Brenda Mott - Ranch At River's End

Jordan knew he should explain, but this wasn’t the time.

“Not at all,” he said. “I’ll see you Monday, Darci.” No long weekends for hospital staff.

“Yeah,” she said. “See you. Bye, Michaela.”

“Bye,” Michaela said, with obvious reluctance. She turned to go inside.

“Hold up a minute, Mac.” Jordan closed the front door behind them. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like them.”

Jordan sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside him. “Why not? You don’t even know them.”

“And I don’t want to.” She chewed her lip. “I talked to Jenny earlier, and she told me what Christopher did—why he had to leave his old school.” She was shaking now, and Jordan grew concerned.

“What did he do?”

“He took a gun to school and threatened some kids in the lunchroom.”

“What? Are you sure?” And then he recalled a story that had dominated the news last year. It was about a twelve-year-old boy who’d taken a replica gun to school and scared a cafeteria full of students and teachers. No one was hurt, Jordan recalled, but people were extremely upset about the whole thing. Understandable after the terrible shootings that had occurred at Columbine High School some years ago.

“That’s what people at school are saying,” Michaela went on. “I don’t want him to have one of Chewy’s puppies.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” he said. “I’ll speak to Chris’s mom.”

If it really was Christopher who’d threatened his classmates, maybe he’d changed in the months since it happened.

Then again, maybe he hadn’t. Jordan’s first instinct was to protect his daughter, but at the same time, he couldn’t help wonder why Chris would have done something so awful.

He had to have had a reason.

Didn’t he?

So that would explain the graffiti, and why Christopher was seeing his sister Nina, a psychologist.

He wished he could ask Nina about the boy, and knowing he couldn’t left him feeling restless. There was always the good old gossip mill. Shirley, the hospital receptionist, would likely know something.

Then again, he could always just ask Darci.

THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY, Darci awoke early, anxious for the auction. It would be fun to help Stella and Leon pick out horses. She showered and dressed, then went to wake up Christopher.

“Mo-om,” he groaned. “It’s Saturday. I want to sleep in.”

“Nothing doing, buddy. You’re not staying here alone, and you’re not making me miss this auction.”

Christopher covered his head with a pillow. “I’m thirteen, for crying out loud! When are you going to stop making me feel like I need a sitter all the time?”

“When I decide you’ve earned the privilege to stay by yourself. Now get up and get dressed. We’ll have fun.”

But a part of Darci felt guilty as she left his room. Was she being overprotective, not letting her son stay home alone? She couldn’t help it. After all that had happened, she felt she needed to keep a close eye on him. Darci sighed. Maybe Nina Drake could shed some light on the matter. Chris’s first appointment with her on Thursday had gone well. He liked Nina, and so did Darci. She’d gotten to know the woman a little better the couple of times she’d seen her at the Shadow S this week, and had made an appointment to talk with her one on one. Darci had some issues of her own that weren’t yet resolved, and talking to her son’s counselor might benefit both her and Chris.

To Darci’s surprise, Christopher actually had on his boots and jeans when she went downstairs. “Hey, you’re wearing your boots,” she said.

“Might as well. We’re going to a horse auction, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are. Now how about some pancakes before we take off?”

Darci made apple-cinnamon pancakes from a mix, and even got Christopher to help clean up the dishes without too much complaining. Then they were off.

The auction barn was located at the edge of town, not far from the feed store. Trucks and trailers were parked everywhere when they arrived in Stella and Leon’s extended-cab Chevy, towing a four-horse trailer. Leon found a spot just a few spaces down from a familiar black Ford Explorer.

What would Jordan be doing at the horse auction? But there was the Honor Student bumper sticker, and as Darci walked toward the holding pens out behind the auction barn with Christopher and her aunt and uncle, she found herself looking for Jordan.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.