Page 41 of Trickster King

“Weaned?”

“Barely.”

“Separate them off to different ranches, give the ladies a breather and a chance for health evaluations, and test the bull. Mark the bull to become a pet if he doesn’t pan out.”

“Anything else, Your Majesty?”

“A hotel. I am going to need a long and hot shower after today.”

“And dinner?”

“Let Eddie pick what to feed us tonight, and we won’t tell the physicians.”

TEN

If the horse couldn’t defend itself, things got sketchy in a hurry.

We took over every available room at the nearest hotel to Micky’s ranch, and before I could panic over being a room short, two auxiliary agents who’d come without their partners offered to share. With that problem out of the way, I hauled Randy, Geoff, and Eddie up to the room we’d be sharing. At everyone’s insistence, I showered first in the hope of preventing the fungal infection from reoccurring.

I expected to be at an RPS clinic within two weeks for more problems than my back.

Once I’d taken my shower, Geoff claimed the bathroom, and I dealt with the next problem on my agenda: dinner.

Where I went, chaos happened at restaurants, but I had a promise to keep.

“Any idea what you want for dinner, Eddie?”

The child stared at me in adoration, and it hurt to witness how something as small as letting him pick dinner filled him with wonder and joy. At his age, I’d been the same.

My reasons for wonder and joy were different, but I understood all the same.

I remained the reason his father had died. While he viewed me as a connection to his past, I viewed myself as the primary source of the tragedy in his life. We’d made everything work out, but I remembered.

“What are my choices?”

As I had zero idea, I turned to Randy for help, aware I likely mirrored the child.

Randy snickered and went to work informing Eddie of his options with an alarming number of fast food restaurants leading the pack. When the RPS agent announced there was a steak and seafood restaurant, Eddie’s eyes widened. It pained me to see his expression.

I bet my parents had witnessed the flash of hope followed with the determination not to be a burden.

“You know what to do, Randy. It seems we’re going to have to have steak and seafood tonight. Please pass along an apology for making a mess of their restaurant. If they’re willing to stay open a little later, we’ll invade closer to closing. It’ll take us all that long to get cleaned up anyway.”

I would do my best to keep my anxiety under control. No amount of therapy had been able to conquer the problems I suffered through when eating out at restaurants. Without fail, the instant a Royal stepped through the doors, everyone panicked, which set me and my oversensitive empathy off.

I wasn’t even a generalized empath, but restaurants always managed to do me in.

I’d do my best, but I would have a fight on my hands by the end of the night. In good news, once the dust settled, I’d be exhausted and ready for a full night’s sleep, which would come as a relief to the RPS agents stuck with me.

Randy nodded, grabbed his room key, and stepped out into the hall to make the call.

“Are you going to be okay, Dad? They’re going to be cooking, and they won’t let you into the kitchen.”

I grinned at his concerned tone, determined to hide the real problem from him. “Don’t tell your mother this, but I’m tired enough I don’t mind that someone else is cooking for me right now. We’ve both had an exciting day, so I’ll keep my cooking ways reined in for tonight. I have a little more work to do right now than I anticipated, but that’s all right. The horses need to be taken care of first, and we got everything situated on that front.”

By tomorrow afternoon, my new babies would be at my new ranch, where they would suffer through visits from the vets, the farrier, and trainers to begin their lives as spoiled pets. After they passed their quarantine, Chocolate Cupcake’s parents would make the journey to the Royal stable to settle into their home with their daughter.

“Oh. That’s okay, then. You’d beat the cooks with your ladle when you’re that tired.”

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