We’d already asked him that question, but it was telling that she thought she needed to ask again.
“I told you—I was the biggest one in there. They just assumed I was an adult, and everybody sat on the other side.”
That was amusing, if terrifying.
“My defense attorney friend will help you with the criminal defense case, but another buddy of mine, one of the clerks for the city attorney, says he’s pretty sure they’ll drop the charges. He also thinks there’s a pretty damn good case for suing both the officer and the department for not following protocol.”
Sadie nodded, then started hiccupping. She broke down, crying on Jaxon’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you from that.”
He patted her arm. “It’s okay, Mom. I protected us.”
“You shouldn’t have had to.”
God, this was an awful mess. We were going to have to put both of them into therapy, that was for sure.
I drove them out to the dude ranch, a gorgeous spread of land between a winery and greenbelt. We drove onto the property, and Jaxon whistled.
“Wow, this is like a rich person ranch.”
“It’s actually a dude ranch,” Rowdy explained. “People stay here for vacation and work with the horses and other animals.”
“People go on vacation to go to work?” he asked, shaking his head. “Like I said. That’s rich people shit.”
“Language,” Sadie said, then hugged his arm.
He laughed. “It’s okay, Mom. It’ll be okay.”
“I’ll know it’s okay when you no longer feel like you have to reassure me, son.”
We drove up to the main house, which was like a log cabin on steroids. Rustic cedar siding, a tall entryway, and a grandcarport allowed us to drive right up to the front door. Kit was waiting at the front door, and Rowdy grinned.
“He’s actually wearing the brace,” he said, pointing out a pretty serious-looking hinged knee brace that went from his calf to mid-thigh.
“Welcome to the Baker Ranch. I’m Kit, and this here is Lane, our new land manager.”
Sadie and Jaxon introduced themselves. Jaxon shook Kit’s hand with a firm grip and looked him in the eye, something I bet the cowboy really appreciated.
“I’d like to help where I can,” Jaxon said. “I’m really strong, but I don’t know much about animals. Yet.”
“Strong and teachable are two incredible qualities,” Kit said, patting his shoulder.
Kit was a rangy six feet tall, but Jaxon looked like a giant next to him. “And you’re only thirteen?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fourteen soon.”
“Gotcha.” He turned to Sadie. “Woody tells me you have years of management experience.”
“Yes, but only in restaurants,” she said, a little thrown by the comment. “Who’s Woody?”
“That’s my cousin. He owns the sanctuary that I manage,” Rowdy explained.
“Oh, right.” She turned to Kit. “I manage, or used to manage, the cafe over on 290.”
“Good. I bet office manager to a bunch of roughnecks probably wouldn’t be that much different.”
“You want me to work here?” she asked, shaking her head. Things were moving so fast; it was going to be awhile before she caught up.
“Yes. Woody said that Rowdy here had been working with you and your son for over a year now, and that he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you.”
