Chapter 57

Ryan

It was Wednesday evening before the town doctor had the availability to get out to see me. He was a crotchety old man who was a good sport despite his over-the-top attitude. I had to say, I rather enjoyed him. He reminded me of someone old and worn out from New York, hating people but secretly still loving his job.

“How am I looking, doc?” I smiled.

“Like you ran your stupid ass into a burning building,” he said, shaking his head.

I laughed. “You know, you and I should get together and play poker sometime,” I said. “I bet you’re one hell of a bluffer. I have to say, though, I’m not too bad at it myself. You might be surprised when I give you a run for your money. People tend to underestimate me.”

“Right,” he scoffed with a chuckle. “We can play poker. I’d be more than happy to take your money, son.”

“Well, I’d at least give it my best shot.” I laughed.

“We play poker on Thursday nights at my house,” he said, putting his things in his bag. “A room full of old-timers like me always love to have some new blood at the table. We get tired of trading around the same hundred bucks.”

“That sounds like one hell of a time.”

“Can you handle your whiskey? That’s the only rule,” he smirked.

“I think I might be able to handle that one rule.” I chuckled.

“Good,” he said, handing me a bill. “You have some cuts and bruises you need to take care of. I left you some gauze on the side table there. The rest is just sore muscles from the impact and some bruises from the falling debris. It’ll heal up in no time, but you’ll be pretty sore. If your city boy body can’t handle the pain, take a few Tylenol and rest.”

“Got it.” I chuckled. “I think I’ll be just fine with the pain.”

I looked down at the bill and saw it was only a hundred dollars. I spent more just getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist. I grabbed my wallet and paid him in cash, giving him an extra hundred as a tip for going out of his way and coming out to the stables. When I was done, I gathered myself out of the bed and showed him out. I turned and walked back through the house, finding Alison and Sara sitting in the dining room talking to the fire chief. No one looked happy at all, and my stomach sank a bit.

“Oh, Ryan,” Sara said, standing up. “Come on in and sit down. The chief was about to tell us what he found out.”

“How you are feeling, son?” he asked.

“Good as new,” I said, winking at Sara.

“Good,” he said. “Now, as far as the fire is concerned, we’ve gone over the remains of the barn a couple of times and found a couple of clues that make us suspect this might not have been some random accident. We’re putting in our reports that we expect this was some kind of arson.”

“Arson?” Alison said with wide eyes. “Really? Someone purposely came out here in broad daylight and burned down the barn? Why would they do that?”

“I’m not sure, ma’am,” he said. “Do you have any enemies? Owe any money or maybe have had some petty dispute with someone in town?”

“No,” she said. “I mean my boyfriend and I broke up, but he would never do something like this.”

“Jimmy volunteers for the department, so I would tend to agree,” he said.

I had a really good idea of who probably committed the crime, but once again, I had zero proof to point any fingers. I knew it had to be Janson. This had him written all over it. The bastard probably covered his tracks, though, especially since he and his cronies would be the ones who would be investigating the crime. There was really next to nothing I could do without some good hard evidence like a photo or a video. Alison didn’t have a video security system out here. In a town like this, why would she ever think she would need one? It was frustrating, to say the least, and when I looked over at Sara, she seemed to have similar thoughts running through her head, looking up at me and giving me a knowing stare.

Dinner that night was a somber affair. Sara cooked a bunch of food, trying to comfort Alison, but I could tell this hurt her deeper than just her business. She was attached to that barn and those horses, and it was painful to watch. I couldn’t imagine someone doing something like this to the ranch, and this stable had been around a lot longer than those solar fields.

“I wonder how long the insurance company will keep that money tied up,” Alison said. “With the arson investigation, they’ll hold the funds until they discover the motive, just in case they think I burned my own barn down, which is ridiculous.”

“I’m sure they’ll do their best to get through this quickly,” Sara said, patting her on the arm. “In the meantime, we can start thinking about the fundraising efforts.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I need to get a barn up before the temperature starts to drop. You know how cold it gets here in the winter. If I can’t, I’m going to have to find a new home for all of my needy horses.”

