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Harlan stared at the picture and his eyes widened. “When’s my sister coming home?”

“Told you,” said Billy.

“Soon. I want her to come home right away and meet you. I’m calling her tomorrow.”

“Huh,” said Harlan. “How old is my sister?”

“Just had her sixteenth birthday in November. She’s trying to get her DL.”

“I can drive anything with wheels,” said Harlan with a lot of confidence. “Born to it. Probably be a race driver.”

“Sure,” I said. “You can drive my Harley on the laneway and practice.”

“You got a Harley, Sheriff?”

“Sure do. Call meTravis.”

Savanna led the way upstairs. First room on the left was Billy’s and it was army-neat. Bed made with perfect corners. Nothing out of place.

The other bedroom on the second floor was smaller and furnished with a single bed and a dresser. The bed was made up with a nice quilt on top. I turned on the light.

“This okay for you for now, Harlan? I’ll get you some stuff tomorrow—whatever you need. We’ll go to Savanna’s store and get you some gear.”

He sat on the side of the bed. “Sure. This is okay. Do I have to go to bed right now?”

“Nope. Go to bed when you want to. I’ve gotta go down and feed the dogs.”

“Can I feed them? I never fed no dogs before.”

“Come on and I’ll show you how much to put into their bowls.”

In the kitchen, I hefted the fifty-pound bag out of the pantry and as soon as the dogs heard the pantry door, they came bounding into the kitchen and sat next to their bowls.

“Wow, they’re hungry,” said Harlan.

I pulled the measuring cup out of the bag and handed it to Harlan. “Three heaping cups in each of their bowls and fill up the water bowl. They drink a lot of water.”

“I’ve got it.”

“Watch they don’t push you while you’re trying to measure. They can be rough.”

I got two more beers out of the fridge for me and Billy and walked into the living room. We could hear Harlan laughing.

“Hey, don’t push me.”

We all went to bed around midnight. Sleeping in Tammy’s room, Billy was close enough to call me if he got into trouble or needed help to get from his room to the bathroom.

Harlan was doing well, and I was happy about that. So far, so good. Tomorrow I’d call and see if Tammy would come and stay for a while. It would be fun to have a houseful.

Chapter Nine

Wednesday, April 27th.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Having Savanna sleep over, I was concerned about the chill in the house first thing in the morning, so I made the extra effort to drag my ass out of bed and get the woodstove going to take the edge off the icy feel.

A half hour later, the dogs were outside, the stove was kicking out a pretty good heat and the coffee was made. I checked on Billy to see if he was ready to get up and he was lying in his bed awake.