Casey's Courage Read Online Free PDF Page A

appeal for him.” She sat quietly for a time then added, “I can’t imagine wandering around Europe for a honeymoon. I wonder what his new wife is like.”
    Tres wondered what he could say. He’d not seen in father in over a decade and only a few strained phone calls had been exchanged in all those years. He stirred and stood up. “Do you feel like trying to get some sleep?” he asked.
    Mattie Lou set her half-finished drink aside and held out her hand to Tres. “I do. Give me a tug up. These old bones are weary.”
    A few days after the funeral, Tres and his grandmother sat in the ranch office going over business papers J.D. had left organized and up-to-date. “It’s hard to believe he has things in such good shape.”
    Mattie Lou smiled with a faraway look in her eyes. “His heart was worn-out, but his mind was always sharp. We worked together almost every day. He wanted to be sure I could explain anything you weren’t sure about.”
    “Or if I didn’t come back, you could handle things.”
    Mattie Lou smiled gently at her grandson. “He never doubted you. He knew you would return, and you did. You had some growing up to do. Not being able to control some things in our lives and coming out on the losing end at times can be hard to work through.”
    Tres set a ledger aside. “I looked over all the accounts about Casey, and I haven’t found a written agreement between her and J.D. Do you know what the plan was for her involvement with keeping the Running S horses on the circuit after her graduation?”

    As far as I know, the agreement was between J.D. and Jake. Casey just went along with their wishes while she got an education.” Mattie Lou hesitated a moment. “You know, I used to worry about her. She has such a natural talent with horses and always seemed so compliant. I thought they might force her into something she didn’t want to do, but she settled on psychology as a major. She never hesitated in her rodeo and horse show involvement, while she quietly managed to earn her PhD.”
    “I got the feeling Jake wasn’t happy about her teaching at the college in Cielo Alto. Do you know what the situation is there?”
    Mattie Lou chuckled. “I expect Jake always planned on her coming back and helping him train horses. But she signed a contract to teach at the college and agreed to live in a house out at the edge of town that belongs to a professor who is on sabbatical. The place has stables and some paddocks where she can still keep some horses to train. Seems like little will change for her.”
    Perusing the trophies in the glass case on the wall in front of him, Tres said, “Do you think we should approach her about a financial agreement for the future?”
    The phone rang. A representative from one of the oil companies J.D. had bought stock in years ago was on the line, eager to be of service to the heir of the sizable block of stock.
    Estate hearings and reaffirming commitments to J.D.’s old business associates stole the days away. One night Tres noticed a copy of the horse catalog, like the one Casey had given to the photographer. A sense of apprehension not far from panic gripped him. Should he have been making arrangement for people and supplies? Damnit! How had he let something so important slip up on him?

    As early as he thought he could appear, without seeming too obvious, he went to the old headquarters where first-class horse barns, stables, and pens had been built soon after Jake came to develop the ranch’s horse operation. Rounding the curve where the old headquarters came into view, Tres eased the pickup to a crawl, astonished at what he saw—workmen raising a maroon-and-white striped tent for a pavilion, tractors disking, smoothing arenas and corrals; horses being bathed and exercised, temporary bleachers being set up beside the biggest arena. The place bustled with activity. Parking beside one of the barns, he saw high school and college kids laughing and talking as they cleaned