Bluegrass Peril Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Horses have extremely fragile digestive systems. A sudden change in feed can cause serious problems. Something like colic can actually put an animal down. These horses are fed a compound specially designed for older horses, and we don’t keep anything like that over at Shady Acres.” He cocked his head. “If I knew what brand to get, I suppose we could go buy some.”
    Foster and Jeff exchanged a glance. “That would probably be best.”
    “We have an account at Simpson’s,” Becky volunteered. “They’ll have records on the brand and all that.”
    As though reminded of her presence, Scott gave her a startled look. His gaze dropped to her shoes in Jeff’s plastic bag. “What’s going on?”
    Heat crept up her neck. She seemed to be doing a lot of blushing this morning. “They just need to compare my footprints to some they found in the barn.”
    Why did he have to be so handsome? Her pulse quickened as she stood under the weight of his stare. Working with the guy wouldn’t be easy if she couldn’t control her reactions any better than this. She drew in a deep breath and returned his gaze with a calm smile. “Do you need any help feeding the horses?”
    He looked down at her nylon-clad feet, and his lips twisted into a lopsided grin. “You’re going to help barefoot?”
    Her cheeks blazed. “Of course not. I’ll, uh, I’ll go home and get some more shoes.”
    A knowing smile lurked behind Jeff’s eyes. Amber’s boyfriend had returned. Becky ignored him.
    “Actually,” said Foster, “you might as well stay at home. You won’t be able to get into the office today, and the fewer people we have hanging around here the better. We’ve got your statement, and we know where to find you if we need anything else.”
    Escaping for home sounded like an excellent idea. She looked at Scott, her eyebrows arched in a silent request for permission. He returned her gaze for a moment, confusion creasing his brow, before his forehead cleared. Apparently, he had just realized that running the Pasture meant he was her boss.
    “Oh, yeah, sure.” He flashed a smile. “No sense hanging around here today. I can handle the horses. We’ll start fresh tomorrow, right?”
    He looked toward Jeff and Foster for verification, but Foster wasn’t ready to commit. “If we’re finished in there.”
    Becky didn’t waste another minute. Time to get out of here, pay or no pay. “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.” She whirled and slipped into her car. The engine turned over a couple of times before it started, but when it did the men stepped away. She backed up as far as she could, then pulled onto the grass and followed the trail through the yard and onto the road toward home.

     
    Scott emptied a scoop of feed into Fortune’s feed bucket. The horse stood a short distance away and eyed him warily.
    “It’s okay, fella. You’ll get used to me in a day or two.”
    Fortune didn’t appear convinced. Scott had seen the way this horse responded to Haldeman, running to the fence to be close to the man whenever he was outside. The same stallion was keeping a cautious distance from Scott, even though he was delivering food.
    Or maybe it wasn’t the change in servers that made Fortune distrustful; maybe it was the smaller portion. Since Scott had no idea how much Haldeman generally gave the retirees, they’d have to make do with pasture grass and a couple of scoops of the Triple Crown Senior he’d picked up at Simpson’s until he could get to the records. Hopefully by tomorrow the cops would let them into the office. He was sure Haldeman kept a file on each of the horses, their eating habits and preferences and any medications they might be on. He’d ask Becky to pull the files for him.
    Becky. He poured a second scoop of feed into the bucket. He didn’t know what to make of her. She looked a little flustered when she left, barefoot and covered in dirt. But throughout the morning she’d handled herself well, after the