Straddling the Fence

by Annie Evans

  “We got an order for twenty-five rolls of hay. I need you to help me load, then pull one of the lowboys.”

  “Where to?”

  “Dawson.”

  So an hour’s drive there, an hour to unload and bullshit with the buyer, then an hour back. The afternoon was shot to hell, but at sixty dollars a roll plus delivery charges, he wasn’t going to complain…much.

  “What’s Sage doing?” Eli asked.

  “Damned if I know. Said he had to make a trip to Athens. He left thirty minutes ago.”

  “I’ll remember that the next time he’s expecting a draw on our hay profits.”

  Fritz headed for his truck, tossing over his shoulder, “I’ll meet you at the hay barn in an hour.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tucker Lindley was one good-looking guy. Bellamy didn’t find him quite as attractive as Eli, but he had that All-American vibe going for him—dirty-blond hair, pretty blue eyes, devilish dimples when he smiled.

  They grew them big and ripped around these parts, and their momma’s were raising them up right because she’d never seen better manners anywhere. There was a lot to be said for men who behaved like gentlemen, even as they were coaxing you out of your panties, which Tucker wasn’t currently doing, but still. He was charming and sweet, with a body built for hard work and harder playing.

  He was also full of shit.

  Oh, he was trying hard to play it cool and convincing, but Bellamy wasn’t buying a word of his tale about how he came to be in possession of one very familiar-looking paint gelding. Something about randomly approaching the old man who owned him and asking if he’d be willing to part with the horse, which might’ve actually happened—but by Eli, not Tucker. The timing was too coincidental.

  However, the story he gave her about how he’d acquired the five-year-old, buckskin-colored quarter horse standing next to the paint was probably one-hundred-percent true. It was reassuring to know the paint would now have a buddy though, in addition to a good home. Already they seemed to be getting along.

  Bellamy gave both animals a thorough physical examination, finding nothing that couldn’t be made better by proper diet, exercise and a little TLC. As a precaution, she drew blood and took stool samples to send off to the lab she used in Athens. She wormed them, administered their necessary vaccinations, and recommended a few types of feed and minerals to help them get healthier. The cuts and scratches on the paint were cleaned, and Bellamy gave Tucker a tube of ointment that would help keep the tissue moist and aid with healing.

  “So, do they have names?” Bellamy asked, removing her latex gloves and tossing them into a bucket with her supplies.

  “This is Huckleberry. Huck for short,” he said, patting the neck of the quarter horse. “And that’s Soldier. The previous owner was calling him General, but he doesn’t look like a General to me.”

  Bellamy scratched the paint’s nose, already halfway in love with the affable beast. “Soldier suits him better.”

  “I’ve got a farrier coming out tomorrow to trim and re-shoe their hooves,” Tucker offered. “He comes highly recommended by some friends I trust in Americus.”

  “Good. If he discovers anything he thinks I should know about, feel free to give him my number.”

  “I will.”

  “Nice job on the barn and stalls, by the way.” It was small by Carter Farms standards, but everything looked new and well put together. Like there’d been some real thought and planning put into the construction instead of just throwing something up last minute. Compared to the paint’s previous home, his new digs would probably look like the Ritz Carlton. And she was thrilled to see that Tucker went with American wire fencing over barbed wire. It was much easier on horsehide.

  “I’ve been working on it along and along when I had the time. Even ran both hot and cold water lines. Still have to hang permanent lights, but I’m happy with how it turned out. I had good help finishing it, though.” Tucker grinned sheepishly.

  “The same person who helped you acquire the paint horse?” Bellamy shielded her eyes with a hand and watched the ruse melt right off Tucker’s face.

  “I promised I wouldn’t say anything, Doc.”

  “Well, you didn’t. But did you really think I wouldn’t know?”

  Tucker shrugged. “I figured you’d recognize the horse, but hopefully buy my story.”

  “And the whole truth is…?”

  “Eli approached his neighbor, old man Herman Fuller, earlier in the week about Soldier. Herman was grateful to be rid of him since he wasn’t able to take care of him properly. He didn’t want the horse to begin with. His niece dumped him off after her teenage daughter grew bored and inattentive.”

