West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(42)

“What the hell is that?” I ask, already knowing but wondering whether I’m seeing it correctly.

Her bright smile and blue eyes meet mine. “Wallpaper for the girls!”

“The girls? As in the damn chickens?”

“Yup!”

I stare at her in disbelief. “You’re kidding me, right?”

She shakes her head. “I’m doing some upgrades and Grandad is going to help.”

“I told him to help you, but I didn’t think you’d be putting up wallpaper. Sadie, it’s a chicken coop. They just crap on the walls.”

“I know, but now they can crap on pretty walls. Plus, it’s easier to clean.”

I close my eyes, praying for deliverance. Being a girl dad is a very strange thing. “Where did you even get wallpaper?”

“Online.”

“And how did you buy it?”

She grins. “Grandad said I could use his card for anything I wanted to upgrade the coop.”

Oh, this is so incredibly bad. “And what else did you get?”

“Well, we’re going to build out the coop a little, paint it pink on the bottom, put a new floor in—he said it was gross. I also got curtains for the nesting boxes, some toys, a xylophone, a swing so they can get some exercise.” I cover my face with my hand. “Also, Grandad said the chickens needed a light, you know, like Lark has.”

Of course she wants to make the chicken coop like Lark’s.

“You realize this is absolutely ridiculous, right?”

She shrugs. “I’m also putting up photos, and we’re going to have a hen of the month.”

“Because that’s necessary?”

“I think so. It encourages egg production.”

I have no words. At least none that I’m going to say to my twelve-year-old. I will say them to my father, though.

“Of course it does.”

“I’m glad you agree. Anyway, we’re going to start working on things after I get the wallpaper up. Grandad said it’ll be easier.”

“Yes, well, he would know how to make things easier.” Since the man doesn’t make a single moment of my life easier. “How was school today?”

She glares at me. “Terrible. Like always, but since someone won’t let me be homeschooled, I have to suffer.”

“I know all about suffering,” I mutter under my breath. “Summer break is coming up in two days. You’ll be fine.”

“Say that to me when I’m in therapy in my twenties from my childhood trauma,” Sadie huffs. “I’m going to have so much to say.”

“Yes, you have it so rough that you’re wallpapering a chicken coop.”

She smiles and shrugs again. “Whatever, Daddy.”

Yeah, whatever is right. “I’m going to check on the new foals. Do you want to come?”

“I wish I could, but I’m very busy with this project. Can we maybe go see Cloud later?”

Sadie has been going to check on Cloud every day. She never goes into the stall—she just sits outside, usually against his door, and reads to him.

My sister told me about it a few months ago and begged me to let her at least have that. Veronica promised that she doesn’t go in, and the agreement she struck up with Sadie is that one of my sisters will tell me if she pushes her luck.

The fact that she’s asking me is a step in the right direction. “Sure, maybe we can go after dinner or when you’re done girlifying the chicken coop?”

Her smile is so bright, so warm, that I know I made the right choice. “Really, Daddy?”

“Yes, we can go see him. Not ride, but see him,” I clarify.

“Okay. After dinner.”

“Tristan!” Fallon yells from the office’s back porch.

“What?”

“The cops are here again!”

I groan. “Stay here and finish up. I’ll come back once Uncle Jimmy is gone.”

Sadie sighs heavily. “Sure thing, Dad.”

I head to the house and, sure enough, Jimmy, his partner, Beau Martinsdale, and Ryan Gatlin are there.

“What now, Jimmy?”

“It’s Officer Langston when I’m in uniform, Mr. Stone. We’re here, as you can guess, because something else has happened at the Gatlin farm.”

I stare right into Ryan’s eyes. “We are not responsible for whatever the hell is happening at your farm.”

His jaw tightens. “The hell you aren’t!”

Jimmy steps between us. “Tristan, someone flooded their barn, which forced them to cut the water supply off to get it to stop. They also had to clean out the entire barn, relocate the animals, and are dealing with minor property damage.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but it wasn’t us.”

Ryan shakes his head. “We know it was someone from this farm.”

“How?”

“Who the hell else would it be?”

I look to Jimmy. “I’m not going to put up with this harassment anymore. Is there any evidence that anyone in my family did it?”

Jimmy turns to Ryan. “Do you have proof it was Tristan or any member of the Stone family?”

“Yes.”

It’s bullshit. There’s no way they have proof, because we didn’t do it.