“I can manage—especially if you’ve got my back. But you won’t be much help if you’ve crashed and burned. You can come get me when I’m ready to go home. Meanwhile, for my sake, if not yours, get some sleep.”
“You’re sure you’ll be all right?”
“Stop babying me. I’m supposed to be a big girl, remember?”
After a moment’s good-natured banter, Sky ended the call. Lauren’s good news had lifted a dreadful weight. But as he pulled on his sweatpants and a worn T-shirt, the disappointment was there, too. He’d looked forward all day to being with her. But she was right. He was tired to the marrow of his bones—too tired to be driving on the highway. He needed a good night’s rest.
Wandering barefoot onto their shared porch, he found Jasper in his rocker, the dog sprawled at his feet. Sky had yet to corner the old man long enough to ask for the full story of Bull and his mother. Maybe now was as good a time as any.
Pulling his chair over to Jasper’s side of the porch, Sky sat down. With the sun gone, the twilight breeze felt almost cool on his damp face. The rim of a waxing moon had risen above the rolling plains to the east. The lights were on in the big house.
“Feels good to be off my feet,” Sky said. “How about you?”
Jasper stirred with a little snort, as if he’d been dozing. “Hellfire, I’m goin’ stir-crazy sittin’ around here. Can’t get very far on my feet, and Will won’t let loose of the key to the ATV. I been goin’ and doin’ all my life, Sky. I wasn’t cut out to sit on my butt like a damned toadstool.”
It wasn’t the response Sky had expected. Maybe another time would be better to ask the old man for answers to his questions.
“You did make it into town today,” he said.
“Runnin’ errands with Bernice? That wasn’t much better than sittin’ around here. She wouldn’t even let me drive the truck. What I want is to be out on my own. I want my ATV back. I want to have a gun and go out huntin’ like I used to afore I got shot.”
“I guess you still can’t remember everything, can you?” Jasper shook his head. “Don’t suppose I ever will. Heard the gun, felt the bullet, and then the blasted ATV wouldn’t steer. That’s all I remember. If I got a look at the lowlife that shot me, I still don’t recollect it. But if it was that cousin of yours, the one they found dead in the bog, the varmint got what he deserved. Worst of it was, he took my good bird gun.”
“Tell you what,” Sky said. “I’ll bet Will would let you take the ATV out if somebody was with you. I’ll get the key tonight. Tomorrow morning, before it gets too hot, we can take my shotgun and go out
for an hour or two. Maybe you can even shoot us a wild turkey for Sunday dinner.”
“You’d do that for me?” The old man’s voice shook with joyful amazement, then took on a note of suspicion. “Guess I’d better ask what’s in it for you.”
Sky laughed. “Nothing much. But if you’ll tell me what you know about Bull and my mother while we’re out there, I’ll call us even.”
Jasper’s grin lit the twilight. “I’ll do that with pleasure. It’s about time you asked me. I’ve been half-fearin’ you’d make me take the story to my grave.”
Will had no problem with giving Sky the key to take Jasper out hunting. “Just don’t let him get too tired, Sky,” he said. “We don’t want the old man back in the hospital.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Sky said. “Believe it or not, I worry as much about him as you do.”
“How’s Lauren, by the way?”
“Better. They’ll be keeping her another day. Then I can drive her home.”
“Damned sorry for all that girl’s been through,” Will said. “First her father, then this accident, or whatever the hell it was. If she’s not up to being alone, she’s welcome over here. We’ve got a couple of spare guest rooms in the house, and it’s not like she’s a stranger. She’s more like family, even if she is a Prescott.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that more than you know.” Sky chose not to question Will’s motives. The disputed land might be on his mind, but Will did have a kind and generous heart. Sky would give him the benefit of the doubt.
The ATV was a side-by-side model with a bench seat and a roll bar over the top. With Jasper driving, they set out across the brush-dotted plain toward the seep. In this drought, the meager water supply was the likeliest place to find good bird shooting.
Even at first light the day was warm, with a dry wind sifting across the flat. The streaks of cloud in the east painted the sunrise with slashes of flame and crimson. Startled by the sound of the ATV, a golden eagle flapped off the ground and soared into the dawn.
Jasper parked the vehicle on a low rise overlooking the seep. Sky handed him the loaded shotgun. The old cowboy balanced it across his knees and settled back to wait. Quail piped their calls from the underbrush. But Jasper wasn’t here for quail. Sky knew he was waiting for a wild turkey.
For the first few minutes they sat quietly. Sky waited for Jasper to speak, not wanting to push him.
At last Jasper broke the silence. “So, what do you already know about your parents?”
“I know what you told me about Bull,” Sky said. “And I know my mother worked as a maid for the Prescotts. She’s part of a group photo I saw in their dining room.”
“And your mother didn’t tell you anything?”