Taking care of a teenager was one thing—hiding one on a ranch was another.
Each day, he woke praying Jordy cleaned up his bedding from the shed where he slept and that his few personal items were also stashed in the place Theo showed him—beneath a floorboard that hadn’t been nailed on one end.
All it would take was for one of the ranch hands to walk in and spot Jordy’s belongings for them to call the police. And if Jordy was found, he’d be sent back to his abusive, neglectful family or dumped into the system.
As he and Huxley toiled over the fence, Theo tried to dismiss the thought that the kid was a drain on his energy, but he’d taken the responsibility and he’d see it through.
They set the final post and strung the wire between it. Then they stood back to examine their handiwork.
“We’re gettin’ pretty quick at setting fence,” Theo said.
Huxley nodded. “Let’s go back and grab some lunch before we do the rest.”
“Sounds like a good suggestion. Those grits wore off long ago.”
They jumped into the truck and rolled across the field toward the bunkhouse. When they reached the parking area, Cort stepped out of the garage, a dark expression drawing his brows downward.
Huxley threw the truck into park. “Boss is mad. Can’t be good.”
A steel band of worry tightened around Theo’s chest, constricting his air. Had Cort discovered Jordy living in the other shed, the one he hadn’t burned down?
He started walking toward his boss, prepared to take the heat.
“We got an issue.” Cort’s hard tone ratcheted down that steel band even tighter around Theo’s ribs.
He thumbed his hat. “What’s up?”
Cort sent him a long stare before twitching his head. “Come with me.”
He threw Huxley a look, but he only shrugged. They both followed their boss around the garage and struck out across the yard to the barn. Some much needed air trickled into his lungs again as he realized they were walking in the opposite direction of the shed where Jordy’d been staying.
Then he saw the water—inches of it standing in the back pasture where they kept the horses they were training.
“What the hell?” Huxley asked as they approached.
Cort gestured to the water tank outside the fencing. In warmer months when rainfall was low, they hauled water, and the 500-gallon tank was full—or had been a few hours earlier when Theo watered the horses and filled up his own bottle.
“Jesus.” Theo grated out. The standing water in the pasture would be well up over the horses’ ankles, and standing in water wouldn’t be safe.
“We moved all the horses out, but which one o’ you watered them this morning?” Cort leveled his stare first on Huxley.
“It was me,” Theo said immediately.
When Cort swung his gaze to him, he saw surprise overriding the anger in his boss’s eyes. “You did?”
“Yeah. I know I closed the outlet securely, though. Did you check the outlet to see if it’s broken or faulty?”
“Kaoz checked. The outlet isn’t faulty—it was left open.”
Theo’s guts clenched. He clearly recalled closing the outlet, making certain it didn’t even drizzle an ounce more than what he needed. He wasn’t the one at fault—but he knew who might be.
Son of a bitch.
He looked at the field that didn’t appear to be draining at all. That in itself proved to be an issue around here, but typically they didn’t receive enough rain to hold water, let alone nearly five hundred gallons.
“I’ll dig a ditch and drain the water from the pasture. And I’ll pay for the water lost. I’m sorry, man. I swear I shut the outlet.”
Cort eyed him for a long minute. “First the shed and now this, Theo. I thought you were one of our reliable ranch hands.”
Hell—what to say to that? Arguing wouldn’t do any good, unless he was willing to throw Jordy under the bus as the culprit, which he wouldn’t. He’d be seen as a delinquent and tossed into juvey.
He looked Cort in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”
After a moment, he nodded. “No more careless mistakes, man. The ranch can’t afford it.”
With no words to explain, Theo watched Cort and Huxley walk away. He waited until they rounded the garage and were out of sight, then he set off toward the shed. Fury raged inside him as he reached for the door handle. He narrowly checked himself before he ripped it off the hinges. Adding more damage would send him packing.
Dragging in a burning breath, he stepped into the space crowded with old unused shovels, picks, rakes and a dozen other garden implements, but he stared straight at the spot where Jordy hid during most days.
“Get out here,” he growled.
The blond head appeared around a stack of crates. Jordy saw Theo and scrambled out, unfolded his long legs and faced him.
“Did you fill your canteen with water from the tank this morning before anybody came outside?” Theo demanded.
Jordy’s expression said it all. He nodded.
“You left the outlet on, and the tank completely drained into the pasture. The ground’s standing with water and we can’t use the pasture now. What were you thinking, Jordy? Why didn’t you make sure the outlet was closed off?”
Dust floated in the air between them, and the shadows across Jordy’s face helped to conceal any emotion he might be feeling about the situation.
“How do you know I did it? Maybe someone else used the tank. Maybe even you!”
Unable to stop himself, Theo moved one step toward his ward. “Are you seriously speaking to me this way right now? After all I’ve done for you. It isn’t as if my expectations are high, man. You don’t work for your meals. I ask little of you other than you stay hidden and stay out of trouble!”
Jordy held his ground but worry creased his brows. “I thought I closed the outlet, Theo.”
“Well, you didn’t! And Cort just busted me over my carelessness—again. I’m going to be paying for that tank of water same as I paid for that shed. And I’ll spend the rest of my day digging a ditch to try to drain the pasture. Now tell me—what are you gonna do to fix this, Jordy?”
“It’s not my land—why should I have to fix anything?”
He took one more quick step toward the kid, barely restraining himself at this point. How parents stayed out of prison while dealing with smart-mouthed offspring, he couldn’t guess.
“If you were one of the ranch hands, you’d pay for talking to me that way.”
The boy lowered his eyes to the floor. “Sorry.”
He stared at him for a long minute. He was only a troubled kid with nowhere to go. He looked hungry too. With his teen appetite, filling the kid up was proving difficult.
“Watch what you’re doing, Jordy.” He grabbed a shovel and walked out, closing and latching the door behind him. He crossed to the bunkhouse and leaned the shovel against the wall. Inside, the scent of leftover barbecue sandwiches from Milton’s restaurant in town filled the air. Theo leaned against the counter and ate two and then carried two back to Jordy.
When he walked into the shed and called out to the kid, he stepped out immediately. “Here—you need to eat. I’ll bring you something more later.” He handed the sandwiches to the boy.