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“No, you won’t Get your gear together while I find a man to drive you to town You’re fired”
Lute straightened His lip curled in conte to say about that”
“Sky works for me And I don’t care if he’s your blasted twin brother If he was here, he wouldn’t just fire you, he’d beat you till you couldn’t piss standing up The one thing he won’t stand for is so a horse You’re to be outside in fifteenby for you He’ll have your back pay After that, I never want to see your lazy ass around here again!”
Beau strode downstairs and outside, his step lightened by the sureness that he’d done the right thing Once he heard the story behind his cousin’s diser wherehi one of the horses
Jasper had just finished breakfast in the kitchen with Bernice The old man would be free to drive Lute into town Maybe he’d even i fool’s ears But Beau couldn’t iine Lute would listen
Replacing hi out, there’d be plenty of husky kids eager to work for the Tylers and earn a little college er Shack when he got into town Meanwhile, he could get one of the regular hands to do the job
Before going back to the house, he stopped by theher foal, looking fine She’d be hungry this et her some hay as soon as he saw Jasper off
Lute had told the old round, shouldered his backpack, and watched as the pickup pulled away The ride to town had taken forever, with the old-ti him on the virtues of honesty and hard work all the way Screw that! Lute swore silently He’d shoveled shit for the last time
Slade was bound to be sore about the firing But ht Slade’s wife in the hay with Beau Tyler would ive him more work Maybe now that he’d proved his worth, he could even get his license and be hired as a driver He could drive a pickup Howtruck be?
The bar wasn’t open yet, but peering through the gap between the plastic blind slats, Lute could see so up Maybe Stella would give him some work, too, or at least help hi If he had to pay for food and a otten from the ranch wouldn’t last hi on the street or hitching his way back to Oklahoma
Stepping up to the door, he knocked After a brief silence, it opened a few inches Lute found hiel, the bartender
“We’re closed,” Nigel growled
“II know,” Lute staht arm to inspire the kind of fear that man did “I need to talk to Stella”
Looking past Nigel, Lute saw that Stella had coht,” she said “Let the boy in”
She motioned Lute to a stool at the bar and sat down next to him She was dressed in a loose tank top that showed her black bra straps at the shoulders With her face bare of makeup, she looked older than she had the first time he’d seen her, raying roots of her hair