“That’s all I get?” Ty asked when she didn’t go on. “Just your daddy?”
She turned toward him then, and Ty knew immediately that he would not be able to hear this whole story before he had to report for work. Winnie was more talkative than him, but the same could be said for almost any human being on the planet.
The truth was, she processed things as she spoke, while Ty internalized everything first. He liked listening to her talk, and he could ask an occasional question or just affirm what she’d said, and she kept going. In the end, Winnie worked things out in her own mind, and Ty was perfectly happy to be her sounding board when she needed it.
“He’s diabetic, right?”
“Okay,” Ty said, though he hadn’t known that.
“But he doesn’t take care of himself. He doesn’t regulate his insulin the way he should. So then his hands and feet fall asleep. Then my mother texts me and wants to know what we should do about it, because apparentlyallphysical therapists know how to diagnose and deal with every problem dealing with diabetes.”
Her frustration poured from her in waves, and she even rolled her eyes. Ty simply gave her the kindest smile he could.
“I’ve told them a thousand times I’m not a doctor, and he needs to go to thedoctor, and he needs to manage his blood sugar levels.Anyway.” She waved her other hand like all of this was trivial. “The real problem is his back. He’s had some disc problems for a while. One was broken. He had some nerve issues because of that, and of course, the diabetes doesn’t help that.”
“Of course it doesn’t,” Ty said as the huge boarding stable came into view. The gate was closed today, and a man stood there. “Hey, that’s Caldwell. Remember—he was the one who I stayed with during the dust storm?”
“Oh, right,” Winnie said, brightening.
Ty pulled up and rolled his window down. Caldwell approached, a clipboard in his hand. “Howdy, Caldwell. Henry said you guys needed some extra help today, and I brought Winnie. He and Angel knew about it.”
Caldwell looked down at his clipboard. “Yeah, I’ve got you and Winnie working inside today, at the southwest stable. Stable C?”
“Sure,” Ty said, as he had worked there before.
“Henry and Angel want everything taken out of the tack room. They want it cleaned and reorganized, and then they want all hallways swept clean and all outdoor doors checked on stalls one through ten. We want to make sure all the locks still work, that none of the hinges were blasted with sand, and we want to make sure that the horses have easy outside exits. So if there’s debris and other things that need to be cleaned up, that has to be done.”
“Yes, sir,” Ty said.
“Your team lead over Stable C today is Burt Hallahan. Do you know Burt?”
“Oh, we know Burt,” Winnie said, practically singing the words. “He went out with my sister for a little bit.”
Caldwell leaned in the window and blinked at Winnie. “Okay. You check in with him when you’re done, and he’ll let you know what else—if anything—needs to be done today. Henry and Angel are hoping to have everyone out of here by noon. I guess Henry’s going to his daddy’s place to help clean up some fences.”
“Yeah,” Ty said. “Three Rivers Ranch.” He glanced over to Winnie and briefly met her eye. “We may go out there too.”
He hadn’t committed on the group text, because he’d really worn himself out with everything that had happened on the day of the dust storm, and then all day yesterday working at Conrad’s farm, and then Tate and Clara Jean’s produce plantation.
He honestly hadn’t been sure he’d be able to make it to work today, but when Winnie had found out before they’d even left the orchards that the physical therapy clinic would be closed today, she’d volunteered to come with him.
“They’re asking for you to park near your zone,” Caldwell said. “That way, they don’t have vehicles in the way. And we’ve got parking lots set up, so if you’ll just turn left here at the first road, you’ll find someone down by the Stable C waiting to help you park.”
“Thanks.”
Caldwell moved to open the gate, and Ty eased through it, not at all surprised with how efficient Angel, Henry, and Trevor ran the clean-up at Lone Star. Everything they did was managed down to the second, and they employed a lot of people and trained them with a customer-service-first attitude.
Ty was actually surprised he’d stayed on as long as he had, though he could put a smile on his face and do what someone told him pretty easily. Therefore, he found a man named Marcus waving people into the parking lot, and he did what he said.
Just as he put the truck in park, his phone rang, and Ty glanced over to the screen in his truck while it connected. Winnie watched it too.
When the nameJerry Bozemanpopped up on the screen, Ty’s heart went into a spin. “It’s the real estate agent.” He looked over to Winnie as his pulse actually started to throb in his throat.
“I’m going to answer it.”
“All right,” she said. “Do it.”
Ty reached out and touched the screen, gave the call a moment toconnect, and then said, “Hey, Jerry, you’re on speaker with me and my girlfriend, Winnie.”
