Burn It Up(77)

“That’s a shame, Mr. Church. A real shame,” the man had said, frustration finally cutting through his cheery magnanimity, reddening his already pink cheeks. “But you hang on to that card. How about that? Maybe run it by your folks?”

“Our answer won’t change,” Miah had assured him, but tucked the card in his pocket all the same. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to get on with.”

“Of course, of course. But you talk it over with your parents—Donald and Christine, isn’t it? And if you decide maybe you’d like to hear more, well my number’s right on the card. Morning, noon, or—”

And Miah had stepped inside and closed the door. Not aggressively, but firmly. He half wondered if the guy wouldn’t stand there talking to the wood for another twenty minutes. It was no less pointless an endeavor than trying to win any of the Churches over.

The rest of the afternoon had gone to plan, at least. He was behind and much of the day’s tasks were physical, and by six he was exhausted and ready for a beer and a chance to put his feet up, except another wrench lobbed itself into the works.

One of the younger hands, Katrina, had found him in the stables. She was crying before he could even hang the coming week’s roster on the clipboard’s peg, and tears always stopped him in his tracks. Ranch workers weren’t soft people, and this girl had never been an exception.

“I have to go away for a while,” Kat had told him. “I’m going back to Layton to stay with my parents until somebody catches whoever’s been sneaking around at night. I mean, I hope you’d still want me back, after, but I can’t stay.”

He’d had to take Kat to the bunkhouse kitchen and sit her down with a cold drink and wait for her to calm—another fifteen minutes lost—but he’d gotten to the bottom of it. She’d been stalked by an ex when she was nineteen, and the entire situation with the camera flashes freaked her out, even if everyone thought it was a burglar. Miah couldn’t fault that. He made sure it sounded unlikely that this ex could possibly be the one who’d been coming around Three C, and promised her that of course her job would be waiting for her once everything was cleared up. He’d even carried her suitcases out to her car and made sure she had cash for a coffee and gas.

He’d waved as cheerfully as he could manage as she turned out of the back lot, but inside he’d felt miserable. Everything around here was a f*cking shambles. Property vultures circling, creeps skulking around. Why couldn’t the chaos look like it usually did—brush fire, rustling, maybe a cougar sighting? Hell, he’d even take a listeriosis scare over all this human drama.

And so it wasn’t until eight that he found himself done for the day. He normally liked to grab a shower before dinner, but when he stepped inside he could smell that his mother had been busy, and suddenly hygiene could wait. He headed for the kitchen, surprised to find Abilene flitting around, not his mom.

“Heya,” he offered, and headed for the fridge, after a beer.

“Hey.” She had a mixer in one hand and a big bowl of steaming, boiled potato chunks before her on the counter. The baby was in her rocker beside the table, those wide blue eyes gazing up at a menagerie of colorful, dangling animals.

“My mom put you to work?”

“Sort of. She seemed stressed-out, so I told her I could make dinner. Well, I mean, she’d already had the meat all seasoned and ready to go. I just put it in the oven and peeled some potatoes.”

She’d done more than that. There was gravy simmering on the range, and when he peeked in the oven there was a pan of vegetables roasting on the shelf above the beef.

“Smells like heaven,” he told her.

“I hope so. Should be ready in about twenty minutes.” She glanced at the oven clock. “I hope Casey’s back in time.”

“Oh right, he’s at his mom’s place, huh?” Miah twisted his bottle open and took a long drink. Goddamn, beer never tasted so good as when you were ready to collapse.

“Yeah,” Abilene said, her voice almost too casual, somehow. “And some other errands, I think.”

“You been feeling okay, on your own?”

She nodded. “I’m not worried about James anymore. If I was on my own all night, I might be anxious, but not for any good reason, you know?”

“Wish I could say I did know.” Miah took a seat. “But this bull with whoever’s been sneaking around has me pretty keyed up myself. One of our hands had to go and stay with her folks until it’s resolved. The whole thing’s got her real uneasy.”

Abilene frowned, dropping chunks of butter in with the potatoes. “I could see that. I mean, the guy was creeping around the bunks, right? And with a camera? Gross.”

“No doubt.”

“Pardon me,” she said. “I’m gonna be noisy for a minute.”

Miah scooted down to the end of the bench, watching the fidgeting baby and sipping his beer while Abilene whipped the potatoes. Man, did this kid have tiny feet. And fingers. And fingernails. Everything, miniature. He wondered how long it’d be before he found himself with a daughter or son of his own. A few years, at least, but he was starting to believe it would still happen, sooner or later. He was over his ex, finally. When he’d still been mired in that heartache, meeting someone new, someone he could love enough to start a family with . . . It had seemed all but impossible.