“There won’t be a need for that,” I said, shaking my head. “I have a bunch of guys with no hours to give at the ranch right now with everything on hold. I’ll send them over here, and they’ll get started building that barn. You’ll just have to get together with the engineer and go over the materials you want for it. I’ll have them ordered and shipped here. It shouldn’t take too long, especially with my contacts. Those guys are pretty handy when it comes to building, and I’ll pay the contractor for the license you need to have.”

I took a bite of broccoli and stared down at my plate as I happily chewed. After a few moments, I realized the whole room had gone silent. I looked up at the girls, and they were both looking at me as if I were crazy. I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders, putting down my fork and looking up at them.

“I have donated tons of money to charities all over the world,” I said. “Why not help fund one close to home? You’re not only close to home but obviously close to my heart as well. Hell, if I’ll risk my life for those horses, pulling them out of a burning barn, making sure they got to safety, then ten to twenty grand or so is nothing comparatively. They need a home, a good home with strong ties. They need to be taken care of, and the only way you’ll be able to do that is by having a new barn built. I won’t watch these animals be shipped off all over the place with no real telling whether they’ll properly be cared for or not. The whole point was for you to help them, so it seems only fitting we help you in return.”

“He has become the horse whisperer,” Alison said, elbowing Sara.

“It’s weird,” Sara said, turning her head to me. “Do you think he can hear us right now, or do you think he only talks to horses?”

“You guys are ridiculous.” I laughed. “It’s not being a horse whisperer. It’s doing the right thing. I have the means right now, and I want to know I’m spending my money on something worthwhile. This cause is definitely worthwhile.”

“Thank you so much,” Sara said.

“Yes, thank you, Ryan. Without this, I don’t know what we’d do,” Alison said.

We spent the rest of dinner laughing and talking, just enjoying the release of stress and somber moods everyone had been feeling for the last day. I was glad to help them, and it made me even better in Sara’s eyes. I wanted her to see I was a really good guy and that I was there to stay, supporting her in anything she did. After the glass of whiskey we’d all decided to share, Sara got up and stretched her arms over her head.

“I gotta get home,” she sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve actually been there. And I have an appointment at the practice tomorrow, so I want to be close to my stuff.”

“Aw,” Alison said. “Well, thank you for staying with me through all of this. You’ve been a lifesaver. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Always,” she said, hugging her tightly. “I’ll try to come back out and do checkups on the horses tomorrow afternoon. I know the one horse has a small burn that will need its bandage changed, and there’s ointment in the kitchen on the counter for it.”

“Will do,” Alison said.

“I guess I should be getting back to my hotel room as well,” I said, standing up. “I’ll be out here with the guys tomorrow to get things started for you. They probably think I abandoned my room and just left my stuff there, by this point.”

“I doubt it.” Alison laughed. “The whole town, I’m sure, knows about the heroic horse rescue at the barn.”

“Where’s the paparazzi when it counts?” Sara laughed.

“Thank you again,” Alison said. “Both of you. It’s been a long couple of days, but because of you, things are looking up.”

We both gave Alison another hug and headed outside to the drive. Sara walked with me over to my truck and stood there awkwardly for a couple of moments. I chuckled to myself, watching her cheeks blush. She was so beautiful, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“You have a lot to do tomorrow?”

“I have a well checkup for my favorite basset hound,” she said. “And then a pregnant cow needs a checkup, but that will be a house call. Other than that, I’m trying to get caught up on administration things and get clients back in on a regular basis. The schedule is bleak right now, but I know it will pick up.”

“It’s almost summer,” I said. “You should probably have some flea and tick pickups coming in.”

“Very true.” She laughed. “Most of these people bring the dogs and cats in when they need a flea bath instead of just buying the medicine. It baffles me every single year.”

She stood there swaying back and forth for a couple of minutes before stepping forward and giving me a shy kiss. I smiled when she pulled away, and it made her blush and giggle. I didn’t care how many times she kissed me. It always sent butterflies through my stomach. It was having a first kiss over and over again.

“Well,” she sighed, clapping her hands together. “I better get going. I hope I see you soon.”

“You can count on it.” I smiled.

I watched as she walked over to the van and climbed in, waving at me with an embarrassed smile as she pulled out. I watched until the van was long gone over the hill. Then, I tapped the back of my SUV and smiled as I jumped into the driver’s seat. Everything felt like it was perfect, and I couldn’t imagine anything getting in the way.