Kyle (Riding Hard Book 6)

by Jennifer Ashley

  Jarrod grimaced and looked worried. “A week? Virgil wanted them turned out today.”

  “Well, they can’t be, or they can infect the entire herd.” Anna looked over the cattle, who watched her with dull expressions. “I can explain to him if you want.”

  Jarrod heaved a sigh. “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll tell him.”

  He moved off in the direction of the office, squaring his shoulders as though going into battle. Anna felt a bit sorry for him.

  Sure enough, Anna soon heard raised voices from the office. She filled her syringe, turning her back on the steers to hide what she was doing. Animals, like kids, hated getting shots.

  She moved among the cattle, thankful Jarrod had left her alone. The young steers were on the small side, and docile enough. She patted them, both to distract and reassure them as she injected the medicine.

  All three Haynes brothers emerged from the office. Virgil was the largest and oldest—Anna remembered from school that he’d bullied his younger brothers unmercifully. He bullied those outside his family even harder.

  Blake was brother number two, intimidated by Virgil but always striving to prove himself. Jarrod was the nicest of the three, but that was a stretch.

  They continued to argue as they halted on the porch, paying no attention to Anna, and she realized after a moment they weren’t talking about the cattle.

  “You know that truck flipped,” Jarrod was saying. “If Sherrie saw the plate, she’ll know it was you. Or at least one of us.”

  “She didn’t see anything,” Blake snarled. “Stop worrying like a little girl.”

  Virgil broke in. “Anyone finds out, I’m cutting your balls off. I heard Sherrie was fine and so is the horse, so it doesn’t matter. But I’m not paying for her truck.”

  Anna kept her head bent, eyes on the steer she dosed, but her heart beat faster. A hit and run was a crime, didn’t matter that no one was hurt. And who knew if Sherrie was truly all right? She could have damage that hadn’t been immediately apparent.

  “Hey!” Virgil’s voice cut across to the corral. “What is Dr. Anna still doing here?”

  “Fixing the steers,” Jarrod answered with a growl. “You told me to call her.”

  “Well, she can finish and go. Get those steers turned out, Jarrod. I’m not paying for feed when they can graze.”

  “She said they have to stay here a while,” Jarrod tried.

  “The fuck.”

  Virgil’s boots crunched on gravel as he stormed to the corral. He was a larger version of Jarrod. Blake, behind Virgil, was right in between in size.

  “I want them steers out of here, now,” Virgil barked at Anna.

  The steers moved restlessly, Anna in their midst, but Anna regarded Virgil calmly. Most men were larger than she was, but she’d learned, the hard way, that it wasn’t size that counted. If she looked a man in the eye and told him what was what, she usually prevailed.

  Even so, she kept the steers between herself and Virgil, who, like Jarrod, remained outside the corral. She idly wondered if Virgil was afraid of his own cattle.

  “These guys need to stay separated.” Anna slid the syringe into her pocket, but she remained with the steer, patting him. My protector. “Or the rest of your herd could be compromised.”

  Virgil obviously didn’t care. “Now, listen here, angel. You doctor them up and send them off. I can’t afford to keep them around all day.”

  “If you turn these steers out on the range, and your entire herd gets sick, you could lose every single one,” Anna said. “Nothing left to sell. Can you afford that?”

  More scowling. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, lady.”

  Anna shrugged. “You can get a second opinion, of course. Call in the vet from Llano. He’ll confirm, but he’ll charge you a fee for coming out here.”

  Virgil hesitated. Ranching was a costly business, and Virgil was more penny-pinching than most.

  “I think she’s right,” Jarrod said. “Better have eight die than two hundred.”

  Virgil reddened as though he wanted to argue, but Jarrod’s logic couldn’t be disputed.

  “All right.” Virgil pointed a blunt finger at Anna. “But if you’re lying to me and there’s nothing wrong with these cattle, I’m suing you for whatever the hell I’m paying you today, and then some.”

  Anna made it her policy to return her fee if she misdiagnosed, which happened very rarely, but she wasn’t going to tell that to Virgil.

  “Give her a check, Blake.” Virgil gave Anna a final glare and stomped away.

