ve done this my whole life. Of course people get hurt. They get hurt all the time. And ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, it’s the rider’s fault. Not the horse. He can do this, Laine. This is not right. It’s not right to keep him locked up in that stall and not let him do what he does naturally. You saw him in that corral. He was ready the second he stepped inside it. Dammit…” she shouted then stopped and took a deep breath when Laine stayed quiet.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Let’s go back,” she said then turned the horse but Laine reached out and grabbed the reins.
“Hailey, wait. Please don’t go in there jumping down his throat. This is the first day I’ve ever heard him laugh in the entire time I’ve been here. This is a good day. Fight your battle, but please don’t take this day away from him.”
She took a deep breath then finally nodded. “I don’t know if it’s a good day or not. But I did get to hear him laugh. And it was nice. I’ll be calmer before we get back. I won’t jump on him. Do you know? What she wanted?”
“Yeah, he told me. He said she wanted a divorce. That’s a good thing, Hailey. It’s a good thing for him. She’s been hanging over him for more than two years now. It’s time that was ended.”
“I know. She damn sure didn’t like me,” Hailey said then had to smile just a little as they started walking the horses back and Laine chuckled lowly.
“Way I heard it was you made sure of that,” he said then gave her his best innocent look.
“And how did you hear that? Clay?”
Laine grinned and shook his head. “Isobell. She keeps me up with what goes on in the house when she thinks I need to know. So I’ll know how Clay’s doing. She sees and hears things that Clay won’t talk about and if it worries her, she lets me know so me or Shack can keep an eye on him.”
“And this worried her?” Hailey asked with a frown.
Laine shook his head and flashed that wide smile at her. “Nope. This one she told me for fun. She said you could have lit a cigarette off of Gail last night at dinner. And she said watching you mess with her head was the most fun she’d had in ages.”
Hailey’s chin came up a notch and she smiled proudly. “Well…to be honest, I didn’t really mean to. I just couldn’t help myself.”
Laine laughed and said, “Uh-huh. Exactly when did he start bringing you coffee?”
“Mind your own business,” Hailey said with a little grin then kicked Soldier into a canter.
* * *
“Clay?” she called when she came through the door.
“In the kitchen,” he called back then took a deep breath before she came in.
“Oh, wow. What a ride. That horse can run like the wind. Have you ever let him run? Oh, damn that smells good. I’m starving. I wish you’d gone with us. Tomorrow you’re not getting out of it. Tomorrow we’ll…”
“Hailey?”
“Yeah?”
“Nothing. I just thought you might need to take a breath,” he said and smiled slightly.
Hailey burst out laughing and went to the sink to wash up. “Did you see him out there? Man he was ready as soon as he stepped in that gate. He’s great. Perfect. He was born and bred to do that. Okay. What can I do?” she asked as she dried her hands then turned to face him.
“Sit. It’s under control.”
“I know. I can set the plates and things out,” she said brightly then stopped when Clay grabbed her hand and pulled it back down.
“Sit,” he said softly then let his eyes drift down to where his hand was around hers and slowly uncurled his fingers and let her go.
“If you have to do something, pour me some coffee. Then sit down and relax.”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a bright smile. She poured two cups and handed him one then went to the bar. She settled in the chair and took one sip then lifted her feet to prop on the stool beside her. She stayed there just a couple of minutes then shifted again and started drumming her fingers on the bar as she took a sip of coffee. It wasn’t long before she started humming and Clay finally burst out laughing.
“Why didn’t you say you don’t know how to relax?” he asked.
“This is relaxed. You should see me when I’m keyed up,” she said innocently.
“Alright. Set the table. Do something. You’re about to blow a gasket over there,” he finally relented and then laughed again when she immediately shot off the stool.
“Tell me about some of those reports,” he said as he leaned back against the counter and watched her move around the kitchen.
