Page 53 of Deputy Brand Gets Her Man
“Holy… Do you think he’s all right?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. The more I find out about my old man, the more I think he might not be. Here, let me top that off.” He got up to fetch the coffee pot, then refilled her still nearly full mug.
Jeremiah cleaned up the cottage while Willow napped on the sofa after breakfast. She hadn’t intended to nap, and that she’d drifted off told him how much the accident must’ve taken out of her. That tightened the knot of worry that had been living in the pit of his stomach since he’d seen her lying on the pavement. He even made her bed and picked up her discarded clothes and damp towels from the bathroom.
By the time he finished, she was rousing, stretching, and then frowning. “I fell asleep. Jeez.”
“Well, you’re supposed to be resting, so that’s probably a good thing.”
“I want to go outside, check on Sundance.”
“I kind of thought you’d laze around the house all day?—”
“Not sure it’s in me. Come on, we can discuss terms on the way.”
“Terms.”
“You should be getting something for this. A paycheck, some samolians, you know. Cold, hard cash.” She went to the door and stepped into her tall brown boots. She took her hat from a peg by the door, plopped it on her head, then winced and took it right off again. When she replaced it, she did so more carefully.
Willow in a cowboy hat had an effect on him such as few things ever had. His heart skipped, he lost his words, and his train of thought jumped plumb off the track. Happened every time he saw her in one.
“You comin’?” she asked, opening the door.
“Can Beans come?”
She tilted her head, then pressed a hand to it, but didn’t acknowledge anything wrong. “It’s probably good to expose him to all sorts of other animals as a pup. Just bring a leash, I don’t want him spookin’ the horses.”
“C’mon, boy.” He put on his boots, and took his hat off the peg. Beans’ leash was hanging underneath it.
“That’s a big collar for a pup,” she said. “Then again, he’s a big pup.”
“Vet says he’ll need a calf collar when he’s grown.”
“A calf collar!”
He slid the collar over the pup’s head. It hung a little loosely. “It’s kind of fun watching him grow. Seems he’s bigger every morning than he was the night before."
“I still think he’s gonna need a saddle one day.”
They walked away from Willow’s little cottage and down the walkway to the drive. It forked right toward the road and her parents’ house, and left toward the stable. They went left. Beans was practically dancing, stopping to sniff every few steps. Eventually, the stable came into sight, where they trained and boarded horses and raised thoroughbreds.
Stretching out from either side and rolling behind the stable were meadows where the animals grazed. As they drew closer, the pup noticed the horses, and the horses noticed the pup.
Sundance came toward them limping a little, his foreleg wrapped. “Hello Sundance. Are you okay, boy?”
He nickered and shook his mane.
“I got a friend you should meet. Come ‘ere.” She pulled a sugar cube from a pocket and held it out on her flat palm.
The horse came closer, but his eyes were mostly on the dog. Beans began to wiggle, wagging his tail, but staying where he was.
Sundance lowered his head over the fence. The dog took a step nearer, and their noses touched. Then Sundance leapt backward a little, and pawed the ground with a forefoot, and the puppy crouched, ready to spring in response.
“Is Sundance playing with him?” Jeremiah asked.
“Sure looks that way,” Willow said. “Good boy, Sundance. That’s a good boy.” She again offered a sugar cube. Sundance nuzzled her flat palm to eat it, and Beans sniffed as high as he could reach without jumping to get a whiff of the treat. She dug in her pocket and fed the pup a sugar cube, too.
Beans took it into his mouth, then pushed it back out again. It hit the ground, and Sundance leaned all the way down to snatch it, then turned and walked away.
