Page 35 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

“I popped off one day about reading about men who encourage their wives to wear skimpy clothes and then post the pictures.Said she should do the same while she was young and still had the body for it.”She set her purse down on the table and clasped her fingers together.She looked Travis straight in the eye.“At first, she wasn’t too keen on the idea, but then a couple of days later, she asked if I knew how much those folks made.I pulled up an article, and we read it together.We were both taken aback when we saw the amounts.”Her fingers were in a knot.“Then, we pulled out a calculator and did the math.If she worked a couple of years, she could pay the debt on the farmhouse, buy the new SUV parked outside with cash, and put money away for the kids if they wanted to go to college.Education doesn’t come cheap.”

It had taken Evie ten years to complete her degree part-time for exactly that reason.College was expensive.Even going the community college route for her basics had cost a pretty penny.Then, two years at a four-year college had made it next to impossible to start saving money until she’d graduated.

Having viewed Ms.Bart as a stuffy, old crank since arriving in Saddle Junction, Evie had a newfound respect for the woman.Not only had she kept Simone’s secret, but had been protective of her reputation, too.

A flash of guilt said Simone wouldn’t have had to rely on a near-stranger if Evie had shown up.Evie should’ve been the one in on her sister’s secret life, not a neighbor.

Would Miss Perfect Simone have confided in Evie?Probably not.

Deflated, she returned to the bedroom.The scene inside stopped her at the doorway.Owen was flat on his back, flying Olivia around like she was an airplane.He made all the requisite noises to go along with it.Luca was happily playing beside them with his toy airplane, mimicking the sounds coming from Owen.

Her heart melted like butter at the sight.

Owen caught her watching and sat upright.He set a laughing Olivia down next to Luca.The siblings happily played with their toys as Owen asked what was going on in the next room.

“She knew,” Evie said.“In fact, it was her idea.”

“I thought I heard wrong,” he admitted.

“I did, too.I guess we were both wrong about Ms.Bart.”She plopped down beside him.“I’m happy Simone had someone here that she felt like she could trust.”

A belly-laugh rolled up and out of Olivia.

“How do you do that?”Evie asked Owen.

“Do what?”

“Make the kids feel so at ease with you when they barely know you.”She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.“I’ve been here for days and haven’t gotten a response like the ones you’ve been getting.”

“You just lost your sister, Evie.Kids are like animals.I’m convinced they can read our energy.”

“Don’t tell me you’re into all that woo-woo stuff?”

He got quiet.Too quiet.She’d insulted him.

Evie gave a playful tap on the shoulder.“I’m kidding, Owen.Trust me, when Mercury is in retrograde, I feel it.”

“Growing up around horses gave me the perspective,” he said after a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips—lips she shouldn’t let her gaze linger on, no matter how much her mouth burned to press up against his again, how much she wanted to breathe in his dark roast and mint breath.“We’ve had trainers come in who could almost hear a horse’s thoughts with their hands.They’re rare, but I’ve witnessed it.There must be some kind of energy reading going on.”

“I love that you and your family have added a horse rescue to the family business.”She knew how much Beaumont would’ve rolled over in his grave at the thought.“Harrison Guidry must have fought that move like the plague.”

His expression sobered.“Like I said before, the family attorney was recently killed on the ranch.”

“I’m sorry, Owen.That must have been awful and scary for everyone involved.”

“Conrad was initially blamed, but we got to the bottom of it with Travis’s lead,” he said.The respect he had in his voice every time he mentioned his brother-in-law bred more and more confidence in the sheriff.

“How is the rest of your family?”she asked.“Sounds like they’ve been going through a lot since Beaumont died.”

“Four of them are now engaged or married.”His voice held both surprise and an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint.“The jokes about something being in the water at the ranch will start soon.”

“Are they happy?”

“That’s the worst part.They make marriage and family look like a good thing despite the circumstances we grew up in,” he said.

“Good for them.”She paused.“Simone was happy.She loved her husband and having babies.She loved moving back to this old house for reasons that I’ll never understand.”

“We’re starting new memories at the ranch.It began by renaming the place and shifting a good part of the mission.We’re more focused on rescue operations now.Beaumont made more money than any of us could ever spend.Horse racing is just another form of gambling.However, the deals off the track far outnumbered race day bets.”

---