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“Even if she was on the market, as you say, I wouldn’t be interested.”

“Why not?”

“Because—well, we don’t even know her for starters.”

“But we invited her to stay in our guesthouse, did we not?”

“We—”

“Uh-huh.”

Vaughn rolled her eyes.

“I know you well, Vaughn Marie Ruger. So don’t even try to get anything past me.”

“I just thought she could use the help.” Vaughn said. “And that maybe the extra money would help us too.”

“Kill two birds with one stone.”

“Yes.”

They worked some more in silence.

“You said you found Hazel?” Vaughn asked, the muscles in her back burning from overexertion. Her back pain was getting worse with every day, but she tried to hide that from Gram. She wondered though, how much worse it was going to get and whether or not she could keep hiding it.

“I did and I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. She was out beyond the east fence line with a wire tangled around her ankle. It cut into her a bit.”

“Shit.” Vaughn stopped scrubbing. Just what they needed, an injured horse.

“I cut it loose, and tended to her, but you’ll need to double-check her wound.”

“It bad?”

“Just a small cut. Nothing serious.”

They backed away as Vaughn rinsed out the buckets.

“I thought for a while there that maybe Ricky and Pedro had taken Hazel and Mojo both,” Vaughn said, wiping her brow with the back of her arm. The storm had left a heavy, humid feel to the air. Something Phoenicians did not appreciate, and the big floor fans in the stables weren’t doing much to help.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Gram said.

“You don’t think they let them out of the corral and into the field do you?”

Gram held her brush out for Vaughn to rinse. “I don’t rightly know, Vaughn. Those boys…it’s hard telling.”

Vaughn was just about to agree with her when she heard someone enter the stables.

“Is that vinegar I smell?” Natalie asked as she joined them.

“It is,” Vaughn answered as she handed the hose over to Gram to finish filling the buckets. She saw the questions on Natalie’s face. She was wondering about the vinegar. “It helps clean and prevent algae growth and we also add it to help with the horses’ digestion.”

“Huh. I never would’ve guessed,” Natalie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Thought for sure you’d be asleep,” Vaughn said. They’d talked for a while more after she’d shown Natalie the guesthouse. They’d had some cheese and crackers and mainly spoke of the running of the ranch. Natalie had thanked Vaughn again and wished her a good night before returning to the guest cottage.

Vaughn wicked away more sweat from her forehead, removing her cowboy hat to do so.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Natalie said. “And I heard you two out moving around so I thought I’d see if I could help.”