Texas Fall Read Online Free PDF Page B

He’d
given up asking Liam to call him Jack, and they’d settled into this weird kind
of respect thing Liam had going on. “I just wanted to let you know Robbie and I
will be going down to Laredo with you next week.”
    Liam opened his mouth to
speak, then shut it. He brushed his hands on his jeans again and looked
everywhere but at Jack.
    “Why?” he finally blurted
out. “I promise not to mention you in a bad light or—”
    Jack snapped. He knew he
shouldn’t, but the anger he felt at the people who had hurt Liam was enough to
push him over the edge. “Like I’d think that. We’re going because if they try
one little thing to drag you down and discredit you, then you’re going to need
me and Robbie in your corner. Okay?”
    Liam looked glassy-eyed,
and Jack took a step back as he realized he’d lost it and not in a very helpful
way.
    “You’d do that? For me?”
    Jack despaired of ever
getting Liam to see that he was part of the D’s extended family, that Jack
cared for his welfare and that he would always be there for him. Liam was a
good kid, sensible, very capable, and Robbie loved him like a kid brother or,
as Eli teased him, like a son.
    “Liam, Riley wanted to
come down as well, but someone has to be here for the kids.”
    “Thank you, sir.”
    “Jack.”
    “Thank you, Jack.”
    “We’ll take Riley’s Land
Rover.”
    Liam’s eyes widened, and
he gave a tentative smile. “Really, his new SUV? The silver one? He’s letting
us use it?”
    Jack grinned at the
appearance of the small smile. “Let’s just say I have sway with the owner. Now,
focus on the positives and get it into your head how much I respect you for
standing up with this, how much Robbie respects you. You’re doing the right
thing. Okay?”
    With that, Jack left the
barn and went straight to find Robbie, who was working with one of the new
horses in the far field. When Robbie spotted him, he pulled the mare to a stop
and slid off her back, leading her over to the fence and wrapping the reins
around the solid wood. She huffed at him, and he scratched her nose and behind
her ears.
    “How’s she doing?” Jack
asked as owner and horse lover. Mistry had been a rescue horse, found dumped up
near the beginning of the ranch road. Robbie had been the one to find her and
bring her in, and named her Mistry. She’d not had a bad life, seemed well cared
for, but neither Robbie nor Jack had managed to track down the owner as yet. So
Robbie was working with her, and she was a strong and capable horse.
    “Well, I thought maybe
she’d suit a kid of Hayley’s age in the school.”
    Jack stroked Mistry and
was offered a push and a chuff as a reward. She was certainly a friendly thing,
and if there was one thing Jack trusted, it was Robbie’s instincts. Which led
nicely to the one thing he and Robbie had been discussing on and off for weeks,
the creation of a special equine therapy school for kids like Max to interact
with the horses and the ranch. They’d made plans, even looked at the parts of
the ranch where they could build and expand and create a place suitable for
kids, their caregivers, and the horses they rode.
    “I was reading up on
zoning yesterday. We need to get a lot of work done before we can get licensed for
working with kids with the different needs.”
    “We never thought it would
be easy,” Robbie said. He was using the patented Robbie patient tone, and Jack
was all about coming down with Robbie and agreeing to the whole thing. He knew
what was stopping him.
    “I just want Liam sorted
out,” he admitted. It wasn’t hard to admit that he was worried about Liam and
what would happen in Laredo. Liam had been to counseling, he was doing well, he
had Marcus, but at the end of the day, he was so damn young.
    “Me too,” Robbie agreed.
“We’ll think on the school after we’re back.”
    “I told him just now we
were going with him.”
    “You found a foreman to
watch out.”
    “Close enough. Neil is
coming to stay,