Read Online Skies Like These by Tess Hilmo - Free Book Online

for a real cowboy,” Farley said.
    Roy pushed a shoulder back and raised his chin.
    â€œThe work I have around here is basic ranch care, but if you prove yourself I’d consider allowing you to work your way up to some horse wrangling. Are you interested?”
    â€œAm I!”
    Jade knew it was over. Wrangling horses was the one thing Joshua “Roy” Parker would never be able to resist. Whatever wrangling was.
    â€œI’d like you to start the day after tomorrow, around ten in the morning.” Then he turned to Jade. “Will you be joining him?”
    â€œI’m only going to be here for a few weeks and I’m supposed to be helping my aunt over at her dog ranch, but I’d like to try.”
    â€œThat’s fine, you come when you can.” Farley turned back to Roy. “It seems we have a deal.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Roy said, taking Farley’s hand and working it up and down, up and down like he was pumping for oil. “It seems we do.”
    â€œI’ll look forward to seeing you both, then.” Farley tugged on his hat once more and went back inside.
    Jade followed Roy down the walk.
    â€œWhat was that?” she asked when the gate was shut behind them.
    Roy shoved Jade’s shoulder. “That was you spoiling a prime opportunity to look inside Farley’s house. We were so close!”
    â€œHe gave me the creeps—all smooth and glossy with that deep voice, calling you a cowboy. I can’t believe you fell for it.”
    â€œExcuse me, but I am a cowboy. Besides, you’re forgetting that it’s all part of my master plan. I got a paying job, another way into Farley’s world, and a cold root beer to wet my whistle.”
    â€œWhat do you mean another way?”
    â€œEven a city girl like you has to know there’s more than one way to skin a cat. I’m playing Farley like a campfire fiddle.” He moved his arms through the air like he was working a violin.
    â€œI don’t know. I somehow get the feeling that he’s the one playing you.”
    â€œAre you kidding me?” Roy poked a thumb toward the fence. “That went precisely as I had planned. Now you’ve got to promise me you won’t go shootin’ your mouth off about us working for Farley.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œParents are nosy by nature and I need some space to work my magic. Do you promise?”
    â€œI don’t know if I can keep a secret like this.”
    â€œCome on, Jade. Open up to some real adventure.”
    The way Roy said the word real made Jade suspicious. “Why would you say that?”
    â€œTrust me on this one,” Roy said.
    Jade shielded her eyes and looked up at the sun tucked behind thick, downy clouds. “I better head back to the dog ranch. Aunt Elise will be wondering where I am.”
    â€œOkay, but meet me in front of my house at one tomorrow,” Roy said. “I’ve got to run some errands with my mom in the morning and then I want to show you a few things.”

 
    12
    As she had promised, Jade met Roy at one. He led her through the twisted streets of Wellington and right up to what was left of his dad’s store, County Hardware. It sat at the end of a long, narrow parking lot, next to the bright orange Harold’s Hot Dog Shack. Something about the words Summer is here! Pop in and get your pansies swirling across the front window in blue-and-green paint made Jade sad. It reminded her of the time, in second grade, when she walked into Classic Skate for Randi Waterford’s eighth-birthday party, only to find a wide and empty room. She had stood there trying to will the pink-and-white polka-dotted present to stop trembling in her hands as the pimply-faced teenager behind the counter told her mother the party had been the day before.
    That was how this felt—like the Parkers’ store was all dressed up for a party that wasn’t going to happen.
    â€œThere was a