Charlie slowed the Cherokee as he drove past the two-story ranch house where Travis lived with his red-haired wife and their four children. As usual, the wide front porch was hung with baskets of brightly-colored flowers, but today the backyard swings and wading pool were empty. Rory’s van was gone, too. No point in stopping.
Young Keller’s misdeed reminded Charlie of some of the stunts he and his brothers had pulled as kids, but his grin faded at the memory of their father’s wrath and the punishments he gave. Jason had gotten off easy today, apparently unaware of worse consequences than repainting and restriction for childish pranks. Garth Winchester hadn’t believed in sparing the rod, the belt or his fists.
The sight of Adam’s black pickup parked by the door to the stable was a welcome distraction, as was the idea of a cold soda from the tack room fridge. That and asking if any more dead cattle had been found were reasons enough to stop by, if Charlie had needed a reason.
When he walked into the cool, dim interior of the broodmare barn, he spotted Adam and his stepson, David, home on summer break from college. Both men were watching an Appaloosa dam and her offspring in one of the roomy stalls.
“Don’t you two have any real work to do?” Char lie asked as he joined them. “I thought the Appies were supposed to be a hobby.”
“Not for several years now.” Adam hadn’t taken his attention from the leopard-spotted colt in the stall with his mother. “Can’t get rich raising cattle in this market.”
Charlie knew the industry had been depressed for years. Only careful management kept many of the lo cal ranches from going under. Even an operation as large as theirs felt the pinch.
“What’s new?” he asked David as a greeting. “Still seeing that Parker girl?”
David shrugged. His lean frame had filled out some in the last year. When he’d first come to Colorado with his mother from L.A. half a decade ago, his hair was orange, his clothes were bizarre and he’d sported a chip on his shoulder the size of a cow pie. Now he looked more like a local to Charlie than some of the kids who’d been born here.
“Joey and I aren’t serious,” David replied, tugging on the brim of his ball cap. “We’ll probably break up before I go back to school.”
“You sound like your uncle,” Adam remarked as he finally turned his back on the horses. “Love-’em-and-leave-’em Winchester.”
“Give the kid some time,” Charlie said. “He’s barely old enough to drink without getting busted, and he hasn’t finished college yet. The last thing he needs to think about is getting serious about some girl looking for a ring.”
Adam gave his stepson a playful thump on the shoulder. The two of them were the same height now, over six feet tall. “Your uncle’s just not ready to give up the title.”
“Not true.” Charlie ducked into the tack room and helped himself to a soda. “If I could find a woman like your wife, I’d get hitched in a minute.”
“Took me two tries to get it right, though,” Adam reminded him before turning to David. “You should finish school before you decide to start a family.”
If Adam had followed his own advice, he wouldn’t have a daughter, Charlie thought as he downed half the soda in one swallow, but he didn’t mention Kim. For the first fifteen years of her life, after her parents’ divorce, she had lived here with her father. Then Kim had surprised everyone by going with her mother when she moved from Denver to Seattle.
“Don’t worry about me.” David looked uncomfortable. “I’m staying single.”
Charlie figured it was time to show the boy a little mercy. “Have you had a chance to find out if that rat poison we found came from the shed or not?” he asked his brother.
Adam’s grin faded. “Every sack’s accounted for and none of the boys have noticed anything unusual. Whoever’s responsible brought the poison with them. Any news on your end?”
Charlie wished he had some easy answers. “No reports of stock dying under suspicious circumstances.” He rolled his shoulders to loosen the sudden tension gripping them. “I hate to say it, bro, but it’s beginning to look like someone may not like you much. Have you had any problems with the help? Pissed someone off? Fired them?”
“You know this isn’t the season for letting guys go.” Adam traced a pattern in the wood along the top of the stall door. “We’re always shorthanded until after haying and the fall roundup.”
“What about that fellow from Texas you caught drinking?” David asked as he sat down on a hay bale. “He was pretty unhappy when you cut him loose.”
“That was a while ago.” Adam frowned. “I heard he went back home, somewhere down near Dallas.”
Charlie took a notebook from his pocket. “What’s his name?” he asked, pen poised. “I’ll check him out, see if he’s still hanging around.”
Through the open stable door came the sound of a vehicle pulling up, followed a couple of moments later by the thumps of car doors shutting.
David got to his feet, and Charlie finished writing down the fired cowhand’s name, Mickey Barstowe.
“Expecting anyone?” he asked as he put away the notebook and pen.
“Just Doc Harmon coming to check out Joker here. He took a spill yesterday, and his leg’s a little hot.”
At the mention of the vet, Charlie looked around hopefully. Sure enough, following the doc through the stable doorway was his new assistant. Both of them carried leather bags.
“Is this what our tax dollars pay for?” Doc Harmon demanded with a smile. “For you to goof off?”
“You got it,” Charlie replied, glancing at Robin.
The only indication she gave that they’d already met was a small smile.
“Get that tire fixed okay?” Charlie asked her after introductions had been made all around.
Her cheeks turned pink, and she frowned. Moisture beaded her upper lip. “Yes, thank you,” she said, her tone prissy.
Charlie nearly chuckled out loud. She’d be fun to tease, as long as he didn’t upset her too much. She was too uptight.
“Change the tire yourself?” her boss asked when she didn’t elaborate.
Her chin went up in a gesture Charlie recognized as purely defensive. “Actually, my neighbor changed it for me.” It was easy to see from her glance at Charlie that the admission was hard to spit out. The woman sure came with a lot of prickles, but the sweetest fruit was surrounded by thorns.
Catching her glance, he gave her a deliberate wink before she jerked her attention away. “Always nice to have someone pitch in and help,” he said in as bland a tone as he could muster.
She didn’t answer. After a moment of awkward silence, Adam asked where she was from.
“Chicago,” she replied, looking relieved. “I grew up there.”
“You’re a long way from home,” David observed. He’d straightened up and puffed out his chest. Didn’t the boy realize how obvious he looked, grinning at her with calf’s eyes while he flexed his arms like a damn body builder?
“I wanted to get some experience with large animals,” she explained. “That’s my main interest.”
“Well, let’s look at the colt,” Doc Harmon interrupted before David could ask any more questions. “Has he been limping?”
Charlie stood back and watched as both vets took their time entering the roomy stall and making sure the horses were at ease before they proceeded. Robin’s nervousness seemed to vanish. Even her voice changed, going all husky and soft.
A man could get lost in the sound of it, Charlie thought, even if her appearance was strictly business. She wore a loose-fitting white blouse and long tan pants, despite the heat of the afternoon. Too bad she didn’t dress like the clinic receptionist. There was a woman who knew how to draw a man’s attention, even as she blinded him with color and sparkle. Everything Erline wore was short, tight and bright.
Charlie tried to imagine Robin in that type of getup and failed. It was impossible to guess her shape with the way her clothing fit. Maybe that was the point.
