Read Online Must Love Cowboys by Cheryl Brooks - Free Book Online Page A

after an emergency cardiac catheterization. The cardiologist said he’d put in three stents and that Calvin’s vital signs are stable. He’s still not awake, though.” She shrugged. “All we can do now is wait and hope for the best. Wyatt and Bull are on their way home. I’m gonna head over there later this afternoon. Sure wish he had some family we could call.”
    â€œI take it none of you has power of attorney for him?” Mom had been Grandpa’s POA, which was a tough job even for a relative. To be POA for an employee would be strange to say the least.
    â€œNo. I wish we did. Right now, the doctors are making decisions on an emergency basis.” She paused, biting her lip. “As far as I know, he doesn’t have a living will, but I’m guessing he wouldn’t want to be on life support.”
    â€œI don’t doubt it. My grandfather didn’t want any of that.” Mom and I had made a point of having all the legal details in place long before they were needed. But then, we were family. This was different.
    â€œIt’d be nice to know for sure.” She patted my arm. “I hope you’re up to this. I’ll be gone for a couple of days at least.”
    Recalling all the wide-open spaces I’d driven through to get to the Circle Bar K, I couldn’t help wondering just where that ambulance had taken Calvin. “Where is he?”
    â€œSalt Lake City,” she replied. “They flew him out of Rock Springs in a helicopter.” She paused, smiling. “Poor Wyatt. I can’t imagine driving all the way to Salt Lake and back with Bull—but then, Wyatt is one of the few people who can get Bull to be quiet for more than five minutes.”
    I’d already picked up on the fact that Bull was quite a talker. Steering clear of both of them when they came back might be best. “They’re probably too tired to talk much by now.” I knew that feeling too, the mute numbness that came with total exhaustion. Toward the end of Grandpa’s long illness, I’d gone for days grabbing snatches of sleep whenever I could, never truly getting enough rest.
    She nodded. “At least they can take turns driving. Anyway, they won’t be back until later this afternoon. Guess I’d better go get packed up myself, although I really hate to leave right now.”
    â€œYou said something last night about having a lot of trouble lately. What kind of trouble?”
    â€œWeird stuff,” she replied. “Fences cut, cattle missing for a while, but then we find them straying. We fix the fences only to find another place cut a few days later.”
    â€œSo nobody is actually stealing cattle, just cutting the fence?”
    â€œYeah. Like I said, it’s weird because all it does is make more work for the guys.”
    â€œEver seen any suspicious characters hanging around?”
    Angela let out a mirthless bark of laughter. “Not yet. As big as this ranch is, it’s damn near impossible to patrol all of it. At least, not with our limited manpower. Even having a couple of the guys ride the fence line every night wouldn’t help much. The culprit could easily sit back and wait until they were gone and then cut the fence.” She shrugged. “I guess some kids could be doing it as a prank, but I can’t imagine why they would target this ranch in particular. None of the other ranchers I’ve talked to have had this problem.”
    â€œThat is weird,” I agreed. “Is there anybody who might be holding a grudge?”
    â€œNot that I can think of, unless we’ve got enemies we don’t even know about.”
    â€œThat’s doubtful. Most of us know who our enemies are.” I smiled. “I’ll keep an eye out for anything weird, although I have no idea what would be weird on a ranch. Never been on one before.”
    Angela smiled back at me. “You might be just the one to notice