Page 29 of Bray
He grunted. “That’s good, but he can hurt you in other ways.”
I swallowed hard, then shrugged.
“I’m dealing with it.”
His eyes widened, then he clenched his jaw. “It sounds like he’s still messing with you?”
I shook my head quickly to reassure him. I wasn’t used to Bray being so riled. “He’s not.” I sighed. “The things he did were… expensive.”
“Like what?”
“I needed a truck to bring in water for the horses last fall because he’d blocked the creek. I had to pay for the new wiring on the fence and Andy Shaunessy’s time to help me string it. Plus, he sued me for–”
“Andysued you? For what?”
“No, Conrad Trout. He made me go to court twice for stupid things, but I had to hire a lawyer and they don’t come cheap.”
“He sued you? What the fuck for?” Pepper nudged Bray’s shoulder and he reached out absently to stroke his flank.
“Stupid things that were thrown out of court.”
“He wanted to bleed you dry,” he said through gritted teeth.
“It’s working.”
“The stable though, isn’t it covering your expenses?”
I nodded. “It is. But not all the legal bills, the two mortgages–”
“Jesus, kitten. Why didn’t you say anything?”
I looked up at him, his Stetson casting his face in shadow. “To who?” I asked, confused.
“To Colt. He’s the sheriff. He could’ve gotten Trout to back off.”
“Trout did everything legally. Annoying, but legal. Except for cutting my fence last year, but I can’t prove it was him.”
“Then get Hayes on it.”
Hayes was the lawyer in the Wilder family and a little older than me and Lainey.
“I didn’t want to burden him,” I admitted. I also didn’t want the Wilders to know about my hardships. They’d been so good to me over the years I didn’t want to take anything more from them.
“It’s his job,” Bray almost snapped. “He’ll get Troutandhis lawyer to back off.”
I wouldn’t put it past Trout to want my window broken to cause me more financial pain, but it was too… juvenile for Trout to do the deed himself. Maybe he got one of his sons to do it instead of the nephew.
What if Beau’s idea had been right? What if the person had followed Lainey to the ranch and threw itout of anger toward her? Did it mean I was safe and Lainey wasn’t? Did it mean Bray would leave now?
“So you’re paying this all off by working at The Roadside?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“By having a truck that looks like one of the wheels is gonna fall off?”
I crossed my arms and tipped my chin up. I didn’t like what he was pointing out, even if it was true. “It was my grandparent’s. It gets me where I need to go, Bray.”
Not everyone had such a close knit family like the Wilders to help out. My car had to last.
