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On the way to her desk, Cecily detoured to the breakroom. She was filling her coffee mug as Andy walked in. “Looks like your brother and his cohorts caught the guy. They brought him in last night.”
She stopped mid-pour. After Suzie’s call, she’d totally forgotten to let Derek know what Andy had found, but it made no difference now. Still, why hadn’t Derek called her? Or Bryce? No need to admit that Andy had heard it first. She finished filling her mug. “I was out last night. Didn’t get the details.”
“A whack job.” Andy told her what he knew.
“Aliens made him do it?” Cecily frowned. “You think he was saying that to avoid jail time?”
“That’s for the shrinks and the lawyers to deal with. At least your cattle should be safe.”
“I know Derek will be relieved.” And Helping Through Horses could move up in the priority queue.
Andy gave a quick grin. “I hope it doesn’t instigate another media circus if the alien connection goes public. Before your time, and not so much in our county, it was crazy times. Ranchers up in arms, media doing more damage, what with them leaving gates open and breaking fences, than the loss of a few cattle.”
“Yeah, I Googled it,” Cecily said, thinking of Tim and his alien theory. “I’ve got to get to my desk.”
“So do I.” He walked with her to the door. “I meant to tell you— Good job yesterday.” He flashed a grin which, she decided, would have been charming had she been interested. Which she wasn’t, and she didn’t know why. She’d been furious at Bryce when he blew her off, but then he’d called and apologized—and for him—for any man—it was an effort. And sweet.
After grousing about Bryce over three glasses of wine with a couple of girlfriends—the kind who knew exactly what to say when a man was acting like a man—it wouldn’t have been smart to try to discuss it.
Which reminded her, she should call Bryce to arrange the dinner date he’d invited her on, but he’d be working cattle now, and she had her own work to do. Or was she mad he hadn’t told her about catching the guy?
She went to her desk, where one of the paramedics who’d responded to Suzie’s house yesterday chatted with another dispatcher. The medic turned when Cecily walked in.
“How’s Suzie’s father?” Cecily asked.
“Arrested twice on the way to the hospital, but he’ll make it.”
Relief swamped her. “Thank goodness.”
He handed her an envelope.
“What’s this?” she asked. “Who’s it from?”
He grinned and walked out.
She sat down and slit the envelope. A crayoned picture of a little girl with cornflower-yellow pigtails holding a telephone and a teddy bear. To Cecily From Suzie, it said. With a big heart. I love you.
She was not going to tear up. Bad enough the television station had been playing segments of the transmission since yesterday evening. She smiled and set the picture on her desk. She might frame this one instead of sticking it to her fridge.
She wasn’t a hero, but damn, it felt good when things went the way they were supposed to.
For the first few hours of her shift, her heart rate jackrabbited with each call, but everything today fit the normal routine. Busy, though, so the day passed quickly. By end of shift, she was anxious to see Grady and tell him about his property. Would he be glad to know his things were safe, or were they trivialities of no consequence?
Or do you want to clear the air with Bryce, and Grady’s an excuse?
Before The Kiss, she and Bryce had a comfortable relationship. Sure, there were some tensions—which she understood. She’d been too fixated on getting Helping Through Horses off the ground. Her wine and whine session last night had driven the point home with a railroad spike. Now that her program was up and running, even if on a trial basis, she could ease off.
She made sure the inventory of Grady’s possessions was in her purse, found a file folder, and slipped Suzie’s drawing inside, then headed for the parking lot. At the ranch, she changed into suitable clothing before seeking out Grady. She’d deal with Bryce and his dinner invitation after walking Ginger, when they could be alone.
The house was empty, so she wandered over to the barn. Empty, too. Strange. This time of day, everyone should be back, or getting back from ranch chores. But Grady? Even if Bryce had managed to get the kid onto a horse, no way would Grady have the skills needed to be out on the range.
“Grady?” she called.
No answer.
She went to the fridge in the tack room and snagged a few apple and carrot treats for Ginger. At least she’d be around. At the paddock, Ginger and Elmer were the only horses in residence. Ginger shuffled to the fence, giving a quiet nicker.
“Hey, baby. How’re you doing?” The horse munched on the carrot Cecily offered. Elmer was busy with hay and, after a brief glance in her direction, paid her no mind. Cecily scratched Ginger’s poll. “Where is everybody?”
Ginger shook her head and nuzzled Cecily’s hand for another treat.
“If everyone’s been busy, I’ll bet nobody has walked you today.” Although walking Ginger was important for the mare’s health, it was Grady who needed to get comfortable doing it. Cecily pulled out her cell and called Bryce. He’d be busy, but would he at least check to see she was the one calling?
If he did, would he answer?
“This is Bryce,” came over the phone. Not Hi, Cecily. Maybe he’d answered without checking the display. Or maybe he was still pissed.
