Nothing But Horses (10 page)

“He’s yours.” Autumn flashed her sunshine
grin before my mom could say anything. “He’s your Christmas puppy.
Are you surprised? We all knew. Robin and Mommy and me made him
your present.”

I laughed again. “Oh, I think his mom dog
probably had something to do with it too. And I am surprised and
amazed. This is the best gift ever.”

“How do you know that?” Grandpa asked. “You
haven’t even looked at all the loot under the tree. Santa must have
brought you something else you may like.”

“I guess we’ll have to go see,” Grandma said.
“Sierra, you probably want to take him and Queenie out in the yard
for a little walk first. He’s been excellent about not piddling in
the house, but we don’t want to push our luck.”

“You’re right.” I held out the pup so I could
take a good look at him. He was mostly gold and white like Queenie,
but it was as if someone had used black paint to accent his fur.
Dark edged his collie ears, eyes, and around his nose. More black
trimmed his ruff and the white apron on his chest. He was so cute.
I hugged him tight and barely avoided a swipe of his tongue. “Did
Robin tell you his name?”

“He doesn’t have one,” Mom said. “She knew
you’d want to choose that for him.”

“Okay.” I carried him down the hall and into
the kitchen, Autumn and Queenie right behind me. I put down the pup
long enough to change my slippers for my boots, then I picked up
the new addition again. I took the dogs through the pantry to the
mud-porch and out the back door into the yard. Queenie trotted off
to do her business and the pup followed behind. He was male, but
still young enough to squat and potty.

I pulled out my cell phone and texted Robin.
I needed details on how old he was, what he ate, whether he’d be
all right without his mother and siblings. I didn’t expect her to
get back to me right away, but she would eventually. I also figured
that she wouldn’t have arranged for him to come here if he wasn’t
ready. When it came to animals, she was a born rescuer.

Even her worst enemy had known that or he
wouldn’t have sacked up my puppy and the rest of the litter to
throw them in a river during a cross-country meet. Of course, Robin
being Robin, she not only saved the pups, she also defeated his
cousins so her school took first place. My school too, now.

Queenie heard something. She tore off toward
the house, barking. The pup followed, eager to woof and help. I
slogged through the snow after them. They had Dave on the front
steps. He’d put down two sacks and was petting them when I arrived.
“Looks like you didn’t need me to save the day.”

“You can never tell.” He smiled at me, and
then glanced back at the pup. “Merry Christmas, Sierra. You
obviously already got one of your presents.”

“Yeah. He’s pretty cute.” I wasn’t about to
gush in front of the guy. It wasn’t my style and I’d learned a long
time ago not to show weakness around my mom’s toy-boys. Granted,
Dave didn’t act like one of the rodeo clowns, but I wasn’t stupid.
I’d watched enough of my mother’s ‘crash and burn’
relationships.

“You and your friends amaze me.” Dave stopped
making over the dogs, picked up the bags again and waited while I
climbed the steps. “I don’t know many adults who would dive into a
river and rescue a sack of drowning pups. Robin did that. Then, she
called and chewed my ears until I got there and arrested the
punk.”

“She was still ticked because you didn’t
arrest him for abusing her horse,” I said. “Or his cousins for
killing his dam and leaving him an orphan.”

“Like I told her then and I’m telling you
now, I can’t arrest people for being “stupid.” Only for being mean
and I have to believe they actually committed a crime. I need
evidence.”

I folded my arms and looked him up and down.
“And us telling you that Caine is pure scum doesn’t count. Or that
his cousins tried to bully the younger girls at school isn’t proof
either?”

“Nope, because you kids not liking them
doesn’t make them guilty of anything.” Dave winked at me. “However,
like your grandfather says, they had to learn cruelty toward
animals from somewhere so I turned their names over to the
Children’s Protective Services on the reservation. Their families
will be investigated, and if the other kids need help, they’ll get
it.”

“That’s awesome.” I took one of the bags from
him and we went around the porch to the back door so we wouldn’t
track snow on the carpet. “It’s not the way I’d have done it, but
it still pays them back for helping Caine. They’ll have a lot of
hoops to jump through and smart people will see they’re evil.”

“Hold up, cowgirl. How do you know they
helped him? He says it was all his idea.”