  “Happens too often, I’m afraid,” Bellamy said.

  “We had horses when I was a kid, then my dad lost his job and money got tight. Naturally, the first things to go were the animals that ate as much as we did. Hurt like hell, but you didn’t argue with my dad. Now that I’m out on my own, making decent money and my house is finished, I can finally have ’em again.”

  She could hear the pride in his voice at the end. They apparently had something else in common outside of a love for horses—a father whose word was law. Hard to miss that tinge of bitterness as well. Bellamy didn’t want to dig too deep at a sore spot, though. “I’m sure you’ll take good care of them.”

  “You ride?”

  “A little, although I’d be rusty as hell if I mounted up right now. I’m probably still considered a novice since my riding has been sporadic over the years. Mostly in college and a few times while I did my residency at an equine hospital in Athens.”

  “Consider this an open invitation, Doc. Rusty or not, anytime you wanna ride, you’re welcome.”

  The offer landed like a fuzzy blanket around her heart. Everyone in Serenity was so warm and friendly, downright welcoming. Not that she hadn’t made plenty of casual friends in college and found people nice all over. But here it just felt different, like she’d never been a stranger. With any luck, the acceptance would trickle over into the professional side of her life.

  “I appreciate that, Tucker.”

  “Now that they’ve both been checked over, I’m going to give ’em a good bath while the sun is out and it’s warmer. Might want to figure up my bill before I start slinging water and suds.”

  Bellamy made a quick trip to her truck, returning in less than five minutes with the invoice. He took one look at the number scratched on the bottom and started shaking his head.

  “Aw, come on, Bellamy. You’ve gotta charge me more than fifty bucks.”

  “No, I don’t.” When he tried to hand her back the bill, she pushed it away. “That’ll cover the lab fees and the salve for Soldier’s cuts. The rest is on me, no arguments.”

  “Well, damn. I don’t know what to say. Except thanks.” He fished his wallet out and handed her the money, which she stuffed into her back pocket.

  “It’s not easy being a softhearted vet sometimes, especially when I see animals I know aren’t being properly cared for,” she said. “You can thank me by treating these two like princes.”

  “I plan on it. Might even get a few more as time goes on.”

  She studied Tucker’s patch of land. It was mostly rolling pasture dotted with clumps of trees, maybe twenty or thirty acres all totaled, with a small area cleared around his house. Plenty of room for more horses.

  “You don’t farm?” she asked.

  “No. Right now I work for the John Deere dealership in town, selling tractors and equipment to farmers while I’m finishing up my bachelor’s degree at night.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s your major?”

  He grinned wryly. “Agriculture.”

  “Nice,” Bellamy said. “There’s a lot you can do with that degree.”

  “I’m leaning toward land and livestock management, but I wouldn’t mind a job with Peach State Seed and Soil either.”

  She’d heard of Peach State, one of the largest agricultural
supply and consulting companies in the state of Georgia. “How close are you to graduating?”

  “Nine credit hours, which doesn’t sound like much, but with holding down a full-time job and taking night and online classes, it seems to be taking forever.”

  “I know that feeling.”

  Tucker adjusted the bridle on Huckleberry, then began gathering up the bathing supplies from a small room near the end of the horse stalls. “I bet. You went to school for how long?”

  “Almost ten years, when internships, externships and residency are factored in. I knocked out my bachelor’s in three while working thirty hours a week at a horse farm outside Athens. Getting into vet school is harder than getting into medical school, so I grabbed any industry experience I could get, even if it was mucking stalls and hauling feed. On the plus side, I got to help with breeding and foaling.”

  Shoving the sleeves of her Henley up her arms, Bellamy started to rinse her hands off in the hose, then changed her mind and decided to help Tucker wash the horses. Her schedule was clear for the rest of the day, and she wasn’t supposed to meet Kai and Grace at Sam’s until eight. That left plenty of time to kill. Eli was busy, had been all week for the most part, cleaning out a barn with his brothers for Ruby’s upcoming surprise birthday party, and apparently helping Tucker finish his barn. They’d talked on the phone almost every night, but he’d sounded exhausted, as he should be, so she hadn’t pushed for more. Didn’t mean she hadn’t missed him.