“It’s Cecily. I’m at the paddock and was looking for Grady. Do you know where he is?”
Well, that was stupid. No how are you? No Sorry I didn’t get back to you. No, she had to jump right into Grady, which she’d already figured out was a hot button with him.
“He’s here. Checking the fence line.”
“On horseback?” she asked.
A snort. “In the Gator.”
Of course. Where was her brain? Thinking about more ways she could insert her boot-clad foot into her mouth? “Sorry I didn’t return your call last night. It was late when I got the message.”
Silence.
“If you’re not too mad at me, dinner would be great,” she said.
“Kind of busy tonight.”
“I understand. Andy told me you caught the cattle killer.” She was not going to chew Bryce out for not letting her know. Derek was another story. He might run the ranch, but it was still a family operation.
Bryce’s tone went cold. “Derek’s the boss. He’s your brother. I assumed he called you. But it was probably late before he got everything squared away.”
Why did mentioning Andy’s name set Bryce off that quickly? She kept her voice neutral. “Probably. If you want to schedule dinner, let me know.”
“We’ll see.”
So much for making up. “I guess I’ll walk Ginger. If Grady’s around and free, I can wait for him. Show him how to put on her halter. Let him have more time around her.” After all, she was here to help with Grady’s training. There was no way she could avoid bringing him into the conversation, hot buttons or no hot buttons.
“Hang on. Call you back.”
She waited. And waited. Ginger shoved Cecily’s hand, wanting more. Elmer had decided there might be something more interesting than hay, and he moseyed over, too. Cecily shared the treats. Finally, Bryce called.
“Derek says Grady can head back. Should be there in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Watch him.” He hung up.
To be fair, he would be in the middle of ranch work and making small talk wasn’t his thing under the best of circumstances. He hadn’t said anything about whether he’d like her to hang around and wait for him. For someone as laid back as Bryce was, he was high maintenance when it came to relationships.
A cloud of dust in the distance told her Grady had made good time. She fetched a halter and lead rope from the tack room and draped them over the paddock fence. Ginger sniffed at the leather, then backed up a few steps.
“Relax, baby. Nobody’s going to put you to work.”
Grady left the Gator alongside the barn and approached the paddock like a condemned man headed for the gallows.
Cecily gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Ginger’s waiting for you.”
Grady shuffled closer, head down, gazing at the ground.
Better to ease into the process, she decided, and told him the police had forgotten to send some of his personal effects with him. “I can go down and pick them up on Wednesday, if you’d like.”
She watched his reaction when she handed him the inventory sheet. Hardly a flicker. Had there been the slightest glimmer of interest? Of appreciation? Of anything? She thought she’d seen a twitch, quickly disguised. Trying to be cool and nonchalant? Not wanting to admit anything mattered?
Admitting you cared gave someone power over you.
Bryce shoved his phone into his pocket and urged Shadow after a steer that lacked the follow the herd gene. Once they’d convinced the independence-seeking animal to join the line of critters moving toward their new pasture, he reined Shadow to an easy trot. Tim led the parade from the feed truck, and most of the cattle understood they’d be rewarded with food at the end of their journey. There were always a few that needed extra convincing.
At least this steer hadn’t taken off at a dead run like the one in the first group they’d moved. Derek and Zephyr rode up from their position at the rear of the herd. “I sent Grady to work with Ginger.”
“To work with Cecily,” Bryce corrected. “Let her see him, evaluate him.”
Maybe get her off your back.
Or was it because somewhere in the depths of the alternating between frightened and arrogant Grady, there existed a soul that needed salvaging.
Listen to you, waxing poetic. You don’t salvage souls. You don’t even believe in souls.
Did he?
Derek’s voice snapped Bryce to the reality of the here and now. Bryce shook his head, as if to clear it. “Didn’t catch that.”
Derek took off his Stetson, dragged his fingers through his hair, then set the hat on his head. “I said, we can handle things from here. You go and see how Grady and Cecily are doing.”
“I’m sure they’re doing fine.”
“I want you to supervise. Cecily has a way of making things seem brighter and shinier than they are.”
Bryce turned Shadow toward the ranch, keeping the mare at a gentle lope. He wasn’t in that much of a hurry.
The closer he got, the more his emotions roiled. He wished there was a magic way to make Cecily understand where he was coming from without having to talk to her. But he did want to see her. As Shadow’s pace picked up the nearer they got to the ranch, Bryce let her run. “You want the barn, don’t you, girl?”
About two hundred yards out, he slowed her to a trot. “Don’t want to seem too eager, do we, now?”
Not to mention he needed a few minutes to formulate what he was going to say. Grady would be there, which put a trailer full of restrictions on what Bryce could say. Bad enough to admit wrong-doing to Cecily, but in front of another guy—even a teenager—wasn’t in his rulebook.
