Page 27

She gave a sharp nod, directing him away from Frank.

Adam rose in one fluid motion.

Frank moved to get up, and Adam glared at him.

Brett took a step forward, hands in front of his chest. “Clara Mae, please. Frank’s just a kid —”

“ Kid ? Frank’s not a kid; he’s a punk.” She took a step back, keeping her eye on both men.

“And don’t please me. He had an entire ashtray full of his butts.

No way you missed that, Brett. And if you did, I blame you.

And the feed and supplements… All on you.

Pack your shit — both of you. And don’t even think about asking for a reference. ”

Clara Mae gestured to Rusty, who was running across the patch of ground between the house and the barn. “Rusty, help these lowlifes off my ranch.” She turned to Adam. “Thank you for your help, boy, but you need to get back to work. Rusty and I will take care of these two.”

Adam nodded and walked backward toward Bolt.

Brett locked eyes with him. Somehow, the man knew Adam was at the bottom of their firings.

Still, Adam couldn’t help but smile as he turned back to Bolt. He’d taken down a man older and larger than him with a football move Thomas had shown him.

And Clara Mae rocked.

The woman had found a reason to fire both men without ever bringing up his name.

Yeah, life was definitely looking up.

One problem down — two actually. He’d been nervous about Frank from the start. The man definitely wouldn’t have been a good influence for Peter.

Now, he just needed to figure out what to do about Lala.

* * *

Adam walked Bolt back to the barn. He needed to cool down anyway — they both did.

Still, unlike his normal overheating — possibly from holding in his rage — Adam felt good. Today wasn’t the first time he’d proven to Clara Mae that he was capable.

Not just with horses, but also with the other hands.

Many times in his short life he’d backed down after seeing a wrong, or when bullies got in his face. Not anymore. It felt good to stand up for what was right.

He would never back down again.

Inside the barn, Adam walked Bolt to his stall. “You did a good job, boy. Imagine what we could do with a saddle.”

Bolt snuffled.

“I know… We’ll talk, baby.”

“Oh my gosh!” Claire squealed behind him. “That was so great. You just…” She mimed running and lifting and then slammed her arms down in front of her. “Boom! Slammed him to the ground.”

Adam loved that she’d seen and hated that he had to curb her enthusiasm. “Shh…”

She covered her mouth and giggled. “Okay, but… Wow!”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be in school, Miss Harper?”

She rested her hands on her hips. “I have time. But speaking of school… What about Peter?”

“Whoa. You’re right. I meant to handle that. I’m guessing I can’t go down there because that’ll raise questions. Maybe Clara Mae could…”

“Let me take him.” Claire bounced. “I know what to do. I just transferred not so long ago. I’ll have Grams drive us. She won’t ask any questions. She trusts me. The school will order transcripts from Talkeetna, send papers home for you to sign. Done!”

“Oh, that’s a…”

“Good idea?”

“A great idea,” Adam agreed.

The crunching of wood chips and voices broke them apart.

“Thanks for helping me this morning!” Claire called over her shoulder as she jogged toward the opposite barn doors. “I’m running late, so I’ll just let myself out.”

Rusty and Clara Mae stepped through the rear side of the barn.

Clara Mae nodded to Claire, then looked at Adam. “Nice to know Claire’s quick with her brain… and a better storyteller than you, young man.”

Well , Adam thought, at least she didn’t refer to him as a boy .

Then again, even Rusty had said that Clara Mae used boy as an endearment.

Adam didn’t really care. Technically, while he was a teenager, he did feel like a boy sometimes.

He planned to live up to her young man praise, though.

“She asked to go riding today, showed me the riding trail along the river.”

“I figured.” She glanced at her watch. “You’re not late. And I have to say…” She looked up at Rusty. “This one’s fast on his feet.”

“I saw,” Rusty said, nodding. “Sure you don’t have some of my ancestry blood in you, kid.”

Adam shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“He sure rides like he does.” She brushed her hands together, like she was dusting off the last of the conversation.

“Now let’s talk about what comes next. First off…

where’s that lanky colt brother of yours.

I haven’t seen him since he scarfed down three hands’ worth of my biscuits Saturday night. ”

Here goes nothing . “About my brother, Ma’am.

I’ll do more than my share of work, I promise.

Plus, he assured me he’d work in the afternoons.

I would like him to finish off the school year, so he can move on to the next grade.

” He paused long enough to take a breath, then continued, “There’re only five weeks left, then he can work all summer. ”

“Good idea. He’d probably just mope around all day anyway — like Frank, that good for nothing…”

Rusty patted her shoulder. “You took care of them, Clara Mae.”

She grinned. “I did, didn’t I? Betcha didn’t think this old woman had it in her.”

“You’re far from old,” Rusty said. “And I know you got it in ya.” He glanced over his shoulder, then leaned toward Adam. “I felt that danged electricity when she caught me with her only daughter.”

Clara Mae waved him off. “Get to work, Rust.” She turned back to Adam, wrapping a protective arm around his shoulders.

She walked him to the center of the barn.

“You watch your back, boy. You ain’t been in town nary a full three days, and you’ve already made enemies.

Brett’s wise to me. I tried to take it all on my back, but he asked if someone had been spreading lies about him. ”

Adam nodded but didn’t bother to reply. She hadn’t asked him a question; she’d made a statement — an all-too-real declaration. Taking his brother’s name had opened him up to some kind of hell he couldn’t even imagine, and now he was racking up his own enemies.

Clara Mae dropped her arm but placed both hands on his shoulders. “What did you and Claire decide about Lala?”

Enemy number three , he thought. Four , if he counted George. He’d gotten on that man’s bad side within hours of arriving at the ranch.

“That I should break up with her?” His voice went up at the end, like it was a question.

Dang it !

Clara Mae laughed. “Let me know how that goes for ya!”