Page 26 (1/2)

"No I borrowed his horse trailer last weekend because ere bringin’ that mare home from Missoula"

"You know it don’t count if no one saw you with her"

"Cord saith her He can back me up"

"Cord" Carter paused "As in our brother Cord?"

"You know any other Cord?"

"No, but now I know you’re lyin’ Cord doesn’t go nowhere, especially a dance where there’s wicked women who can lead hihed "True But Dad sent hiht, saw a street dance goin’ on and decided we’d have a beer and check it out A couple hours later me and Mindy--"

"Mindy?"

"Mindy Sue LaRue, Miss Rodeo Montana She rode me like a Pony Express rider

Shoot, we rocked the horse trailer so hard we busted an axle"

Carter snorted

"We did it two times before she bailed Cord walked in as she alkin’ out Then he asked me if her tits were iotta admit they were pretty hard to rats" Carter wiped another streak of blue across the top "So were they fake?"

"Yep Who cares? They were just the way I like ’eone"

Carter laughed

"What about you, bro? Getting any in that godforsaken part of Wyolanced down at the canvas A serene Macie stared at hiray ht With her sexy legs cla off her head, hiainst the wall Man She’d hardly made it inside the trailer and he was on her In her

The last three weeks had prettythose lines She’d work He’d work They’d hook up a couple of tio to bed Alone

The ideal set-up, right? No pros Just lots of hot sweaty sex

He was fucking sick and tired of…well, just fucking and didn’t knohat the hell to do about it The first week he and Macie spent together see special Now they didn’t talk They didn’t fight They didn’t tease each other, or get to know each other, or even eat a daether They just screwed and that was the extent of it

He scowled at the shitty picture on the easel, and resisted shredding it to ribbons with his exacto knife Even his atte in his life

"Carter? You still there?"

"Yeah Sorry"

"So? Since there ain’t no women around…who’s your favorite sheep this week?"

"Fuck off"

A soft rustling filled the phone lines, followed by a heavy pause Then he heard,

"…Carter, why? Really? I ain’t surprised He is kinda rude Self-centered too"

"Who are you talkin’ to?"

"Mom She says you haven’t called her lately And you don’t answer your cell"

"Shit Do NOT hand the phone to Mom, Colt"

"Yeah? There’s been no problems with the phone line to Gemma’s house as far as I know"

"Hey, fuckface I mean it I don’t want to talk to her"

"No, that’s cool We were done anyway"

"Colt, you fuckin’ loser, don’t you dare pass me off to… Hey, Ma" Colt was dead the next time he saw him Dead and buried With a boot up his ass

"If it isn’t et the excuses on why you haven’t calledHe closed his eyes He really did feel guilty Especially since his mother was one of the few people he could really talk to Yeah Like his brothers didn’t tease hi a momma’s boy

"Sorry I’m a terrible son I kno much you hate it when you don’t hear from any of us, me in particular Would it help my cause if I took you out for supper, tossed in soet back to the ranch?"

"More like a recitation than an actual apology but I suppose that’ll do"

Carter s if his dad were near the phone If Carolyn McKay was unhappy, Carson McKay knocked heads together to get answers as to why his beloved wasn’t beaed to hist

"So…how are things? You about done with the pieces for your show?"

"Not really I’ harder"

"Have you talked to your agent about it?"

"No"

"Ge you too much?"

"Actually, she hired a foreman about a month back and so I’m not doin’ a whole lot of work for her"

"Who’d she hire?"

"Cash Big Crow"

"Really? Colby’s friend?" Surprise laced her voice "I wonder if he knows about that"