  Tucker didn’t balk at her silent offer of help, he just handed her a sponge and sat the bucket of warm soapy water between the two horses where they could both reach it. Soldier shifted nervously at first until Bellamy petted and murmured to him, trying to soothe his anxiety. He eventually calmed, dipping his head into the bucket of feed pellets Tucker hung on the fence, and she began washing him in slow, easy strokes.

  “How long have you known Eli?” she asked after a bit.

  “Gosh, since we were little kids. I’m the same age as Fritz—twenty-seven, if you didn’t know—so Eli’s older, but the age difference has never mattered much. Where one went, we all went.”

  “And when one got into trouble…?”

  “Yep, usually all of us followed there too.”

  Bored teenagers, a small town with nothing to do but seek out mischief as a way to blow off steam. She could imagine them skipping school, finding a mud hole to bog their trucks, buying beer with a fake ID and chasing girls. All in the name of youthful fun and an overabundance of testosterone, and there was nothing wrong with that. Just a part of boys growing up.

  It made her wonder how old Eli was when he lost his virginity. Probably much sooner than her twenty.

  “You single, Tucker?” Jesus, why are you being so nosy?

  “Sure am. Why? You got somebody in mind for me?”

  Bellamy chuckled. “Just wondering. I don’t know any women in town besides Kai who aren’t married, and she’s spoken for. Although I’m supposed to meet her friend, Grace, tonight at Sam’s Tavern. We’re having a girls’ night out.”

  He slid her a sly grin. “Thanks for the info, Doc.”

  “Why so smug?”

  “Because I’ve seen pretty Miss Grace on the very rare occasions when she cuts loose. I’ll make sure to pop into Sam’s around ten or so, just in case she’s in need of a designated driver.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  When Bellamy arrived at Sam’s around eight, Kai and a woman she assumed was Grace were already there, sitting at a square high-top table in a corner near the front window of the bar. A giant platter of cheese fries sat in the center of the table—minus the bacon—along with a frosty pitcher of margaritas and three salt-rimmed glasses.

  Kai introduced Bellamy to Grace, and naturally, Grace eschewed a handshake in favor of a hug. Bellamy was starting to believe that was the customary greeting in Serenity.

  Sitting between the two of them, Bellamy felt downright drab, although she’d dug out her best jeans and newer boots, pairing them with a floral western-style shirt and leather belt. She’d even applied a little makeup and attempted to curl her hair. She’d be lucky if the style lasted an hour.

  Kai always dressed nice, and tonight was no exception. She’d forgone her usual cute dresses for a pair of slim jeans tucked into heeled black boots and a pale-yellow sweater that made her blue eyes pop. Her long blonde hair hung in a loose braid over one shoulder.

  Grace was like a garden in springtime. Everywhere you looked was color. From her strawberry-blonde hair—more strawberry than blonde—to her jade-green eyes, red-stained lips and purple nails. Freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and trickled across her cheeks. It looked as though she’d come straight from her job—a loan officer at a local bank, Kai had explained—because her outfit was more work than casual, and more Atlanta than Serenity. Her gray fitted blouse accentuated the fullness of her breasts and her slim waist, and a charcoal-colored pencil skirt hugged her hips and thighs, ending just above her knees. On her feet was a pair of leopard-print pumps with heels so high, Bellamy winced at the thought of them pinching her toes, let alone trying to walk in them.

  Questions flew for an hour about Bellamy’s job, mostly from Grace, before the topic shifted to men. By this point, the cheese fries were long gone and the second pitcher of margaritas had been ordered.

  “So, Eli, huh?” Grace asked, bobbing her perfectly arched eyebrows.

  Kai refilled their glasses as soon as a server returned with the fresh pitcher.

  Bellamy shrugged and took a sip of her drink, shuddering at the amount of alcohol in it. The bartender was more liberal with the booze this go-round. Good thing they’d eaten the fries and were drinking slow, otherwise they’d be kissing Buzz Town goodbye on the way to Drunkville.

