“Mr. Crockett, pick up on four please,” Caitlan Saunders, Christian’s secretary, said over the intercom.
“Crockett.” Wes listened. “Really. Give me your number.” He scrawled it on a pad on his desk, then dialed the barn office and put it on speaker. “Luke, I got a call from animal control. They came across a pair of horses, both emaciated and neglected. Do we have room to take them?”
“You know they’re gonna need special care…aw, cripes, you have a good heart. Give me the address; I’ll take our trailer and pick them up,” Luke said with a chuckle.
“I’ll do it. Is Ellie West down there?” The men in his office stared at him, and Wes gave them the finger.
“Yes, sir. Would you like to speak with her? I’m sure her staff would like the break. She out-schooled them all when she jumped on the Percheron bareback to settle a runaway.”
“Hmm, she rode the Percheron bareback? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes; I need to change.” A vision of spanking her big, beautiful bottom flashed in his head.
Christian started singing, “Wes and Ellie sitting in a tree…”
“Knock it off,” Wes said.Get your shit together; she’s your employee.
“She rode a horse without a saddle?” Troy confirmed. “Do you want me to handle it?”
“I’ve got it. You guys take care of Troy.” Wes stood.
“You do realize my hearing wasn’t injured,” Troy said.
“Troy, keep Chris, TJ and Ken in line. Keep up the good work with the orientation.” Wes fled before his friends could ask about his feelings for Eleanor.
* * *
Wes drove Ellie through the main entrance along route 703. “Valentino looks like a nice ride,” Wes said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
“He was. Very sweet.”
“Ellie, you know that was dangerous. You could have fallen. Who is going to build my program if you get hurt?” Instead of anger, his voice projected angst.
“I’m sorry; it was instinct. Louis was so upset.”
He opened his center console. “Take two Tylenol, and there’s a water bottle in there as well. And it’s almost four. Eyedrops.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
A large black and white Holstein dairy cow stood blocking their path. Wes lamented, “Not today, Mabel. She’s a frequent flier—has a habit of breaking through the lower pasture fence belonging to my new neighbors, Resa and Dixon Knolls. I’ll run her home.”
He turned his head and caught a view of Eleanor. She was gray and shaking. Wes pulled the Tahoe and the attached horse trailer to the side of the road and took her hand in his, partly comforting and partly checking her pulse. Her heart was hammering beneath his fingertips. “Curly, what’s wrong?”
* * *
“Shit, that damn cow is going to cause problems. Get inside,” Dixon Knolls yelled.
Resa Knolls picked up two infants. “C’mon, cuties,” she said to the other two. “We’re going to make chocolate chip pancakes.” Smiling, she headed up the porch steps.
Dixon pursed his lips. Before heading to meet up with Wes and the cow, he surveyed the area to make sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
* * *
“That’s the cow that ran me off the road,” her voice quivered.
Wes took a deep breath. Her accident was along their adjoining property.Was it Mabel?“Would you like to go back to the Center? And I’ll come back to speak with her owner.”
“No. I’m alright. Just a flashback.” Her eyes never turned from the cow.
“I’ll be right back.” He opened the driver’s door.
