“Four men have parole violations. Kenny and his two top men, Stitch and Blade, returned from Mexico. I searched for any credit card charges. There’s nothing for hotels, but gas and food put them in the vicinity of a new gang rising in popularity. They deal heavily with cocaine and a new product similar to ecstasy,” Matthew reported, clicking away at the computer keys. “Kenny’s using the bar in town for local drug deals. Ember’s police tend to glance the other way. The original biker gang leader disappeared about six months ago and Kenny’s took over his territory.”
“In other words, he killed the dude,” Jameson chimed in. “Man, you got some dangerous people gunning for you.”
“It’s not the first time they’ve tried to kill me,” he replied. “I have to tell Riley. She needs to stay on the property.”
Julio frowned. “She worked the fields today with the greenhorns. Did you know how knowledgeable she is? Mac shadowed her while she completed the tasks. She’s a great cowgirl.”
Garrett smiled with pride, picturing her on Storm. “Did you give her the horse?”
“Nah, man. Mac said she took one glance at the grey, went into the barn and pulled out one of our horses,” Jameson told him. “Mac says she’s a wild one. I think you’ll have your hands full.”
Garrett held his head down. “I have to talk to her. There’s no telling what Kenny and his gang will do. My mother seemed roughed up, and it took everything I had not to drag her out of there and keep her with me until she realized her mistake. Then I recalled my grandfather’s warning. I can’t have her living with me forever.”
“Just because someone’s family doesn’t mean they get a free pass to be an asshole,” Matthew advised him. “I didn’t like seeing the black eye and considering what we do here, it’s not in my nature to let it go.”
“I say we send a couple of the cowboys down to the biker bar and keep their ears open. You’re the only reason for him to stay in Embers unless he has a drug deal about to go down. If we can nab him and the others in a bust, we can get them out of here faster,” Julio surmised, glancing at the computer screen.
“Riley’s not happy with you, Garrett. You fucked up. She already has trust issues, and you made them worse,” Rachel said, entering Matthew’s office, her eyes filled with rage.
“Rachel,” Matthew warned. “Remember the conversation of staying out of other people’s business?”
She scrunched up her nose and turned toward the man who hurt her friend. “Yeah. And I remember requesting you kicking his ass. Don’t tell me you didn’t feel angry when we pulled up to the Silver Spurs Hotel.”
“She stayed there?” Garrett exclaimed.
Matthew waved him down. “She rented the room for about thirty minutes before we got there.”
Rachel sent daggers in his direction. “Riley may have made a mistake, but her sister’s life was at risk. She dressed up for you, and you made her feel cheap. What will you do to fix it?” she demanded.
“I can’t do anything right now,” Garrett explained. “My mother and boyfriend might put her and Tara in danger.”
“So, sitting here on your asses and gossiping like a bunch of old ladies having tea will solve it? Why don’t you try having an adult conversation with her? She’s a big girl. Trust me, she can handle it,” Rachel said vehemently.
Garrett rose and walked toward Rachel. “I tried speakingwith her. She didn’t seem very receptive. Then again, I didn’t give her a chance to give me an explanation.” Garret held his hat in his hands. “Do you know where she is?”
“She’s taking the greenhorns to the east pasture and wrangling them to the other side. Then, she’ll shower and volunteer at the cafeteria like she has ever since you kicked her out. Riley works herself to exhaustion and I’m sure it’s because of you.”
“I’ll check in later,” Garrett murmured as he left the room. Getting into his truck, he drove to the barn closest to the pasture where Rachel mentioned Riley working. He saddled one of the ranch horses and headed out to find her.
“Ya, ya,”Riley called as she herded the animals, her braided long hair whipped in the wind. “Jay, keep your attention on those animals to your left. You’re giving them too much space to wander off,” she directed as she watched the people under her care. “Mike, you let one of the calves slip by you, let’s get him.”
Riley maneuvered her horse around the herd, grabbed her rope, and wrangled the calf before it made it to the stream.
“Damn, Riley, who taught you how to do that?” Mike exclaimed, shaking his head, impressed with Riley’s skills.
“My mom,” she said, smiling. The fresh air gave her skin a healthy glow as she watched the ranch cowboys helping the greenhorns. She handed the rope to Mike. “Get him back to the herd and then we’re done for the day.”
Her hand went up to shade her eyes as she searched for any areas not covered where an animal might escape, and Garrett realized she wasn’t wearing her hat.Yeah, you idiot, because you made her feel like a piece of shit, and she left it at your cabin.
Estimating she still had an hour of work before she made it back to the barns, he turned his horse and headed back. Jumping into his truck, he drove back to his cabin. Garrett grabbed her hat off the hook and returned to his truck, determined to meet her at the barn.
When he arrived, she patted Mike on the shoulder as one of the other cowboys took her horse inside the barn. Riley followed them inside. Garrett waited until the cowboys loaded into their vehicles and drove off before approaching her.
“I’d say we did a good job today, Daisy. Jay needs to work on his attention span, but all in all, we didn’t do too badly,” she said, stroking the horse’s head.
“I think you did an amazing job,” he said, startling her. When she realized who it was, she turned back to the horse. “At least our day went great. I guess we can’t expect miracles.”
“I know you don’t want to talk to me, and I screwed up big time. Will you at least give me five minutes to hear me out?” he asked.
