Read Online 12 Borrowing Trouble by Becky McGraw - Free Book Online Page B

right about now. 
    The last few steps up to the porch of the bunkhouse almost took more energy than he had left.  He stopped a minute to lean against the door frame , mindless of the moths and gnats that swarmed around his head which was very near the porch light.  His hand reached for the doorknob, but it swung open.
    “It’s about damned time you got home ,” Joel ground out.  “Where’s Carrie?”
    “She’s at the big house,” he replied tiredly.  Dylan stepped back, waiting for Joel to come outside, but he didn’t move.  He just stood there in the doorway.  “I need to come insi de,” Dylan finally said.
    Joel stepped out and closed the door behind him, then folded his arms over his chest. “Well, that’s too damned bad, because we need to talk first.”
    “I’m too tired, Joel.  My truck broke down and my fucking shoulder hurts.”   Dylan reached up to rub the spot that throbbed like a toothache there.
    “When we finish talking, I’ll get Terri to get you some pain meds.  She just finished fixing Zane’s nose, so she’s probably still up , thanks to you two idiots.”
    Pain meds sounded fantastic to Dylan right now, but sleep sounded better.  “I need to get some shuteye.  I’m done .” He reached around Joel for the door knob, but Joel grabbed his wrist.
    He let Dylan’s wrist go, but he didn’t move.  “You’re done when I say you’re done.  We need to talk about what happened tonight.” The dark, frustrated quality to his boss’s voice told him this conversation wasn’t going to be good.  And it also told him Joel wasn’t budging.  They were having this conversation right here, right now.  He knew that for sure when Joel shoved him back toward one of the rocking chairs on the porch. 
    “Sit!” he said, pointing to the chair behind Dylan.
    Dylan was too tired to resist, so he just staggered back and plopped down.  His hands clutched the arms of the wooden rocker.  “No talking is needed.  I know I’m fired.  I’ll be out of here in the morning.” The words rang in his tired brain like strikes on a gong, sounding almost surreal.  This whole situation didn’t seem real.  He really had done his best for Joel and this ranch, and he never in a million years expected them to treat him so poorly.
    Joel shook his head and threw up his hands.  “I don’t get it.  I finally get you help out here and you act like I’ve stepped on your fucking toes, and pushed you out of here.”
    “You hired that Aussie asshole to replace me.  Don’t try and tell me you didn’t,” Dylan fired back.  Dylan wasn’t finished either, and he wasn’t sugarcoating the only theory he could come up with.  He thought he and Joel had buried the hatchet long ago, but it looked his boss still held a grudge.  It’s the only thing that made sense.  “You’ve wanted me out of here since that time I hit on Terri.  Now you have your chance.”
    Joel’s jaw tightened.  He ground his teeth a few times, before he said, “If I’d wanted you gone, you would be gone.”
    “You didn’t have anyone to replace me.  Now you do ,” Dylan said, flinching when he forgot about his shoulder and tried to push up to stand.  He fell back and rubbed it.  “I’ll be gone in the morning.”
    Joel all but growled, “I didn’t fire you!” He shoved a hand through his hair, and filled his cheeks with a puff of air, then blew it out.  “Even after what you pulled today and tonight, I’m not going to fire you.  We need you here, Dylan!” 
    Dylan almost believed him that time , but there was still the incident from earlier today.  “You didn’t need me earlier today.  You threw me under the bus with Brandon Carter.”
    “All I did was get him out of your hair!  That guy is an asshole, and you had dealt with him all week by yourself.  I thought you ’d had enough of him, and needed a break.  Besides, I wanted to see what Zane would do with a more than difficult client.  I need him