As he rounded the barn, headed for the paddock, he reined Shadow in. From his vantage point atop the horse, he had a nice overview of what Grady and Cecily were doing. Grady had apparently transferred his slightly less than terrified opinion of Ginger to Elmer, and was giving both horses treats and patting their necks. Bryce could see Grady’s lips moving, but was too far away to hear whatever the boy was saying. Knowing Cecily, she had him reciting song lyrics, or even the alphabet. It’s the tone, not the words, she’d have said.
A halter hung across the paddock fence.
Shadow gave a whinny, a head shake, and a foot stomp. Grady and Cecily’s heads snapped in his direction.
He ruffled Shadow’s mane. “I get it. You want to go home.” Bryce kept her to a sedate walk as they approached the paddock. Grady’s expression displayed a microscopic acknowledgment of their arrival.
Cecily’s expression was a cheerful smile, and Bryce felt a brief surge of hope. Maybe Cecily would make the first move, thus saving him too much unmanly groveling.
“Grady’s doing a good job,” she said. “We’re about to move into Haltering 101.”
Bryce guided Shadow to a spot well away from Grady and tied her to the fence. “Sounds good. After that, he can move to unsaddling.”
Cecily grabbed the halter and started pointing out the various parts to Grady. “The crown piece goes over her head. Her nose goes through here. There’s nothing to it.” She demonstrated on the ever-patient Ginger, then removed the halter and handed it to Grady. “Your turn. Remember, everything with horses is done from their left side. Pat her, talk to her, and she’ll hardly notice you’re doing anything.”
Bryce had to give the kid credit, he was getting it done. Although most of the credit went to Ginger, who practically stuck her head into the halter and waited for Grady to buckle the strap. He hadn’t had to step inside the paddock.
“Remember,” Cecily said. “Don’t pull her ears forward.”
Grady’s expression had shifted to rapt concentration— brow scrunched, lips taut, his breathing audible to Bryce standing five feet away. But he got the job done, and Bryce caught an expression of pleased satisfaction before Grady schooled his features into the ones of a bored teenager.
“Now we walk,” Cecily said. She faced Bryce. “You want to join us?”
“Need to take care of Shadow,” he said. “I’ll catch up.”
Cecily laughed. That had to be a good sign. “Yeah, with Ginger setting the pace, you shouldn’t have trouble.”
Cecily handed Grady the lead, then opened the paddock gate. “Call her through,” she said.
Grady gave a serviceable cluck and Ginger ambled through the gate. After Cecily closed it, she showed Grady where to hold the lead. His eyes widened.
“The other time, she was way behind me.”
Cecily tilted her head in Bryce’s direction, a questioning frown on her face.
“I was at her head,” he said.
“Well, today, you can be at her head,” she told Grady. “You need to be in control.”
Bryce watched them leave, Cecily chattering like a magpie, doing her best to keep Grady’s mind off the fact that despite Ginger’s age and gentle nature, he still had over half a ton of horseflesh walking next to him. Should something spook Ginger, there was only a hundred and twenty-something pounds of feminine human flesh—and damned attractive feminine human flesh—standing between Grady and potential disaster.
Not that Bryce expected anything disastrous to happen. He removed Shadow’s tack, patted her rump to send her into the paddock. After putting away Shadow’s saddle, blanket, and bridle, Bryce strode after the small entourage, adjusting his path so he had a clear view of Cecily’s fine assets.
Remembering Derek’s words—Watch him—Bryce quickened his pace and caught up to the trio in a matter of minutes.
Keep things casual.
“Hey, Cecily. Saw the news. Good job.”
Her cheeks reddened. “Part of what I do. You guys did a good job with the cattle killer.”
Bryce shrugged. “Part of what we do.”
“Tanya made a cake,” Grady said to Cecily. “To celebrate. Called you a hero. She saved some for you.”
Cecily’s blush deepened. “Chocolate, I hope.”
“With mocha frosting,” Bryce added.
“Were you scared?” Grady asked. “You sounded so cool on the replay.”
Cecily put her hand on the halter’s cheekpiece. “We get a lot of training before we can work the phones. It’s like when you talk to Ginger. You keep the fear out of your voice so you don’t spook her. I had to keep the little girl calm. But yeah, I was scared. Scared the medics would be too late, and Suzie would have to sit there watching her father die.”
Bryce kicked himself—again—for blowing her off yesterday.
“So, Grady,” Cecily said, changing the subject. “What’s the most important thing you learned today?”
Grady gave the closest thing to a laugh Bryce had heard from the kid. “I’d rather shovel shit than deal with barbed wire.” He pulled off a glove, revealing scrapes, scratches, and Band-Aids. “And that there’s a first aid kit in the Gator.”