“I’m a big girl, Keith. I can take care of myself.”
Keith offered his most disarming smile. “Then I’ll try not to worry about you too much.”
“Good.” She let out a sigh of relief and felt the tension in her tight muscles ease. She believed everything Keith had told her and wondered why she had ever doubted him. “Oh, by the way, how did you do in the poker game last night?”
Keith’s grin widened and he pulled out his wallet. When he opened it, he exposed a thick roll of bills tucked neatly in the side pocket. “I cleaned everyone’s clock.”
“That’s a switch.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“So how’d you get so lucky?”
Keith took his hat off a peg near the entry hall and jammed it onto his head. “Haven’t you ever heard that poker is a game of skill, not luck?”
“Only from the winners.”
Keith laughed as he walked out the front door. “I’ll be on the west end of the ranch helping Rex clear out some brush.”
“Will you be back for lunch?”
“Naw, I’ll grab something later.”
Keith left and Tory began drumming her fingers on the desk. Her brother had never won at poker in his life. Just when she was beginning to trust him, something he did seemed out of character. It worried her. It worried her a lot.
“Cut it out,” she told herself, pushing her glasses onto her nose and studying the bank statement. “Trask’s got you jumping at shadows.” But she couldn’t shake the unease that had settled in her mind.
* * *
IT WAS NEARLY one-thirty when Tory heard the sound of a vehicle coming down the drive. She had been leaning over the fence and watching the foals and mares as they grazed in the pasture. Shading her eyes against the glare of the afternoon sun, she smiled when she recognized Anna Hutton’s white van.
Dusting her hands on her jeans, Tory met the van just as Anna parked it near the stables.
“How’s our boy doing?” Anna asked as she hopped out of the van and grabbed her veterinary bag.
“Better than I’d expected. I took your advice about the cold poultices and he’s even putting a little weight on the leg this morning.”
“Good.” Anna grinned broadly. “See, I told you. Sometimes we don’t have to resort to drugs.”
“He’s in the paddock around back,” Tory said, leading Anna past the stables to the small enclosure where Governor was being walked by Eldon.
The stallion snorted his disapproval when he saw the two women and his black ears flattened to his head.
“So walking him hasn’t proven too painful for him?” Anna asked, carefully studying the nervous horse.
“I don’t think so,” Tory replied. “Eldon?”
The ranch hand shook his head and his weathered face knotted in concentration. “He’s been doin’ fine. If I thought walkin’ him was causing him too much pain, I wouldn’t have done it, no matter what you said.”
“It’s great to have employees who trust your judgment,” Tory commented when she read the amusement in Eldon’s eyes.
Anna seemed satisfied. “Let’s take a look at you,” she said to the horse as she slid through the gate, patted Governor’s dark shoulders and gently prodded his hoof from the ground. “Come on, boy,” she coaxed. “You should be used to all of this attention by now.”
After carefully examining Governor’s hoof Anna released the horse’s leg. “He looks good,” she said to Tory. “Just keep doing what you have with the poultices. Keep walking him and consider that special shoe. I’ll look in on him in another week.”
“That’s the best news I’ve had in two days,” Tory admitted as Anna slipped through the gate and they began walking toward the house.
“I heard about what happened yesterday on Devil’s Ridge,” Anna commented.