  Blake took a checkbook from his pocket, balanced it on the top rail of the corral, and poised a pen over the page. “What’s the charge?”

  Anna remained with the steer. She expected Blake at any moment to realize she and Kyle could have seen him on the road last night, and try to terrorize her into silence.

  But then, Kyle’s car had been a rental, not his distinctive truck, and he and Anna would have been an anonymous blur in the dark. From the way Blake had been driving, he hadn’t paid much attention to his surroundings.

  Anna remained nervous, though. She also sincerely hoped none of them realized she’d overheard their exchange about Sherrie as they’d come out of the office.

  “Two hundred and fifty,” she said. “That’s for the call out and the medication.”

  Blake stared at her in disbelief. “That’s way too much. I’ll give you a hundred.”

  Anna barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. The medication alone cost her a hundred, and then there was gas, her time, her expertise, and the fact that she had to drive all the way out here and put up with the Haynes brothers.

  “Give her the two-fifty, asshole,” Jarrod growled.

  Blake’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong with you? You in love with her?” He stared at his brother, and then burst out laughing. “Aw man, you stupid shit. All right, I’ll give her the whole thing, but it’s coming out of your cut.”

  Jarrod was red-faced. “Fine.”

  Blake tore out the check, handed it to Jarrod, and walked off, laughing.

  Anna gave the steer a final pat, picked up her bag, and headed out of the corral. The steers followed her. That happened often—she was nice to cattle and they started thinking she was their mom. Another reason she couldn’t eat beef.

  Jarrod handed her the check as she emerged, flapping it a little.

  Anna took it between two fingers. The check was dirt-smudged, but that wouldn’t matter when she deposited it. “Thanks, Jarrod. It was nice of you to stand up for me.”

  “Yeah.” Jarrod remained beet red, which didn’t look good with his unshaved and not very clean face. “Anna. Um—” He cleared his throat then said in a rush, “Will you go out with me?”

  Anna stopped. Shit.

  She felt sorry for Jarrod—who wouldn’t?—but that didn’t mean she wanted to date him. Far from it. But he looked as pathetic as the steers, so she fumbled for an excuse.

  “Oh. I’m sorry, Jarrod, but …”

  “Yeah, I get it.” Jarrod looked even more embarrassed, with the beginnings of humiliation. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “No, I mean …” Anna thought rapidly. “I’m flattered, but I’m already seeing someone. In fact, we’re going out tonight.”

  “You are?” Jarrod sounded amazed, which was kind of insulting, if Anna pondered it closely. “With who?”

  “Kyle Malory.” Well, it wasn’t a lie. Anna still owed him a date. The tonight part was the only thing she fudged.

  “Really?” Jarrod’s humiliation abruptly faded. “One of those Malory shits? Why?”

  “Kyle’s a nice guy,” Anna said, then was surprised by her adamancy.

  Jarrod looked Anna up and down in incredulity. “I question your taste, but okay. Kyle was a serious pipsqueak in school.”

  “Pipsqueak?” Anna had to grin. “Does anyone still say that?”

  “It’s a good word for him. Virgil and Blake beat him up every day, and he’d r
un crying to his big brother.”

  Anna didn’t remember Kyle ever crying, and in fact, she’d seen him hold his own time and again against the Haynes bothers. True that Ray would come quickly to Kyle’s aid, but Jarrod was wrong that Kyle had wept and wailed. Jarrod either hadn’t witnessed the fights or he was varnishing history to make it what he wanted.

  Jarrod sent Anna a pitying look, but at least he didn’t demand the check back. “Anyway, say hi to him.”

  Anna slid the check quietly into her pocket. “I will. If the steers keep pooping like that after a couple days, or you notice any of the others with the same symptoms, let me know.”

  “Sure.” Jarrod nodded. Anna hoped he would do what she told him, for the cattle’s sake.

  It was difficult to leave the steers who watched her mournfully. Jarrod regarded her much the same way. She was glad she’d made him feel better about turning him down, but he still looked morose.

  Best thing for Jarrod would be to get himself away from his brothers and live with better people. His life wasn’t Anna’s business, but she hated to see people unhappy.

