Chapter 29

When they were preparing to leave Emma’s, Max decided he wasn’t ready to get in the truck to go home. So, after half an hour of playing ‘Chase Me,’ Austin decided his pup needed to start obedience training. That was why Max was rolling on the ground that morning, trying to escape the leash Austin had clipped to his collar.

Austin’s dad walked out back with a cup of coffee.

“How long do you expect he’s going to do that?” Clay asked.

“Until he figures out he can’t have his way.”

“That won’t be until he’s out of his doggy teens.”

Austin ignored the implied jab.

“Have you and Mom found a horse yet?” Austin asked.

“She seems to have settled on a palomino quarter horse named ‘Trigger.’”

‘Palomino’ referred to the coloring of a horse, a gold coat with a white mane and tail. The distinctive coloring came from the interbreeding of Spanish horses with those from America.

“After the side trip to her place, getting the horse shouldn’t take too long.”

His dad gave him some side-eye.

“Your mom said you’d talked to her. I doubt there’ll be any ‘side trips’ today.”

“Good to know. Want to help me for a minute?” Austin asked, changing the subject.

“With what?”

“Mrs. Draper raced Storm yesterday. I think the horse is fine, but I’d like another opinion.”

“No problem,” Clay said.

By that time, Max had stopped throwing a fit and submitted to being led by the leash to the barn. Austin loved him up and told Max he was a good boy before letting him loose to chase the cats.

“What’s he doing?” Clay asked when Max dropped to his belly and held still.

“Rhodesian Ridgebacks are hunters. He’s preparing to ambush that cat at the end of the aisle.”

When the cat wandered closer, Max sprung his trap and raced toward the cat. It wasn’t fair because the cat simply jumped onto the stall railing and swished its tail at the frustrated pup. Max didn’t give up; he jumped and almost got high enough to dethrone the kitty, causing the cat to leap to even higher ground.

“That’s going to be interesting soon. What do you imagine he’ll do if he catches one?” Clay asked.

Austin shrugged. He would deal with that when it happened. Hopefully, Max wouldn’t off his nemesis.

His dad checked Storm and found she had a slight swelling in one of her forelegs, so Austin wrapped a cold pack around it. He then called Mrs. Draper and recommended that she have her vet check Storm. His dad said it was probably nothing, so Austin wasn’t concerned.

Austin called Miss Sandy and told her she was on her own with Keri that day. He suspected the actor wasn’t ready to face him after his involvement in euthanizing the injured horse at the steeplechase race. The rest of the cast would arrive that night. Mrs. Warren had asked Austin to cancel his Western Riding class for the morning so he could help get them up to speed for their upcoming movie.

He would have to face Keri then.

His mom and dad showed up late in the morning with Trigger. His dad walked the quarter horse out to meet Red in the pasture. There was no sign of tension, so Clay took the new horse off its lead and let them get to know each other. Trigger must not have been his last ranch’s dominant horse because he quickly fell in line.

What happened, though, was that Trigger quickly established himself as the second-in-command. Austin expected there would be trouble when Storm was let out of her stall since she’d established herself as the number two in the pecking order.

While he watched the horses interact, his grandmother found him.

“The brewery is slammed. They asked if you could go and help buss some tables.”

“No problem,” Austin said and walked to the storefront.

The parking lot was full, and it looked like there was a line of people waiting to be seated. He grabbed a tray to clear the tables and clean them so people could take the empty ones. The servers were busy getting drinks and such, so they were grateful for his help.