“Have you ever tried corralling six puppies
and putting them into a bag while the mom dog goes nuts trying to
protect her babies? Caine couldn’t do it by himself, regardless of
what he claims now. It’s just common sense.”

Dave put a hand on my shoulder. “You should
go into police work when you graduate from high school, Sierra.
That’s brilliant. I’ll pass it onto the prosecuting attorney. Caine
is out on bail now, but he may have spent enough time in jail that
he might want to make a deal to avoid going back.”

“He still won’t rat out his cousins.” I
opened the back door. “He’s scum, but they’re family.”

Chapter
Nine

Shamrock Stable, Washington

Christmas Day, 11:45 am

It took a few minutes to dry off the dogs.
Queenie knew the drill, so she was patient while I got the snow off
her legs and paws. My new pup thought attacking the towel and
chewing on me was just part of puppy business. Drying him required
a lot of hugs, because he was majorly cute. Plus, nobody was here,
so it couldn’t be held against me. By the time I finished and the
three of us made it to the kitchen, Dave had a cup of coffee. He
and Grandpa were talking football.

Autumn had taken the bags to the living room
to unpack the gifts and put them with the others under the tree.
Mom was arranging a bouquet of long-stemmed roses in one of
Grandma’s vases. I liked Dave. He knew animals and had sense enough
not to bring poinsettias into a farm-house. They were gorgeous,
seasonal flowers but deadly for dogs and cats.

Once everyone had their favorite beverages,
we still hung out in the kitchen while Grandma finished checking
the turkey in the oven. She had given Mom and me “The Look” when we
voted for pot-pies and volunteered to do most of the cooking. This
was the place to be on a farm since it was the biggest room in the
house, always warm and comfortable. We saved the living-room for TV
watching, visitors and the occasional big sleepover. Turkey
checked, we followed Autumn back to the tree for the gift exchange.
She’d turned on the holiday lights and the twinkling bulbs made the
room bright and cheery.

Since she was the youngest, she delighted in
passing out presents. One for me, one to Grandma, another to
Grandpa, then Mom and finally Dave. Queenie came next and my puppy.
Once everyone had a gift, Autumn tore into her package. She pulled
out a new pink striped saddle blanket.

While she squealed and wrapped it around her
shoulders, I untied the ribbon on the box I held. The tag said it
was from Vicky. I knew she didn’t have a lot of money, so I hoped
she hadn’t gone hog-wild. Since her parents’ divorce, she pretty
much ran her mother’s household and they were on a strict budget. I
peeled back the paper and revealed a hand-sewn, fleecy green pad.
It wasn’t big enough for Nevada.

What did Vicky have in mind? Or should I say,
who? I narrowed my eyes and studied the tri-colored pup pulling on
the corner of the carton near him. “Come here, you. Let’s see if
you fit.”

He ignored me. I slid out of my chair,
dropped to my knees and spread out the pad. Then, I plucked up the
puppy. He growled, but it was my turn to ignore the complaints. I
put him on the fleecy, thick blanket. It was perfect. He took up
less than half of the space.

“I think a bunch of you were in on this
conspiracy,” I said.

Mom smiled sweetly, too sweetly. “What is it
that you always say, Sierra Morn? Christmas is about secrets.”

“I say, love, but secrets works too.” I
ruffled my collie’s thick, fuzzy fur. “What’s next, Autumn? Any
more presents?”

She waved at all the boxes and packages
around the tree. “Lots and lots and lots! We’ve barely started. Is
everyone ready for another one?”

By the time we made our way through all the
gifts, I had amassed a mountain of presents. Clothes, new riding
boots, a saddle blanket for Nevada, coffee-cards, a Hunger Games
DVD and a Katniss Everdene doll from Dave. How did he know she was
my hero? I hadn’t even told Mom that. And she didn’t have a clue
I’d seen the latest movie five times, whenever I could slip away
from the farm to make the afternoon matinees in Marysville.

I had supplies for my un-named puppy, a nylon
collar, a harness, leashes – long and short ones, brushes, a crate,
toys for him, perfume and a pink basketball from Tom. What was he
thinking? I felt a little guilty because I hadn’t given him a
present, then when I saw the bright, rosy color of the ball again,
I got over it. Talk about the world’s dumbest present. Did he think
I’d take it to practice? No way!