  She got herself into her truck, waving to Jared, pretending her heart wasn’t pounding in both aftershock and relief.

  Halfway down the highway to Riverbend, she jabbed a button on her dashboard to turn on her cell phone, and called Kyle.

  “About that date I owe you,” she said when Kyle picked up and greeted her. “How’s tonight?”

  Chapter Nine

  Not long before Anna called him, Kyle leaned next to his brother at the riding ring, trying to pry information out of him. Never easy, because Ray Malory answered personal questions with a grunt or a glare—when he didn’t totally ignore them.

  Inside the ring, one of their trainers worked with a new cutting horse. Kyle watched a moment then pushed back his hat and asked casually, “So, who is this Drew?”

  Ray gave him a sideways look, a hard one. “I’m sure everyone in the diner told you about her. Why ask me?”

  Kyle shrugged, pretending indifference. “Because you were the one having dinner with her.”

  “You were having dinner with Dr. Anna,” Ray returned. “Believe me, that was way more interesting.”

  “Everyone knows about Anna’s bet with me. But we don’t know about you and Drew Paresky.”

  “See?” Ray turned his gaze back to the rider and horse. “You know her name.”

  “Anna told me. She treated their cat.”

  Ray gave him a nod. “Cinders, yeah.”

  Kyle stared at him. “Cinders?”

  “Because we found her in the fireplace.”

  Kyle planted his booted foot on the bottom rail. “We? Okay, so you know their cat’s name and you found it with them. While I’ve never heard about any of this.”

  “You’ve been busy. How’s Anna?”

  Typical Ray, turning the conversation away from himself. “She’s fine. What you been up to? Haven’t seen you around here much.”

  Ray scowled. “Have I let the ranch go to shit? No. Then what’s the deal? I have my own life.”

  When Ray was cranky it meant he had something to hide.

  “You seeing her?” Kyle asked.

  “I can see her—I have eyes. But no, we’re not going out or engaged or secretly married.” Ray gave Kyle another hard look. “Drew needs to turn around the B&B, and I’m helping her out.” He faced the ring, clamping his lips shut.

  Kyle started to ask another question—no way he was letting this go—when his cell phone rang.

  When he saw Anna’s name, he turned away abruptly, Ray and his interesting new hobby forgotten.

  “Hey there,” Kyle said, hoping he didn’t sound too eager. “What’s up?”

  His pulse jumped as he remembered kissing Anna on the dark porch, imbibing her taste, her strength. She was all kinds of good, and the way she’d clung to him had sent his need rocketing.

  She’d be perfect in bed, holding him hard as he thrust inside her, eyes blue and soft in the night …

  “About that date I owe you,” she began. Kyle held his breath, waiting for her to tell him to go to hell, lose himself, fall off another bull and do more damage this time.

  “How’s tonight?” Anna finished.

  Kyle shook the phone. Anna couldn’t have just said that. “Tonight?”

  “Sure. Anywhere you want. It doesn’t have to be Chez Orleans. There’s a new place near Johnson City that’s supposed to be good …”

  Kyle had no idea what plans he had for tonight. Probably nothing but catch up on TV while he nursed his lingering aches.

  “I’ll call Chez Orleans and see what they can do,” he heard himself say.

  “No, no,” Anna answered quickly. “They book up months in advance.”

  “The manager’s a fan. Loves the rodeo.”

  He expected Anna to say something like “Figures,” but she only paused and then said, “All right. Want me to drive this time?”

  “No, I’ll pick you up. Like a real date.”

  Another hesitation. “Okay. Let me know what time. Thanks, Kyle.”

  Kyle shook the phone again. “Uh. You’re welcome.”

  “Gotta go. Talk to you soon.”

  Click. Silence. The phone flashed that the call had ended.

  Kyle felt Ray’s eyes on him, his older brother crowding his back. “Was that Dr. Anna? What did she want? What did she say?”

  Kyle turned as quickly as his healing ribs would let him. “What the hell?”

