Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy. Kate Pearce

chuckled. “Sure. Me. I work cheap. A couple of sandwiches and some good, strong black coffee. It will have to be on a Saturday, though. Boss keeps me pretty busy the rest of the week.”

      She flushed. “Oh, I didn’t mean—”

      “He doesn’t mind if I help out neighbors,” he interrupted. “He’s a kind man. So is his wife.”

      “You said she wrote for Warriors and Warlocks,” she added, glancing at Teddie amusedly. “Teddie loves it. I have to keep her locked in her room when it’s on, though. It’s very grown-up.”

      He was grinning from ear to ear. “It is. If you saw the boss’s wife, you wouldn’t believe she was somebody so famous.”

      “I still can’t believe we have somebody that famous here in Benton.” She laughed.

      “Yeah. Gave us all a start when we found out. Cassie Reed, now Cassie Denton, was working as a waitress in town. Her dad, Lanier Roger Reed, was working at the farm equipment place. None of us knew they were running from a big scandal in New York. Her father was falsely accused of ”—he stopped and glanced at Teddie—“a grown-up thing. Anyway, the woman who accused him is now occupying a comfortable cell in state prison. J.L. married the writer and she came back out here to live. Her dad produces a hit show about a musical group from the seventies.”

      “Oh, my goodness, those are about the only two shows I watch on TV.” Katy laughed. “What a coincidence!”

      “She’s a good writer. And she’s a sweet person, too. She’s very pregnant, so we all sort of watch out for her. It’s their first child. Due pretty soon, too. J.L. says the baby’s going to be a Christmas present.”

      “Is it a boy or a girl?”

      “Bound to be.”

      She glared at him.

      He grinned. “They don’t know. They wanted it to be a surprise. So all the shower gifts they got were yellow.”

      “I didn’t want to know, either,” Katy said, smiling at Teddie. “But my husband did. So they told him and he didn’t tell me.”

      “A man who could keep a secret. That’s rare.”

      “He was a rare man,” she said quietly. The loss was still fresh enough that she had to fight tears. “Okay, about the porch, I’ll need to get lumber. Can you tell me what to get and where to get it?”

      “I’ll come back Saturday morning and do some measuring,” he said.

      “Thanks.”

      “And we could teach young Annie Oakley here how to saddle a horse,” he teased, smiling at Teddie.

      “That would be great!” Teddie enthused.

      “So I’ll see you both then.”

      “Thanks. I’d like to pay you, for fixing the fence. . . .” She stopped at the look on his face. She flushed. “Well, I’m not exactly a charity case and you work for J.L. Denton for wages, right?”

      He pursed his lips and stared at her with twinkling eyes. “Sort of.”

      “Sort of?” she asked.

      He smiled. “I work for him except in the summer. I go away to work for other people.” He didn’t elaborate. “I make a good bit then.”

      “Oh.”

      “So I can do a favor for a new friend”—he smiled at Teddie—“and her mom without having to worry about getting paid for it. Okay?”

      She smiled. “Okay. Thanks, Parker.”

      “No sweat.” He mounted the horse, turned it gently, and rode away, as much a part of the animal as its tail, using just his legs and the light bridle to control it.

      “That’s such a beautiful horse,” Teddie said with a sigh as she watched the man ride away.

      “It is. Wings suits her for a name,” Katy agreed. She gave her daughter an irritated look. “But just for the record, if you ever do anything like that again . . .”

      “I won’t,” Teddie promised. She grinned irrepressibly. “But I got us a new friend who knows all about horses,” she added. “Right?”

      It was impossible for her to stay mad at her daughter. “Right. Anyway, let me go and try to get the vet again. Your new friend Parker was right. The horse needs a lot of work done on him before you can ride him.”

      “It will cost money,” Teddie said. “I’m really sorry. . . .”

      “A vet bill won’t break the bank,” her mother said gently. “We have the money that comes from the service, after Dad . . . well, anyway, we have that and we have my salary. We’ll get by.”

      “It will be nice to have him healed,” Teddie said. “I didn’t realize he’d need so many things done. I’m really sorry.”

      “He’s a beautiful animal and he’s been badly treated,” came the curt reply. “I really hope his owner goes to jail. Nobody should treat a horse like that!”

      “That’s true,” Teddie agreed.

      “Come on inside. It’s very cool out here.”

      * * *

      The vet came out and looked at the poor horse, treated his cuts, recommended a farrier for the hooves, and gave Bartholomew an antibiotic injection. He promised to come back the following week and check on him, just to make sure he was healing.

      “Going to be a scandal, when that man comes to trial,” the vet, Henry Carr, told Katy. “In all my years as a vet, never saw a horse in such shape. He had two others, but the county animal control people took those away from him. Well, those horses, and about twenty dogs he had in cages for breeding purposes. They took those, too.”

      “Why isn’t he in jail?” she asked angrily.

      “Because his people are rich and they protect him,” he said flatly, and with some anger. “If I get called to testify, they’re going to get an earful from me!”

      “Good for you,” she said.

      “You need to get the farrier out here before those hooves get any worse,” he said.

      “I’ll call him today.”

      He smiled. “I’m glad you and Teddie decided to come and live here. Benton’s a nice place to raise a child. I raised three, with my late wife. I miss her every day.”

      Katy took a breath. “I miss my husband. He was a good man.”

      “Life goes on,” he said. “It has to. Have a good day.”

      “You, too. And thanks for coming out.”

      “No problem.”

      She watched him drive off and called the farrier. He agreed to come right out and check the poor horse’s hooves after Katy had described the state they were in.

      He cleaned them and replaced the shoes with new nails. “Hell of a condition for a horse to get in,” he said.

      “Yes, it is. They’re prosecuting the former owner.”

      “I know him. Bad man. Really bad. I hope they’ll get farther than they did with the last case they tried against him.”

      “Me, too.” She watched him put in the last nail. “Do you know a man named Parker who works for J.L. Denton?”

      “Parker.” He rolled his eyes. “He’s fine as long as he’s not within earshot,” he added on a chuckle. “J.L. has to keep women away from him.”

      “Why?” she asked, with some shock.

      “His mouth,” he replied. “Nobody cusses like Parker.”