Page 11 of Cowboy Needed

“Yessir!” Michael put his slight weight right to it, leaning on the ladder to keep it upright.

He grabbed Ichabod and muscled him right down onto the floor. “There you go. You all right?”

“You are wicked strong.” Ichabod bent over, hands on his knees. “Whew. That was a little wild.”

“Looked a little hairy. Good job, Michael.”

The kid flushed. “Thanks. Dad, can I go to the feed store with Mr. Ellis?”

“Oh, um.” Ichabod looked at him.

“I told him he had to ask you. If he can ride with just a seatbelt, I don’t mind taking him with me.”

Ichabod chewed his lower lip. “Okay. But you have to do what Mr. Ellis says and not get into things.”

“I will and I won’t!” Michael bounced some more. “I got to meet his horse.”

“Did you?” Ichabod gave Michael a patently false glare. “Were you in the barns again?”

Michael blinked and grinned. “Maybe…”

Ichabod made a soft huffing sound. “Just be careful, okay? Those horses are huge.”

“Mr. Ellis said that it was cool. I met his horse. He’s so beautiful, Dad. His name is Rio.”

“Well, that’s amazing, kiddo. Thank you for letting himsee your horse. I know that that can be a… complicated situation.”

This man knew nothing about animals. In fact, Ellis would bet that if it came right down to it, the guy had never even had a dog. Ichabod didn’t seem like the dog kind.

“Are you a big animal lover?”

“I grew up with cats.”

Of course he did.

Ichabod smiled at him. “And of course, I did the Guinea pig, ferret, hamster thing as well. But really, cats mostly. Uh, I’ve been to a lot of zoos. Unfortunately, my husband, he was allergic to dogs. So, we didn’t have dogs when the boys were little, but I’m thinking about getting a dog. And I’ve already decided we’re going to get a few cats to come live at the house. Cats are important.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. “Well, they do eat mice.”

“See, that’s what I was thinking. They’re cute. They eat mice and?—”

“Dad, did you mean it? Can we get a dog?”

Ichabod nodded. “Well, I don’t want to just get any dog. We should find the right dog for our family. But yes, I think we should get a dog.”

Michael rocked forward on his toes. “Can I have a horse?”

Ichabod’s eyes went wide. “Don’t you have an entire pack of horses?”

“Herd, Dad.”

“Don’t you have an entire herd of horses?”

Michael pursed his lips. “They’re not mine.”

“Well, okay, now they are. Congratulations. Have some horses.”

“Really?”