LITMIR.BIZ

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the banister. This was a little more than he bargained for. A mixture of curiosity and acid from his lack of breakfast churned in his stomach, but he needed the arrangement to work. He was running out of money, and no other interesting options had popped up.

      Joiner straightened himself up and grinned, offering his hand to Buster again. “You just tell her I am at her service.”

      The front door opened, and Stella walked in on them.

      “Well, now you can tell her yourself!” Buster clapped his hands together.

      “Tell me what?” Stella demanded.

      “Joiner is going to live in the RV and be our new ranch hand.”

      Stella took this news as if she’d been punched in the face.

      “What?”

      “I decided not to sell the land, but he’s going to live here and help us out on the ranch for a while.”

      Stella’s eyes widened as the news sank in.

      “You’re not selling?” She smiled, but her smile was for Buster only.

      “No.” Buster shook his head. “But we’ve made an arrangement where he can board his horse here and help with chores, and he’ll be help to you with the school. You won’t have to pay as much for a ranch hand, and he won’t have to fork over lots of money for lodging. It’s a win-win.”

      She seemed to bristle at this idea.

      Buster grabbed the front doorknob and turned it. “You two probably ought to talk a little bit among yourselves. I’ve got to go check my chickens.” He let the screen door slam behind him.

      What a crafty old goat, Joiner thought, hoping he hadn’t made a big mistake in agreeing to live and work here.

      Stella motioned to Joiner. “I guess we could sit on the porch?”

      He followed her through the screen door and sat down in one of two rockers that flanked a small table. She took the porch swing, the farthest seat away.

      “So, your dad told me about your school. I think it’s a great idea.”

      Her head snapped to attention. “What did he tell you?”

      “Just that you want to help people through therapy with horses.”

      “Did he mention safety?”

      “Um, no. We didn’t really go very far into it.”

      “Safety is my first concern with the school—and I saw the way you drove in here like you were in a high-speed chase.”

      “I’m sorry, but—”

      She continued, “I don’t know what you’re used to with polo, but I’d imagine it will be a lot different than what I’m doing here.”

      Joiner was sure it would aggravate her, but he couldn’t resist. “I’m used to having fun on horses.”

      She snorted. “Well, I hope my clients have fun on our horses, but my first priority is that they are safe at all times.” Her brown eyes bored into him. “It will have to be your priority too while you work here.”

      “Okay,” Joiner said, and then added in his thoughts, which probably won’t be very long.

       CHAPTER THREE

      “YOU’RE DOING WHAT?” Mac demanded as his eyeglasses clattered to the tabletop.

      The four Temple brothers sat around a table on the back patio of The Wild Horse Saloon, a honky-tonk joint that also served the best steaks in Kilgore—apart from Hunt’s restaurant at Temple Territory, of course. Most of the action was clustered around the stage inside where the band played. Locals, including students at Kilgore College, crowded the dance floor to do the Texas two-step and unwind after a busy work week.

      Hunt’s wife, Gillian, and Sarah, a young widow who’d recently wed Hunt’s twin, Cullen, had taken Sarah’s three daughters to Longview for a movie. The brothers saw this as an opportunity for a Meeting of the Brotherhood, as they affectionately called their impromptu men-only gatherings. They’d been calling them that as long as Joiner could remember, when he and Mac initiated the younger twins into the clubhouse that used to be in their parents’ yard.

      “I’m moving into an RV on that place I wanted to buy. Buster Scout’s place.”

      Mac picked up his rectangular wire-rimmed glasses from the table and set them back on his nose, as if to see Joiner better. “The place you’re not buying? You’re going to squat there in an RV?”

      Joiner shook his head. “The RV is a guesthouse of sorts on the property. Mr. Scout is renting it to me in exchange for some help on the ranch. Plus, he has a place I can board Pistol and hopefully start breeding him so I can save some money.”

      “Is that what this is about? Joiner, I told you if you needed money—”

      “And I appreciate that you agreed to cosign the loan with me for the land if I could buy it, but Mr. Scout decided not to sell it. And that’s probably for the best right now. I can keep what little I have left in the bank and add to it, get back on my feet. Then maybe when the right place comes along down the road, I won’t need a cosigner.”

      “Sounds like a good plan to me.” Hunt’s gray eyes danced as he helped the server distribute the plates. Each brother had ordered a T-bone, but they all preferred their own degrees of doneness.

      The waitress—a girl with big blond hair—studied Hunt’s face for a moment as she handed him a plate. “You look just like my favorite professor!”

      Hunt grinned and flung out his arm to announce that Cullen was across the table. She promptly turned all of her attention to him.

      “Dr. Temple! How are you doing? I was in your American History class last semester.” The girl made no effort to conceal her admiration.

      “I remember you, Katie. It’s nice to see you again.”

      When she finally exited the patio after several minutes of chatting with Cullen, Hunt cackled. Then in a falsetto voice, he said, “Oh, Dr. Cullen! Your lectures are so enthralling! I only fell asleep three times! But it’s such a shame you’re not as good-looking as the Cowboy Chef!”

      Cullen rolled his eyes in Hunt’s direction.

      “I thought it was pretty funny that she compared the Cowboy Chef to Dr. Cullen, and not the other way around.” Joiner cut into his steak. “That must burn.”

      Hunt frogged Joiner in the arm. “You just wish you were our triplet, pretty boy.”

      “Well, I can tell you I don’t get admirers very often, even though I’m obviously the more attractive twin.” Cullen forked a bite of steaming baked potato that was dripping with melted butter. “Did you find out anything on the history of Buster Scout’s place while you were there?”

      “Only that it belonged to his wife’s family. She died a long while ago in a freak accident with a horse, and I guess it went to him and his daughter. It’s a heck of a place.”

      “I think I remember something about that accident.” Mac rubbed his chin. “It happened right after I moved back here and set up shop. I consulted with Mr. Scout over some tax issues, helped him get things with his wife’s will straightened out. Nice guy. Kind of an original, as I remember.”

      “That’s him. He could have his own reality show, he and his daughter. They’re like the Texas version of characters from Duck Dynasty.”

      “And now you’re joining the show.”

      “Well, I would hate for Hunt to be the lone star in our family.” Joiner couldn’t resist the pun.

      His three brothers groaned in unison,

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