Free Red Fox by Karina Halle Page B

mother.”
    “ And that’s why we’re here,”
I said.
    He smiled warily. He really
was quite a handsome guy.
    “ Just…be
careful while you’re here. Especially when I’m not here.”
    I frowned. “What do you
mean by that?”
    He shrugged, dust flying
off his plaid-clad shoulders. “You’re just going to want someone
capable on your side in this crazy land. If you have any doubts,
just talk to Bird. I trust him.”
    “ I trust Dex,” I said
stubbornly.
    He scratched at his
sideburn and looked wistful, “I know you do. I reckon that might be
a problem.”
    How was that a problem? I
opened my mouth to say something in his defense when Bird and Dex
came out of the barn.
    “ There you are,” said Bird.
“I was afraid you wandered off somewhere.”
    Bird peered at me. On the
surface he played the concerned grandfather type but deep in his
eyes I sensed an even deeper worry. Sometimes I saw that same thing
in my mother’s eyes.
    “ Feeling better?”
    Well, no, not after what
Maximus had just told me but I said yes anyway.
    Dex was eyeing us
suspiciously. He probably knew we were just talking about him. I
glanced between the two ex-friends and knew that a phantom choking
incident and a volatile rancher were going to be the least of my
problems. Something obviously happened between these two guys and
the past wasn’t having an easy time being buried. I had a feeling
I’d find out by the time the weekend was over, and it wasn’t going
to come from Dex’s mouth.
    Bird sensed something too.
Or he had good timing.
    “ So, what say we introduce
you to Lancasters and get the ball rolling?”
    We agreed and walked back
to the house. Bird stayed a few feet ahead; I had the boys on
either side of me.
    “ Hey, just remember,”
Maximus whispered to us and pointed at his ring finger.
    Right, the married thing.
Though Sarah was blind, she’d still probably see right through
us.
    “ Play it cool,” he
continued. “And don’t take anything she says
personally.”
    We walked up on to the
porch and waited while Bird knocked a few times and waited with
baited breath for this mysterious Sarah woman. The door opened and
revealed a tiny, tawny-skinned woman in her mid-life, with
sunglasses and a cane. She was wearing a very pretty green floral
dress that complimented her black, bunned hair. I might have been
expecting her to look like a witch.
    “ Sarah, m’am. I thought you
were napping. Where’s Will?” Bird asked apologetically.
    She snorted. “How can I nap
when I know strangers are snooping around my ranch.”
    She looked at us…well, at
least in our direction. It felt accusatory.
    “ Sarah, these are strangers
no more. You know Maximus-”
    “ Unfortunately,” she
sniped.
    “ And the other two people
here are Dex and Perry Foray. They’ve come on behalf of your
husband.”
    “ I don’t give a rat’s ass
why they are here,” she muttered contemptuously, still looking
straight at us. “My husband should know better.”
    Bird cleared his throat.
“Well, they’ve come an awful long way to come meet with
Will…”
    She dismissed us with a
faint wave of her hand. “I don’t care. Send them back.”
    I know Maximus had just
said to not take it personally but it was too late. I felt
extremely uncomfortable. What if we came here for
nothing?
    “ Mrs. Lancaster, please,”
Dex spoke up. “My wife and I have not come here to do any harm. We
are here to help you. We implore your Christian hospitality to help
us fight the good fight.”
    I looked up at Dex. He
looked the part, brow softened, eyes pleading, voice rich and
sincere. For good measure, even though she couldn’t see it, he put
his arm around me and squeezed.
    She frowned. I wished I
could have seen underneath the oversized shades.
    “ Christian hospitality, you
say?” A dusting of amusement came across her face.
    “ Sarah! What are you doing
up?” a voice said from behind her. A stocky man of medium height
and a double-chin came out from the