Autumn and Queenie were sorting through the
two huge piles of presents near them to find the best of the new
doggie toys. Grandpa wound his way past them to pick a manila
envelope off the tree. He came back and handed it to me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“One more present,” Grandpa said, “from
Grandma, me and Santa.”

“Really?” I waved my hand at the gifts I
already had and the puppy curled up by my feet. “I think I have
enough.”

“Oh, you’ll love this one, Sierra,” Mom said.
“It’s something you’d never ask for, but we both know you
need.”

Since she apparently was on board with
whatever my grandparents had in mind, I went for it. I unsealed the
envelope, peeled back the flap. Something rattled inside so I shook
out the set of keys. “What’s this?”

I stared at them for a moment, and then
recognized the emblem on the fob. “It’s for the Subaru.”

“Your Subaru,” Grandpa said.

“What? No way.”

“Yes, way,” Grandma said. “Grandpa and I
discussed this before we left Arizona. We felt you needed some
options when it came to school. You’re a very responsible girl,
Sierra.”

“Too responsible,” Grandpa muttered. “She
should be dating, having fun, being a kid. Not worrying about so
many things. That’s your momma’s job.” He shook his finger in my
face. “I’m paying the insurance on that car. It doesn’t mean you
speed or get tickets or cruise Colby like my little Shamrock.”

“Cruise Colby?” I glanced past him to where
my mother sat on the couch next to Dave. Her face was as bright red
as her hair. Had she really gotten in trouble for driving up and
down the main drag in downtown Everett? “No way. Mom, did you
actually do that?”

“I don’t want to discuss it.” She struggled
to sound ultra-dignified and elbowed Dave when he snickered. “Shut
up. I was grounded for months when Dad caught up with me. He took
away my keys and I had to ride the bus with a bunch of losers who
made fun of me the rest of my junior year. Pay attention to his
rules, Sierra Morn. If he has to come back to Arizona to deal with
you, I’m hiding in the barn.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good plan, honey.”
Grandma sounded like the voice of sweet reason, but I knew better
than to trust that tone. “Your dad helped build those barns. He’ll
be able to find you and if he thinks you failed your kid, he
will
track you down, Rocky.”

I giggled, feeling utterly silly and safe
with my ridiculous family. I made a T with my hands. “Whoa, folks.
I won’t be cruising anywhere. This will make it easy for me to go
to school and stay late for basketball practice. I can take on more
outside students too. Rhonda wants me to come help Eddie with their
new horse.”

“Let me arrange that, Sierra,” Mom said. “We
don’t want to step on other stable-owner’s egos, so I’ll talk to
Lisa and make that happen. While I do, I want you to sign up for
the teen choir at church and dog-training classes with your
puppy.”

“Those won’t make Shamrock any money,” I
protested.

“I’m not arguing with you, Sierra Morn. If
you want to take on more outside clients, you will also take time
for yourself and have fun.”

“Besides, you can promote the barn at church
and obedience class,” Grandma said. “You have to think outside the
box, honey. Your customers come from all walks of life.”

“Round them up everywhere,” Grandpa agreed.
“Sounds like a winner to me.”

It didn’t to me, but it was Christmas after
all. Once my grandparents headed south, I could convince Mom that I
didn’t need time to be a kid. I was her partner at the stable and I
could do more for the business now that I had a car. And what a
car! I could go everywhere in that four-wheel-drive Subaru!

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll do the kid thing.” I
had to be honest, so I still added. “Well, I’ll try to do it.
Deal?”

The rest of the day was just as much fun.
After we fed a late horsy lunch, Dave, Grandpa and I played a
little basketball in the carport. We had to negotiate around the
motorhome, but it was okay. We only hit it a couple times and
Grandma didn’t catch us, so we were cool. Dave was good, but I was
better. Grandpa played dirty and that was okay since I knew all the
tricks he taught me. Shoot-around was more fun when I didn’t have
to hold back and be a good sport.

With some dirt on it, the pink basketball
didn’t look so girly. I shot one last basket with it and then
dribbled it on the concrete when we went to meet Autumn. She was
out with both dogs, the three of them racing in the snow. We all
wound up in the mud-porch at the same time. I shrugged out of my
coat, hung it up and grabbed towels to dry off dogs. Grandpa left
us to it and went on into the kitchen to see what we could nab for
a snack break before the big dinner.