Page 40 of The Triple Threat

“Hang on.”

I forked the clean hay around the calving pen and then turned to Pop. “What’s up?”

He frowned and I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “L and J want to go into town. Was wondering if you could take them.”

“Why me?” I asked, rubbing my forehead with my forearm. “Can’t you? I was going to ride out to the far pasture and check whether we need to cut down that storm damaged tree.”

Pop rubbed the floor with the toe of his boot. “I’m kind of avoiding someone.”

“Shit, Pop,” I groaned. “You’ve dumped Jojo.”

“Yeah, and she didn’t take it too well.”

“Why does that stop you going into town? I thought she worked at Tatum’s Grocery Store at Jennings Bridge.”

“Yeah, she did, but they asked her to cover here for a few weeks. And,” he sighed, rubbing a hand down his beard, “because she thought we were seeing each other, she agreed. Thought she’d get to see more of me.”

“You don’t have to take Auntie L and J into the grocery store.”

“That’s kinda where they want to go, and you know I can’t leave them on their own in there. Remember last time and they came home with twenty cans of Chicken a la King, just because it was on special.”

I couldn’t help laughing, mainly at the pained look on Pop’s face. “Yeah, we have beef on hand, and they bought canned chicken in case we had a winter storm and needed supplies.”

Pop shrugged as if to say, ‘told you so’.

“So, will you take them?”

I’d been looking forward to giving Dante, my horse, a blow out, but Pop looked as though the idea of him going into town was about as popular as a fart in a spacesuit.

“I’ll let you have the afternoon off tomorrow,” he said, almost pleading with me.

Liking the idea of a few hours down time, I nodded. “Okay. As long as you go and check the tree and take Dante instead of Jezebel.”

“Fine. No problem.” Pop replied. “I’ll let him blow off some steam. I know he’s been frustrated, stuck in the stables for the last two weeks because of that abscess on his tail.”

We had four horses in total, but we rarely used our two older mares Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. They’d worked hard over the years and deserved their time in the pasture opposite to the house. To say they’d been mad at having to work had been an understatement. Dolly had even tried to throw me the day before.

I handed Pop the fork and was about to walk out of the barn, when something struck me. Him and Ellie. It just blasted from nowhere, right out of left field.

“You’re not after someone else, are you?”

“Fuck no. I think I’m going to stay away from the ladies for a little while.” He grinned at me and smoothed back his hair. “Well until singles night on Friday at Stars & Stripes.”

“Really? Pop, you do know that you’ve probably had most of the single women in this town.”

“Yeah, but according to Mack from the feed store there’s a bus coming in from Middleton Ridge.”

“Like you’ve not got enough women to be going at,” I muttered and shook my head. “Seriously Pop, I hope you’re wrapping up because you’re gonna catch something nasty one of these days.”

“Of course, I am. What sort of idiot do you think I am?”

“A sex crazed one,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later, son, and I really appreciate it.”

I waved him away and went to wrangle my aunts into the truck, for what I knew was going to be an afternoon of hell.

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