  “Bellamy’s not an over-sharer like you are, Grace,” Kai said, giving Bellamy a playful wink.

  “I didn’t ask for details about their sex life!” Grace said. Then mumbled, “At least not yet.”

  “There’s so much there, I doubt I could find the right words anyway,” Bellamy said. “I mean, of course there are the obvious traits that don’t need repeating, but there are other things I don’t think his brothers even know about him.”

  “I told you he was special,” Kai said, smiling softly.

  “He is that,” Bellamy agreed, feeling her face flush.

  “But does he make you forget your name in bed?” Grace asked.

  “And here we go.” Kai rolled her eyes. “I knew it wouldn’t take long.”

  “My name, social security number, date of birth, what I had for breakfast. And I think I’m developing a fetish for pearl snaps,” Bellamy blurted, then scowled at her drink. What the hell was in the thing, truth serum? Something that induced diarrhea of the mouth?

  Oh right. Tequila, and lots of it.

  Kai grabbed Bellamy’s arm. “Omigod, tell me about it. Fritz has this faded denim shirt that I swear is going to disintegrate every time I wash it, but all I have to do is hear those snaps come apart and it’s on, sister.”

  “Eli wears this cream-colored one. Man oh man. I don’t even have to hear the snaps pop and I’m in need of a cold shower. And his forearms…Jesus.”

  “Okay, you two can shut up now, says the girl who hasn’t gotten laid in four months, two days and eight hours.” Grace waved a hand at them.

  “Hey, you asked first,” Kai said.

  Grace pointed at her drink. “Alcohol makes you stupid. And obviously a glutton for punishment.”

  “Whose fault is it you’re not getting any?” Kai asked. “Because it ain’t for lack of available candidates. Case in point, Mr. Lindley over there.” She pointed to where Tucker sat alone at the end of the bar, watching something sports-related on television and nursing a beer. “He’s attractive, sane, gainfully employed and available.”

  “I spent the afternoon with him, checking over his horses and shooting the breeze,” Bellamy said. “He seems like a super-nice guy.”

  “I agr
ee with both of you. It’s just that I’m carrying a torch.” Grace frowned. “Well, really more like a pyre.”

  “For?” Bellamy asked.

  “Sage,” Kai supplied with a sad sigh.

  Bellamy’s wide-eyed gaze swung back to Grace. “Ooh. And?”

  “And he’s immune to my charms. Or just flat-out not interested. Or he’s in the closet.”

  Kai gasped. “Sage is not gay!”

  “How can you be so sure? He’s always going out of town, yet when he’s home, he’s practically a hermit.”

  “How do you know that?” Bellamy asked.

  Grace shrugged. “This is Serenity. News travels.”

  “You mean gossip,” Bellamy said.

  “Is there a difference?”

  “Sage is not gay,” Kai repeated. “Trust me on that.”

  “Have you slept with him?” Grace asked.

  “You know I haven’t! But I happen to be engaged to his brother. I’ve heard tales of certain sexual escapades that would set your hair on fire.”

  Grace’s brows rose. “Involving females?”

  “Yes, involving females. He’s straight.”

  “Do tell then,” Grace said.

  “I’m sworn to secrecy,” Kai said.

  “Pics or it didn’t happen,” Grace countered.

  “Are you insane? You think I want pictures of Sage doing the nasty with some random chick or three on my phone?”

  “I sure would,” Grace muttered against the rim of her glass.

  Kai’s mouth twisted wryly. “Of course you would.”

  Then Grace’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head and she shoved a purple-tipped finger across the table at Kai. “Aha! You said ‘or three’! He’s had a ménage! Er, wait, that would be a…” Her gaze went skyward while she thought. “What’s that called? A qua…quatrage?”

  “Just call it a foursome, goofy, and I was being flip.”

  Meanwhile, Bellamy was getting whiplash and her sides hurt from laughing at the two of them bicker good-naturedly, and perhaps a little drunkenly, back and forth. She was having a great time and she was glad they’d invited her to join them. Glad to have met them both and been welcomed so warmly into their small fold.