  Ray’s lips twitched. “It’s a bitch when someone bugs you about your personal life, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, yeah, all right.” Kyle slid the phone thoughtfully into his shirt pocket. “I’m taking Anna out again tonight. Okay? You can tell anyone you want. Including Drew.”

  He danced back as Ray swung a half-hearted fist. Kyle halted a few feet away, his heart light. “Hey, that didn’t hurt at all. I guess I’m getting better.”

  Ray’s eyes glinted. “Keep your mouth shut about Drew and you’ll stay that way.”

  Kyle held up his hands. “All right. I surrender. You tell me about her when you’re ready. Right now I need to make some phone calls.”

  Ray watched him, mouth stubbornly closed, though his face held amusement at Kyle’s excitement.

  But why shouldn’t Kyle be excited? Anna had called him, out of the blue, breathless and eager to go out with him.

  Kyle was no fool. He immediately phoned Chez Orleans and had his table from last night booked all over again.

  If Anna thought the previous night awkward, it was nothing compared to this one. Last night had been about the bet, and then she and Kyle had helped Sherrie and her horse, putting aside their differences for a common cause.

  Tonight was about Anna and Kyle. He picked her up in the same rental car, again in a suit—he apparently owned more than one.

  Anna hadn’t had time to rush out and buy a new dress, so she put on an older one, a dark pink a few years out of date, but it made her cheeks glow. She’d brushed out her hair and left it down, the all-day braid leaving a crinkle she liked.

  Mrs. Kaye again watched as Kyle escorted Anna to the car, the lady waving as they drove off.

  The ride down the same dark road toward White Fork was uncomfortably silent. After preliminary hellos and how was your day? Anna and Kyle didn’t speak at all.

  She kept her hands bunched in her lap as the shadowy hills went by, the sky a deep twilight. Kyle glanced at her from time to time, but he remained quiet.

  Anna preferred the banter from last night, when they couldn’t open their mouths without arguing. This was tense and weird.

  She cleared her throat when they reached the spot where Sherrie had gone off the road. A few orange cones outlined the shoulder, where Ross and his deputies had investigated the scene. “Hope Blake Haynes isn’t out driving again tonight.”

  Kyle gave her a sharp look. “How’d you know it was Blake?”

  “Well …” With relief that they�
�d found a topic of conversation, Anna told him about overhearing Virgil threaten Blake if anyone discovered what he’d done. “I called the sheriff’s office and told Deputy Harrison what I heard. He noted it but said even with that it might be hard to prove, since we didn’t actually witness the accident. So unless Sherrie saw something definite or Blake confesses, he might get away with it. But Harrison will tell Ross.”

  Kyle kept staring at her, saying nothing.

  “What?” she asked after an unnervingly long time. “You think I shouldn’t have reported it?”

  Kyle jerked the wheel then straightened them out. “Hell yes, you should have. You also should have told me. I’ll go out there and take Blake apart until he coughs up the truth.”

  “Very courageous of you. I don’t think it would work, though. You’d have to go through Virgil and probably Jarrod too, and maybe get arrested for assault.”

  Kyle didn’t look worried about any of that. “You sure they don’t know you heard them?”

  “I have no idea. I think if they did they wouldn’t have let me leave so easily. Jarrod asking me out had nothing to do with it—I’m pretty sure.”

  The car swerved again. “Jarrod asked you out?”

  “Yes. I turned him down, but I hurt his feelings. I feel bad about that.”

  “Jarrod Haynes doesn’t have any feelings, except selfish ones,” Kyle growled. “Wait a sec—is that why you asked me out? Because of Jarrod?”

  “Kind of. I told him you and I had a date tonight, and I didn’t want to make it a lie.”

  Kyle took his foot off the gas, as though ready to stop the car, then he stomped on it, and they leapt forward. “Crap on a crutch, Anna. Stupid me for thinking you called because you wanted to see me again. But guess what? Too bad for you. I’m not cancelling this. We’re going to the damned restaurant, and we’ll eat the damned food, and then I’ll drive you home, and to hell with you.”

  “Kyle …”

  “It’s what every guy wants to hear. I’m going out with you so I don’t upset another guy. Thanks a lot, Anna. I’m glad you gave it so much thought.”