Heat flushed her face. “I will pay you back.”
Chance shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I have the vet bill covered.”
She tilted her head. “Why doesn’t Boots trust you?”
He wouldn’t look at her. “He has his reasons.”
“What are they?”
“Look, I don’t really want to get into it right now, okay?”
She blinked, taken aback by the vehemence in his voice. Even Buddy raised his head to stare up at the man. “Well, I do. Maybe I shouldn’t trust you, either.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
His muttered admission shocked her, even as his stony expression revealed nothing and completely shuttered any emotions he might be feeling.
“Fine. Just...fine.”
She continued to stroke the colt’s neck and shoulder. Two could play that game, so she steadfastly ignored Chance. The problem with ignoring him, though, was that it left her mind free to wonder. Boots wasn’t a suspicious man by nature, but he was a smart man and a good judge of both horses and men. He clearly did not like Chance. Hadn’t almost from the first, truth be told. Come to think of it, she’d been leery of him, too, that first time he showed up unannounced and knew all about the colt.
The longer she stewed about the situation, the more suspicious she became. Chance had emerged from the barn when she rode up. How long had he been there? Had he done something to Doc? He’d been pretty dang insistent she go to the ER, which would have taken hours. After she’d insisted on going to the minor care clinic, he’d persisted until she agreed to dinner. Had he done that to stall her? Was he buying time so she’d come home to a dead colt? Had he poisoned Doc? And then called in his own vet? So the vet could finish the job...or fix the colt so Chance didn’t get caught?
She pushed to a sitting position and stared at Chance. He leaned against the wall, his legs sprawled in front of him, eyes closed. But she seriously doubted he was asleep.
“What did you do to him?”
Chance didn’t bother to open his eyes. “I didn’t do a damned thing.”
“You were in the barn, Chance. Alone. And he was fine when I left to mend the fence.” He opened his eyes and leveled a look at her that might have chilled her to the bone if she hadn’t been so full of righteous anger.
She kept pushing. “You show up here all solicitous and kind and wanting to help. Who the hell are you, Chance? Why do you care? You obviously have money. You drive a brand-new truck. You live in that fancy condo down in Bricktown. Hell, I don’t even know what you do for a living. You aren’t a cowboy. As much as you might pretend to be, you aren’t.”
“I’m a lawyer.”
That stopped her cold, her mouth hanging open just as she was about to start a new tirade. She snapped her jaw closed and stared at him in consternation. “A lawyer?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been a cowboy, too. I used to rodeo. A long time ago.”
Something about his expression triggered a memory, but she shoved it aside. “So what? You play at being a cowboy now? And how did you know my dad? Why were you at his funeral?”
“I was there to see you.”