LITMIR.BIZ

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       “Ruff!”

      “Aw.” Del put the pup down and offered a hand. “Shake.” Paw plopped into hand. Del flashed Lila a grin. “And you can just tell he’s housebroken, too.”

      “Lucky for you,” she said. “Because I’m not looking for a dog. I’m looking for my dog. Unless somebody comes looking for him, the finders-keepers rule applies.”

      “I like dogs, but there’s no way.”

      “Yes, there is. I see the will in your eyes.” She glanced at the dog. “And thirst in his.” She retrieved a pan of water from the other end of the porch and set it down. They watched him go for it. “Bingo... When he comes back, Bingo will let him stay with you, but not with me. So you’ll have to take care of him, and you might as well start now.”

      “No, I can’t...” Del slid the pup a sympathetic glance. “Somebody’s been teaching this dog tricks. That somebody’s looking for him as we speak.”

      “And if that somebody comes to call, you’re in luck. Or out of it, which would be—” Lila levered an eyebrow and growled “—ruff.”

      “I’m bettin’ somewhere there’s a kid crying over this dog.” The eyebrow arched again, and he groaned. “You got some food for him?”

      “I have all kinds of stuff you’ll need for him. I’ll drop it off in the bunkhouse. And I have kids coming this afternoon. I promise I’ll ask about him.”

      “They’ll love him.” And they’d all play with him, give him a name.

      “If nobody comes looking for him, you’ll have to get him vaccinated before he can be around my day care kids.” She patted his arm. “I’m holding out for Bingo.”

      “I looked all over, Lila. This little guy needs—”

      “All over? You’ve only been here a couple of days. This place is a lot of all over.” She watched the pup for a moment, stepped back and shook her head. “It was an honest mistake. I don’t want to keep you from your job.”

      “You’re not. I was on my way to find Brad.” The little black dog was right behind Del when he left. He turned, looked down at the wagging tail, the expectancy in a pair of big brown eyes, and he chuckled. “Yeah, you can come along.”

      “Wait!” she called after him. “I’m...” He stopped, but he didn’t turn around. “I’ll get you some dog food.”

      “Leave it in the bunkhouse.”

      Del walked away muttering, “The hell with her,” to the dog. If she was interested, the woman heard him. If she wasn’t, a little curse didn’t matter to her anyway. But he was pretty sure he still had her attention, pretty damn sure he was getting under her skin right now.

      “And we both know there’s more’n one way to skin a cat,” he whispered to his new companion. “Ain’t that right?” Then he laughed at himself for conjuring an image of peeling Lila’s T-shirt over her head. “Skin the cat” was one of his dad’s crazy sayings.

      “The hell with her” was not.

      * * *

      Del found Frank cleaning a saddle in the new barn. One wall of the tack room was lined with racks stocked with saddles and hooks heaped with bridles, all in beautiful condition. Frank was a true horseman.

      “Brad back yet?”

      “Haven’t seen him.” Frank tapped the lid on a can of saddle soap. “He took his pickup. I don’t think he was too serious about checking cows. Not from a pickup.”

      “The fence was down about a mile off the highway on the cut-across. All three strands cut.”

      Frank dropped the can into a rubber tub. “Could be kids.”

      “There were tire tracks. I don’t know why kids would go to all that trouble, though. Not the best place for a party. Nothing left behind. No cans, no bottles, no butts.”

      “Did you fix it?”

      “For now. Should be replaced.”

      “You rode the fence line on horseback?” The older man’s face lit up. “There’s wire out in the shop. We’ll load some up, drive over and do it right.”

      “I can take care of it now. Just say the word.”

      “I did. It’s we. We’ll go out and stretch some wire.” He slid his stool up against the wall, lifted his John Deere cap, raked his fingers through thinning gray hair and then settled the cap back in place as though they were heading for town. “I think I’m gonna like you, Del. Seems like you’re here to work.”

      “I’ve worked for guys who want me to wade right in and do what needs doing and guys who want me to wait for orders. I’m good either way.”

      Frank clapped a sturdy hand on Del’s shoulder. “Then you’ll be good loading up the wire in case my wife looks out the window. I’ll bring the pickup around.”

      “Guess I’m done waiting.”

      The chance to spend quality time with Frank fit nicely into Del’s plan, and considering the way things were working around the Flynn place, it had come sooner than expected. It was a good sign, he thought, and then he dismissed the idea. He was looking to connect the dots. From his perspective they were neither good nor bad. They were just dots. The connections were all that counted.

      “I didn’t mean to bother you with this,” he told Frank as they approached the stretch of fence he’d patched earlier. He pointed, and Frank pulled over. “Retirement must be nice.”

      “Brad says I’m retired?” Frank chuckled. “Don’t worry. You can answer truthfully. It won’t get back to him.”

      “I guess what he said was, he’s trying to get you to take it easy.”

      “In my old age?”

      “Now, he didn’t say that. You’ve got a real nice place here, Frank. Probably been building it up acre by acre for...”

      “Most of my life.” Frank pushed his door open, but he wasn’t in any hurry to get out. He was taking in the view. Grass and sky. “Belonged to my wife’s family, my first wife. I own half the land. Lila’s grandmother left her the other half, along with the home place.” He turned to Del, as though he was about to deliver news that deserved special treatment. “My first wife died.”

      “When Lila was twelve.”

      Frank raised his brow. “Brad told you?”

      “Lila did. My mother died young, too.”

      Frank gave a tight-lipped nod. Del read the message in his eyes. Tough break all around.

      “Lila’s never forgiven me for getting married again. She should’ve outgrown that by now. A man doesn’t stop living just because his wife dies. Especially not if he has a young child. Your dad remarry?”

      Del shook his head. “Never did.”

      “Is that some kind of tradition?

      “You mean for Indians?” Del shook his head. “My mother was white. My dad was Lakota. I’m sure he had his reasons for not getting married again, but being Lakota wasn’t one of them.”

      “It’s hard, losing your wife sudden like that. Or your mother. Leaves a big hole right through your chest. The wind—” he gestured with a shivery hand “—whistles right through.”

      Del showed Frank the tire tracks, which, interestingly enough, didn’t elicit much reaction. Del had to fish for it.

      “Brad said neighbors have been losing cattle.”

      “Could be rustlers, I guess. There’s been some rustling

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