Rode Hard, Put Up Wet: Cowboy Romance (Rebels & Outlaws 2)

Because she's not going to ask him to walk away from his family, his history, just for six hundred measly thousand. She can't do that to him. Not knowing what the land means to him.

Not knowing what the land is worth in terms of blood and sweat and tears.

Chapter Thirty-Three

It's only a matter of time until the hammer drops. It's impossible to say when it will be, this far in advance. It's even less possible to say what is going to happen.

But there's been talk about Glen Brand. Not polite talk, neither. Talk about what it means, in the long run, to owe him a debt.

He doesn't just let it sit. It's not a some-day proposition to owe him a favor. He'll call it in, sure as the sun will rise, and it won't be long. A day or a week, he's going to find s

omeplace that you can help him out.

For people with plenty of money to spare, it might be a money question.

For others, it might be something else. But the other thing that they all agree on, nobody's ever once debated, is that by the time your debt's paid up, you don't want to take on more. It only takes the one time to learn your lesson.

He's all smiles, now, sure. That's how it's always been. The man's got a grin to launch a thousand ships, without a single doubt in the world. But it's not going to take long to figure out why he's positioning himself for a gimme, not when the dust finally settles.

Which is why he'd hoped to impress with the stallion to begin with. Maybe if he'd done it a year sooner, or two years sooner, then there could have been serious talk about twenty-five, thirty, maybe thirty-five. With a pedigree like the Black's, it's hard to say how high the number could go with a proper trainer.

But they hadn't sold him as a yearling. They hadn't sold him at two years. Three years and change, and the horse should be running races by now. Glen knows that, same as Philip does, and it puts him in the stronger position, regardless of what Callahan wants.

The rancher looks at his numbers. It's hard to say for sure. Very hard to say. But it's not hard to see that there's a risk.

He slips out of the truck and closes the door behind him. It's not supposed to rain tomorrow. He can afford to leave the rails in the bed of the truck and get started on them first thing.

Right now, he's got to go see Randy, got to see how the other boys are doing. Make sure they're eating right, make sure that everything's still on-track. That he's still making a full recovery as best as he can.

A nurse recognizes him. She must have, because she pulls him aside as he walks in. "Mr. Callahan?"

"Yes, miss?"

She blushes and looks down. Chews her lip a second. Callahan always thought of himself as a decent-looking man, but he doesn't generally have this kind of response from women.

Which means that in spite of his good looks and charm, there's something else that's not going well, because she's embarrassed to say what it is.

"There's a, uh, problem with your insurance?"

"I called them, there shouldn't be an issue. You're saying they're still holding up payment?"

"Yes, sir. I know that it's not an ideal time for you, but—"

"No, I understand. You need to get paid. Same as anybody."

Callahan runs his fingers through his hair. "So what's the damage?"

"Don't worry about that, Mr. Callahan. We're going to keep trying with your insurance, and if that doesn't work, then we'll set up a payment plan with Mr. Reed."

The idea of Randy being saddled with upwards of a hundred grand in debt turns his stomach over. Injured on the ranch, and the insurance company won't pay. Refuses, even after he called and talked to his rep and they assured him that they were going to send payment through.

His teeth grit together, his jaw tightening nearly to the breaking point. "Thank you, miss."

Her face still shows every ounce of nervousness that she's no doubt feeling, but she nods and walks off.

Twenty thousand would do it for taxes. It'd do it easy. Fifteen would be cutting it a little close.

But God damn if it would cover a week-long hospital stay, plus the cost of x-rays, plus all that. If insurance wasn't going to pay, then there was no way he could help cover it.