Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run 6)

“Excuse me?”

“She’s been sitting here for thirty years. A piece of work like that deserves someone who loves it. Someone who sees it as special even when it looks like that.”

He looked from the car to his son. The expression on Zane’s face was both hopeful and heartbreaking. He was holding his breath. Harrison met Ty’s eyes. Ty was holding his breath too.

“I can see you’re a man who looks beneath the surface. And if you can do for that car what you did for my son, well . . . it’ll be in good hands.” Harrison glanced from him to the Mustang, and then gave Zane a sly smile. “Consider her a . . . welcome-to-the-family gift.”

Zane put a hand on Harrison’s shoulder. “Dad? Really?”

Harrison nodded, and Zane gave him a fierce hug, barely remembering to be careful of his injury.

“Thank you, sir,” Ty said, clearly stunned.

Harrison held out a hand to him. “You brought my son back and turned him into a beautiful thing. I expect you’ll take the same care with that ol’ Hoss.”

“Yes, sir,” Ty choked out as he shook Harrison’s hand.

“I’ll call this afternoon and arrange for delivery to Baltimore.” Harrison clapped him on the shoulder, then turned and patted Zane on the chest before walking away. “Breakfast is in a few minutes. Annie and Mark are riding out with us.”

“Ty’s skipping breakfast,” Zane called back. “He’s heading back to the cat place to play with his tiger.”

“Interview the interns,” Ty corrected.

“Have fun with your tiger, Ty,” Harrison called.

Ty’s shoulders slumped. “Thank you, sir.”

Harrison chuckled. When he looked again, Ty had Zane by the hand and was dragging him toward the old Mustang. Zane only managed to stop Ty’s excited ramblings by grabbing his face and kissing him.

Harrison had never seen Zane happier or more at home than he was with Ty’s arms wrapped around him. Even when he’d been with Becky, he’d never lit up quite like he did now.

Harrison nodded and turned away. That was enough for his peace of mind.

Ty sat on the front steps, waiting for everything to be prepared so they could ride the freaking horses out to where Harrison had been shot.

He didn’t know anything about horses, and he only had one good hand, so he couldn’t help much. He just sat and observed as he finished the cheroot he’d been smoking before breakfast. It fended off the horse smell.

Harrison stopped outside the stable to exchange a few words with Zane, something that made Zane smile. Ty blew a ring of smoke into the air, watching it float away and enlarge to frame Zane and his father in the distance. Harrison waved a hand and headed into the barn. Zane turned and walked toward Ty. No, he sauntered. Ty loved what Texas was doing to Zane.

Zane grinned when he saw Ty watching him, but Ty sneered back. He loved Zane, but he hated horses. He hated smelling horses. He hated looking at horses. He hated riding horses. He hated falling off horses.

“You sure you don’t want to just hog-tie me and drag me behind you? I might enjoy it more.”

“I don’t know, that’s awfully tempting.” Zane stopped in front of him, his hands in his pockets. “But I’m betting either way, your ass is toast.”

“Don’t you have some sort of motorized . . . dune buggy thing?” Ty asked. “Or I could walk.”

“Ty, is there some past history with horses here that I don’t know about? Like with motorcycles?”

“No.” Ty lowered his head as a wave of embarrassment passed through him. Zane arched an eyebrow and waited. Ty shifted uncomfortably. “I just . . . really don’t like horses.”

“Good. Then I can torture you without feeling bad.”

Ty crushed what was left of his cheroot on the heel of his boot. “Jackass.”

“What’d you find out at the Sanctuary?”

Ty shrugged. “All the interns were scared shitless of me. They also smelled like granola. None of them struck me as the type to be part of this. Three of them were crying by the time I was done asking questions.”

“Ty.”

“I was nice, I swear! They don’t even know they’re suspects; they were upset about the tigers.”

“But it screams inside job.”

Ty shrugged. “A volunteer, maybe? I don’t know. It’s not exactly Fort Knox over there.”

Zane nodded and sighed. Then he smirked and looked at Ty over his sunglasses. “Did you get to see your tiger?”

Ty couldn’t help but laugh. “They’re tame, Zane. It’s amazing. I mean, I wouldn’t want to meet one on a dark mountaintop, but when they’re in their enclosure and feel safe, they’re like big kittens. Barnum even stood on his hind legs and hugged me.”

Zane shook his head. “I refuse to live with any more evil cats. It’s him or me.”

Ty made a show of thinking it over. Zane kicked dust at him and Ty laughed as he ducked away.

“How is it that you can love cats so much and hate all other forms of animal?”

Ty frowned. “I don’t hate all other animals.”

“Horses. Dogs. Chipmunks.”

“They’re twitchy, Zane. And chipmunks have shifty eyes.”

“Moths?”

“They have erratic flight patterns!”

Zane doubled over, laughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath.

Ty glared at him. “I’m glad my phobias amuse you.”

“Just the fact that someone like you has a chipmunk phobia amuses me,” Zane gasped.

“What’d you find out from your dad’s guys?” Ty asked, raising his voice to get Zane’s attention.

Zane wiped at his eyes, still chuckling. “Nothing. A couple of them said they’d heard rumors of weird things about Cactus Creek hands, but that was it. They’re pretty reticent to talk when they know I’m the law.”

“Yeah, Big Iron,” Ty said with a grin.

“Shut up. I thought maybe you could work your magic as we ride, see if you can get anything from them.”

Ty stood and stretched. “I’ll give it a go.” He smiled slyly and added, “Let’s get this dog and pony show on the road then.”

“Oh, come on,” Zane grunted. “I thought you hated puns.”

“Not when I’m the one making them.”

“How many horse jokes do you have stored up?”

“So many.”