It Had to Be Him(32)

Eric laughed. “Wow! That’s awesome.”

Charlie skidded to a halt in front of them. The horse butted Josh’s shoulder as if punishing him for being gone so long.

“Hey, buddy.” Josh gave Charlie a thorough rub. “He looks great, Eric. You’re doing a good job. Ever worked with horses before this?”

Charlie, obviously fond of Eric, moved to the side so the kid could pat him too. “Nope. Buck and Mr. J have been teaching me.”

“It’s easier out here. Away from the others. Right?”

Eric’s response was a shoulder jerk. The pain in the kid’s eyes told him things were worse than he let on.

Josh took out his cell and shot a few pictures of Charlie, and then one of Eric with his arm around Charlie’s neck. “I’ll send you this one.” He tucked his phone away. “You can trust Mr. J. I finally did, and things got a whole lot better for me.”

“You don’t understand. If I say anything, it’ll just get worse.” Eric hopped down from the fence and walked toward the barn.

Josh gave Charlie one last pat, then followed behind. “Mr. J can help you without the others knowing. Schedule your chores at different times from theirs, things like that. You should tell him.”

A fluffy black-and-white puppy scampered in front of Eric, nearly tripping him. Eric quickly scooped the pup up, terror widening his eyes, as two more pups wiggled out from behind the trees.

Pets weren’t allowed. It was hard enough to find the funds to feed the kids and the horses.

Josh leaned down and scooped up a pup. “Who are these little guys?”

“Um. They just showed up one day with their mom. I save half my food for them. I don’t use any of the ranch’s feed.” Eric quickly gathered the puppies and put them back in their hiding place. When he reemerged from behind the trees, he asked, “Are you going to tell?”

Eric was too thin as it was. The last thing he needed was to share his food with the dogs. “Nope. What I’m going to do is go into town and buy plenty of dog chow. Then Mr. J won’t have any reason to make you get rid of them. But in return, you need to tell him what’s going on with the other boys. Deal?”

Eric’s eyes searched Josh’s for the truth. The kid was in a new world, away from his family, just figuring out that sometimes adults lie—or can’t always keep their promises. Eric glanced toward the trees again before he slowly nodded. Eric clearly cared for those puppies. Just as Josh had cared for Charlie.

“Deal.”

Josh laid a hand on Eric’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “I’ll get your e-mail address from Mr. Jennings and send that picture of you and Charlie, along with my cell number. Just in case you ever need anything.”

“I’ll be fine.” Eric worried his bottom lip with his teeth. It looked as though he was going to say something else, but then he turned away and mumbled, “Thank you.”

After he disappeared into the trees again, Josh let out a long breath. He couldn’t save all of them—he could only do his best to help whomever would take it.



After getting the promised dog chow, Josh had the long drive home, along with a quick stop for dinner, to give himself a pep talk about staying detached. He’d had no problem doing it as an agent. Surely he could do it with the kids.

He tugged the heavy wooden door open and walked into Brewster’s for the second time that day. He only had a few minutes to spare before he was supposed to meet Meg.

His arrangement with Brewster to hold a dart-throwing contest giving a car away to the first person who could shoot ten bull’s-eyes in a row had its flaws, but if everything went just right, Meg would win a car fair and square and never have to know he was behind it. She was a damned good dart thrower.

He’d whiled away a lot of hours in his solitude working to match her skills. It’d helped pass the time.

When the door closed behind him, he stepped deeper into the packed bar. Loud country music mixed with laughter, and the aroma of fried appetizers filled the air.

As his eyes swept across the dimly lit room, he spotted Meg beside the bar wearing a sexy, soft shirt, tall heels, and tight jeans. She was laughing with Brewster and drinking a beer. He liked that about Meg. That she drank beer, threw darts, and raced Jet Skis, and now he knew she could fly a helicopter too. The perfect woman.

Shouldering his way through the crowd, he moved to the bar. When their eyes met, a little smile started to form on her lips before she caught herself and reined it back. “Hey, Josh. Uncle Brewster has Blue Moon on tap. Want one?”

Uncle Brewster? “Sure. Thanks.”

He eyed the big man standing nearby pouring out beers. When Brewster glanced Josh’s way, he smirked. “Thanks for sponsoring our contest tonight, Granger. Looks like it’s going to be a big hit. But Meg wanted to change the rules a bit.”