Dusty tossed the pole pounder beside Reeds feet.
Anger bubbled up inside Reed at Dustys carelessness. The pole pounder wasnt something you tossed close to others. If Reed had moved an inch or two, Dusty could have hit him in the head. The blow from the heavy steel could have killed him or rendered him unconscious with a caved-in skull.
Find something? Dusty asked.
Reeds instinct where Dusty was concerned was one of gut-level distrust. He closed his fist around the matchbook and straightened, shooting a glare from the pole pounder to Dusty. No, I didnt find a thing. Did you? He moved away from the man, pocketing the matchbook and tucking away a mental note to check out the story on Dusty Gaither.
Chapter Five
At five and a half months, she was just beginning to understand her limitations. She hated that she didnt bounce back the way she had before she got pregnant.
Not until she climbed down from the truck did she notice a distinct lack of vehicles around the house and bunkhouse. The only truck was Fernandos lovingly cared for, baby-blue 1967 Chevy pickup.
Before
her foot touched the bottom step leading to the porch, Fernando rounded the back of the house. Miss Mona, youre back.
I am.
Any luck with the banks in Amarillo?
Not yet. Two agreed to take the application to their underwriters. Theyll get back to me sometime next week. She tugged the ponytail loose at the back of her head and shook out her hair. Where is everyone? Out pulling guard duty?
No. We brought the cows in to one of the closer pastures for the night. It was Dustys night off. Which wasnt a problem until Jesse disappeared after supper. Id guess theyre both headed for Prairie Rock.
What about the new guy? Mona avoided Fernandos gaze and saying Reeds name out loud, as though saying it made it more of an intimate question. She sighed. Her sleep-deprived brain was making her loopy. If she wasnt careful, shed start thinking irrationally and more like a schoolgirl with a crush instead of a savvy landowner. A savvy landowner whose back and feet were killing her.
Señor Bryson went to town as well.
Monas head jerked up. He did?
Sí. Fernando crossed his arms over his chest. I insisted. Since he needed to stop by and visit his familia I asked him to go on to Leons to keep an eye on Dusty and Jesse.
Add a pain in the neck to her list of aching body parts. So Dustys been pushing Jesse again?
I only caught the end of their argument earlier. I believe it had something to do with my hija.
Dios! Mona plunked her straw hat back on her head and, ignoring every aching bone in her body and the gnawing hunger in her belly, she marched down the steps and climbed into her truck.
Miss Mona, Señor Bryson can handle them. My esposa has dinner waiting for you. You must think about the bebé.
Ill grab something at Leons. Mona slammed the door and revved the engine, cutting off Fernandos protests.
Of all the pigheaded male posturing. Dusty couldnt let it go. He knew Jesse was in love with Catalina and she wanted nothing to do with him. Why did he insist on rubbing it in? Too often, his taunting ended in fistfights. Most often when they were at Leons with Dusty all liquored up.
Darkness cloaked the plains. The scent of dry prairie grass blasted into the open windows of the pickup. The wind helped to keep Mona awake on the thirty-minute drive into Prairie Rock. That and a full-blown, in-your-face desire to slap someone upside the head helped to keep her adrenaline flowing and her eyes open to watch for critters crossing the empty highway.
If she could have fired Dusty, she would have. She couldnt afford to pay her hands much and Dusty hadnt seemed to mind the pittance she could offer him. Reed as well. Until Reed showed up, she thought shed have to spend the last trimester of her pregnancy on night-watch duty.
Still, she considered letting Dusty go. His redneck attitude had caused more problems than he was worth. Hell, if the bank foreclosed, shed have to let them all go.
A brick wall of depression played havoc with her emotions and she sniffed several times before she grit her teeth and pressed harder on the gas pedal. Shed be damned if she gave in to her very own pity party.
SITTING IN THE WINDOW overlooking her tiny rose garden, Grace Bryson smiled at her son. The left side of her face didnt respond, but the light in her eyes said it all. Im so happy you came to see me. Today, I walked in my garden for fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes. This from a woman whod walked miles of ranchland tending the animals and working alongside her husband to make the spread work for them. Her words were halting and slurred, but she forced them out, like a climber determined to reach the top of a mountain.
As he took his mothers hand, a lump the size of a wadded sock lodged in Reeds throat. Thats great, Mom.
Her fingers curled loosely around his and she gave him a gentle squeeze. Have you tried talking to your father?
Reed bent close to hear her words, the slur in her speech making her difficult to understand. Shed come a long way in her recovery from the stroke over the past six months, but the doctor said she might never fully recover her speech.