Wes rubbed his neck and squinted at Rowdy in the sun. “I guess it’s good we’re here to talk her off the ledge if she decides to get really crazy with the sledgehammer.”
The kid had been ambling around nursing what looked to be a sore hip and a sore neck. Rowdy wondered again about whether he was bull riding. He’d asked about the hip and Wes had said he’d had a run-in with a steer. Logical answer...and maybe not the lie Rowdy suspected it was.
If his dad or his brothers suspected anything, none of them were saying. Maybe it would be better just to turn his head the other way and leave it be. As soon as the school year ended in six weeks, the kid was free to do as he pleased per the state. In all truth, he could do it now, but thankfully college was in Wes’s plans.
Sunrise Ranch didn’t cut the foster kids loose when the state did. Once they were here at the ranch, they were family and treated as such. Wes and Joseph were both graduating with scholarships to college. Joseph was heading off to become a vet and Wes was looking at an education in agriculture.
Rowdy pushed the thoughts away. He was probably worried about nothing. Looking at his watch, he saw it was nearing time for rodeo practice. “Hey, why don’t y’all head back now? I’ll go see if Lucy is ready to start practice tonight and be there soon. Tell Morg for me, okay?”
“Sure thing, Rowdy.” Joseph nodded toward the house. “I think she might be a little worried about it.”
Rowdy gave the kindhearted teen a smile. “I’ll make sure she knows we’re all going to take good care of her.”
“I have a feeling she’s tougher than she looks,” Wes said. “Did either of you glimpse that burn on her neck?”
So they’d seen it, too. Since he’d seen it the other day, he was aware of it. He’d caught glimpses of it when she was busy working and forgot to tug her collar tight.
“I wondered if y’all had noticed,” he said.
Joseph nodded. “I don’t think she wants people to see it, though. Kind of like Tony not wanting to go without his shirt.”
It was true. Tony had been badly mistreated by his parents before the state took him away from them and brought him to the ranch. His background was like nothing any kid should have to go through and he had scars to prove it. Bad scars that made Rowdy’s stomach curl thinking about them.
“Maybe we can keep this between us, then,” he said, immediately getting agreement from them. “I appreciate it, guys.”
They headed toward the ranch truck as he headed toward the house. When he heard the distinct whack of a sledgehammer, he picked up his pace.
What could she be tearing out now?
Wes and Joseph’s laughter followed him as he took the porch steps in a single stride and pulled open the screen door. Calamity Lucy they were calling her—he had to agree at this point. The woman had to stop. Getting her out of this house and involved in something else, even if it was wild-cow milking, was just the thing she needed.
Chapter Seven
“Okay, that does it. Put the sledgehammer down.”
Lucy spun at Rowdy’s irritated growl. “What do you think you’re doing?” she gasped when he grabbed the tool. She hung on to the handle with all she had.