Free Texas Tough by Janet Dailey

said. “For now, I want you to get back to those colts. Go home, get some rest, and start again as soon as you’re ready.”
    â€œYou’re sure? There could still be strays out there.”
    â€œI’ll send somebody to check. Go on now.” He wheeled his mount, then paused, turning back. “About that cousin of yours. I know you need to check out what she’s doing here and whether she had something to do with shooting Jasper. Take the time you need, as long as it’s not too much. Those colts have to come first.”
    â€œI hear you.” Sky had been working with the Tyler men since he was fifteen, and Will’s controlling style sheeted off him like water off a stone. Beau, on the other hand . . .
    Letting the thought trail away, Sky swung his roan gelding back toward the corral where the spare horses were kept. He’d brought his own pickup, which he would drive back down the winding road through the escarpment to the heart of the ranch. The horses not needed up on the caprock would be trailered down later—a task the cowboys could easily handle.
    Meanwhile, Sky would resume training the prime colts he’d brought to the ranch, and try to squeeze in time, tomorrow maybe, for an afternoon visit to the Blue Coyote.
    He was unsaddling the roan when Beau rode up to the gate, dismounted, and led his bay mare into the corral. “Will wants me to ride back to the ranch with you,” he said. “I just found out he made an appointment for me with a banker in Lubbock. I’m supposed to go and talk with him about a backup loan to tide us over in case we need it.”
    Beau’s face was a thundercloud. Sky guessed that Will had made the appointment without consulting his brother and foreman. The stress of the drought was putting everybody on edge. Unlike Sky, Beau chafed visibly under the weight of his brother’s authority. Sooner or later, Sky feared, there’d be a showdown—one that could end badly. Beau had left once after a clash with their father. If Will pushed him far enough, he might leave again.
    Sky had vowed that nothing would change for him after Jasper’s revelation. But some things couldn’t be helped. The depth of his concern for his two blood brothers had come as an unsettling surprise. Whether he liked it or not, the Tylers weren’t just his employers. They’d become family even before he knew of their shared blood.
    Beau said little as Sky drove down the gravel road that zigzagged among flat-topped mesas and red sandstone hoodoos to emerge above the ranch. As the view opened up, Sky caught himself glancing down toward the house, to the open area beyond the porch where visitors parked their cars. There was no sign of the black Corvette.
    â€œShe hasn’t been around.” Beau seemed to read his mind. “The computer hasn’t been touched, and that little gold earring is still in the desk drawer. What did you do to the woman, anyway?”
    Sky muttered a noncommittal reply. He’d tried to wall Lauren out of his thoughts, but she’d crept back to haunt his unguarded moments—that lush mouth, that lithe willing body, those sharp little whimpers as he’d brought her to climax.... He’d been crazy to take her—and even crazier to keep wanting her. She was the spoiled daughter of a man the Tylers barely tolerated. If he passed her on the street, she’d probably turn and look the other way.
    â€œWhatever the hell’s going on with you two, I need Lauren’s help with the books,” Beau said. “If she doesn’t show up soon, I’ll have to go to her on my knees, offer her the moon, and promise to slug you if you get within a hundred yards of her.”
    â€œDo what you have to,” Sky said. “Lauren doesn’t take orders from me.”
    â€œGetting testy, are we?” Beau prodded.
    â€œJust don’t push me. Get her back here and she’s all yours.