“Let’s see. The trend report. If all of your bills were entered into that software by line item, you could have run a trend report for the last six months, twelve months, whatever. As prices go up, so do the lines on the graph that it prints out. If that had been done and you saw that report, you would have seen that spike in prices for those items Yates was overcharging you right away. You can group things together or show the individual items to chart the trend of expenses up or down. Like you could group all of the expenses for tack together and see that you spent twenty-five percent more on tack this month than last month. Or you can see that this month’s expense was five percent below the average for the last twelve months. Run it for thirteen months and you can look at the costs for this month compared to the same time period last year. There are hundreds of different ways to run the reports. The key is getting all of the data in there and then finding which reports work best for you and give you the information you need to spot trouble areas or make decisions about what you should do in the future. Are your ears bleeding yet?” she finally asked.
Clay smiled at her and shook his head. “I swear to God. You can say more words in five minutes than I probably say in an entire month.”
“Is that a polite way of saying I talk too much?” she asked then laughed when his head dropped.
“Damn. Now I’m in trouble and I haven’t even served you your dinner yet.”
“Oh, it takes more than that to get in trouble. It takes something that really rubs me the wrong way to get me really mad.”
When he didn’t say anything but watched her steadily she finally stopped what she was doing and looked up at him.
“What?”
“Like whatever Yates said to you yesterday?”
She immediately looked away and shrugged her shoulders. “Sort of. But the guy at the electronics store and then that truck capped off my trip, so it really wasn’t all his fault.”
“Uh-huh. Come here,” he said and pushed her towards a chair then sat down beside her.
“What did he say?”
“Clay, it doesn’t matter what he said or what I said. We don’t have to deal with him now. And…”
“Hailey. What did he say?” he said a little louder.
She dropped her head and sighed. “He doesn’t like you much I think.”
“Oh I know that. What did he say?”
She rubbed a hand across her head and quietly repeated the things he’d said. She saw his jaw flex several times but he finally nodded when she was done.
“Okay. We’ve got a history. One that goes back to when the old man died. I know he’d like nothing better than to see me go under. But I won’t tolerate him talking to you that way.”
“He didn’t say anything bad to me, Clay. I just…when he started saying what he did my temper just went up and…”
“Sugar, maybe you didn’t understand the last remark he made. You think about it. He’s got the perfect job for you? I’m sure he does. But you won’t like it,” Clay said coldly.
“I understood it, Clay. I grew up with cowboys, remember? He’s the one who wouldn’t like it. I’ve been known to bite,” she said evenly.
She saw his mouth open once then close as he blinked a couple of times and tried not to grin.
“Go ahead and laugh. I know the image flashed in your brain,” she said with an innocent smile then finally chuckled softly when Clay burst out laughing.
“My God. You’re priceless,” he said and shoved himself off the stool and went back to check on the steaks.
“Clay, are you home?”
Hailey sat where she was and leveled a gaze at him. “Another one?” she asked.
Clay shook his head slightly and barked, “I’m in the kitchen.”
Hailey stood and waited when she saw Clay’s face drop into a frown.
“Hey. Oh, I’m sorry. Hello, I’m Kathy.”
“Hailey Lambert.”
“This is my sister, Kathy. Hailey’s the new Business Manager. Who are these two mop headed kids? I know they’re not my nephews. These boys are too big. What’d you do, trade ‘em in?”
“Uncle Clay,” the oldest of the boys said then laughed and ran to him.
Hailey’s heart jumped straight up into her throat as Clay’s face broke into a sunny grin and he crouched to catch both boys to him and hug them tightly.
“Oh, God you’ve grown. Boy, you’re just shootin’ up like weeds. What’s your mama feedin’ you? Fertilizer?” he asked then tickled one of the boys. Hailey could barely breathe but she chanced one glance at the woman who still hadn’t moved. The pleased surprise that was registered on her face made her almost want to laugh out loud herself.
“Who are you and what did you do with my brother?” Kathy finally asked quietly.
Clay laughed again and didn’t answer her, instead talking to the two boys. “So how are you boys doin’ in school?”
“Uncle Clay. We’re not in school. It’s summer,” the oldest one said and shook his head.
Clay laughed and looked up at Hailey. “Hailey, this is Timothy and Taylor. Boys, this is Miz Hailey.”
“Hi, Miz Hailey,” they both said at the same time.
Clay watched her as her eyes lit up and she dropped down to her knees. “Hello. And how old are you? Oh wait. Let me guess. I bet you’re ten and you’re tw
elve.”