Free The Cowboy Meets His Match by Leann Harris Page B

this is Sheriff Trujillo.”
    Her heart nearly stopped. “Sheriff? Why are you calling?”
    Sawyer’s attention shifted to her.
    â€œI have Tate here at the jail. I talked with your aunt and she said you were in town.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œOne of the deputies found him out at the rodeo grounds, racing around the parking lot. We nabbed him. You need to come by the jail and get him.”
    â€œI can be there in less than five minutes. I’m at the rodeo board office, working.”
    â€œThen I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He hung up.
    Erin slowly put her phone on the table.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Sawyer asked.
    Taking a deep breath, she looked at him. “My brother skipped school, and one of the deputies caught him at the rodeo grounds and brought him to the jail to cool his heels until a family member can come by and get him.”
    â€œIs he under arrest?”
    â€œNo, but I need to go see about it.” She stood and threw everything in her purse.
    â€œWhat are you going to do?”
    â€œOther than strangle him?”
    â€œThat probably won’t be helpful,” Sawyer added.
    â€œTrue, but what was he thinking of, skipping school?”
    â€œHe might be hurting and, being a teenage boy, he doesn’t know how to reach out.”
    Sawyer’s quiet explanation stopped her cold. He had a point. She knew her brother hurt, as demonstrated by his outburst on Sunday. She’d asked Tate later that day about the incident at lunch, but he’d refused to talk about the problem.
    â€œSo what do you suggest?”
    â€œWell, since you won’t be able to drive both yours and Tate’s trucks, I could ride with Tate to the high school and we have a little boy talk. Afterward, I could drive back here with you.”
    â€œWhat if he doesn’t want to talk?”
    â€œThen we drive back in silence. It won’t bother me, but your brother might feel more comfortable talking to another male.”
    The ring of truth in his suggestion convinced her. “Okay, let’s go.”
    It took seven minutes to get to the jail. As they walked into the office, Sawyer whispered, “Keep cool. You might want to yell at your brother, but don’t. You can yell at me later.”
    She hated to admit it, but Sawyer’s perspective made sense. Clamping down on her emotions, she saw Tate sitting on the bench against the wall. His head jerked up when he saw her and Sawyer. Immediately, his slouchy posture disappeared and he sat up straight. He expected her to rain down on him, but Sawyer’s words rang in her ears.
    The sheriff appeared from around the corner where the cells were located. “Sorry to have to call you, Erin, with all that’s happening in your family, but the deputy came across your brother doing wheelies in the rodeo parking lot and making such a racket with those pipes on his truck that I’m surprised the sheriff in the next county didn’t catch him.”
    Tate’s chin jutted out.
    The sheriff stood in front of Tate. “So should I issue him a ticket for the illegal tailpipes on his truck, or you can make sure he gets back to school and I’ll ignore those pipes for the moment?”
    Tate wasn’t the first teenager the sheriff had scared straight.
    They looked at Tate.
    â€œWhat do you want to do?” Erin asked. She had plenty of words and thoughts she wanted to share but battled her natural urges.
    After a moment, Tate said, “I’ll go back to school.”
    â€œAnd stay there,” the sheriff added.
    â€œYeah, I’ll stay in school.”
    â€œOkay,” the sheriff said, “but those pipes will have to be fixed if you want to drive your truck anyplace other than the racetrack. Understood?” Turning to Erin, he added, “I think you should take away your brother’s truck for a while.”
    Tate’s expression turned to stone.
    â€œI’d