“Whatever you need, Son.”
“I’ll draw up the paperwork. Get the offers made. I’ll be paying more than they’re worth, but I think they have racing potential. You’ll need to get a good look at them. See about a trainer when it gets time,” Austin said.
“Are they to know it’s you?”
“Not on the front end, but I think eventually it will be unavoidable. I love you Dad, tell Mom ‘hi’,” Austin said.
“You too, Son.”
Austin ended the call. That story he just heard had stayed with him through the years, but he’d never associated it with Kitt. After a few more miles passed, Austin called Mike.
“Hey, do we buy our hay from the Kelly ranch?” He asked, avoiding the polite pleasantries
“It’s the plan. Unless you want it changed,” Mike said back. “We’ll bale our own next year.”
“I want you to buy more than we need,” Austin said. “Figure out whatever’s left and buy it. I’ll ship it up to my dad or something, or there has to be an organization to donate too. Maybe a school or something?”
Mike gave a moment of pause before a simple, “Okay… Yeah, the schools around here’ll take it.”
“What’s up with everybody getting so quiet on me? Buy extra hay for us, but figure out what he’s going to have left. Do I need to contract it now, or something like that?”
Mike was silent.
“Kitt’s become a good friend to me. They’re struggling and I’m not. No need for that. Also, there’ll be a couple of new arrivals. They’ll need room in the barn until I can get them up to my dad’s. It would be better to keep these two close, and again, let me remind you of the very strict confidentiality agreement you have.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it.” Mike voice grew more serious. Austin heard the confusion in it, but he didn’t ask any questions which Austin found he liked the most about Mike.
“Cool, I’ll be home late tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Ten-four, boss, and I’ll call Kitt now. It’ll help him out.”
“Thanks and be convincing! Figure what’s gonna be left, I’ll take care of getting someone to contact him for it. He’s not overly receptive to help, so keep it on the down low. I’m bringing my agent with me for a few days. We’ll be down at the barn in the morning. Bye.” At that, Austin disconnected the call.
Austin decided then, regardless of Kitt’s stubborn, hard head, he was helping the Kelly ranch. He’d buy whatever services Kitt offered, and he’d pay him over the asking price. Buying hay, some of his show animals, and using his AI program on the farm was all he could think of right now, but more would come to him. One thing Austin had to offer Kitt was money. He had more money than he could ever spend in ten lifetimes. If money would ease Kitt, then he’d make sure that was one less thing on his plate to worry about.
Chapter 17
Damn it, but Kitt was tired! He forced his exhausted, gritty eyes to stay open. He sat on the sofa in his cabin, dressed in his starched Wranglers and freshly ironed button down. Austin’s last text message said they were headed back hours ago. Kitt assumed Austin intended to come by the cabin since his agent came back home with him. Clearly, he got that assumption wrong. Maybe he should have gone over to Austin’s. Maybe they wouldn’t be spending time together until the agent left. At this point, who knew for sure, but as the hour grew later, Kitt finally gave in to the lack of sleep over the last few days and undressed.
He worked his clothes off slowly, walking through his small place blowing out the candles he’d lit, and put the iced bottle of Austin’s favorite wine back in the refrigerator. He turned off the burner warming dinner. Whatever, he’d tried for a little romance.
As he stretched out on his bed, Kitt kept his phone close to him, ignoring the ache in his heart. Austin had texted him every few hours for the last three days, but he hadn’t heard anything for hours now. It was late, too late. Maybe Austin got home and just went to bed like he should have done. Damn, he wanted to see Austin tonight. The late, late, late show came to an end as Kitt’s eyes closed completely. Too many days of burning it at both ends caught up with him. He fell asleep with the lights and TV on, and his phone in his hand.
~~~~~~
Seth didn’t get much more than a ‘the door on the left is the spare bedroom’ before Austin hightailed it out of the rental car and to the barn to jump on his four-wheeler. An unexpected traffic jam from an eight car pileup slowed them for hours on a highway in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. And Nowhere, Texas had no cellphone signal at all. It was after midnight before they were routed to the back roads off the highway, making the already long trip much longer.
Security had stayed vigilant, watching the property the entire time he was gone. Nothing changed in their responsibility to his sanctuary. He drove the four-wheeler out of the barn, darting straight to Kitt’s cabin, a hundred percent certain they were watching him right now. His anxiety levels spiked off the charts, and under the exhausted state he currently maintained, there was no choice but to go see Kitt. As he got closer, it occurred to him that Kitt might be in the barn. He seemed to spend an extraordinary amount of time there over the last few days. Austin saw some back lights on in the house, but no activity. Kitt’s truck sat outside. He slowed his ride, pulling to the fence, not caring about the noise he made.
Austin climbed the fence before jogging the distance between the fence and the house. He didn’t knock. Kitt always left the door unlocked. He slowly opened the door and waited, listening. He heard the faint sounds of a soft snore coming from Kitt’s bedroom. The lights were off in the main part of the house. Austin snuck in seeing two wine glasses sitting out, a set table and a plate of food on the stovetop. The other plate lay empty in the sink. Relief flooded him, Kitt had been waiting for him!