He ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and looked away. Arguing with this woman would get him nowhere fast. “Someone could have asked me. I called here every night. I would have said no to something so dangerous.”
She gazed toward the brown horse and snorted. “They’re hardly dangerous, especially that oaf.”
Boone jabbed his finger toward the horse. “Just last year my niece broke her arm falling off of one. And some barrel racer broke her leg and her horse was injured badly enough to ruin him at an event held here not that long ago too. I heard it was career-ending. So don’t tell me they aren’t dangerous.”
The woman’s nostrils flared and her free hand balled into a fist. “Not that you care, but that barrel racer is me.” She slammed her palm to her chest. “And as you can see, my leg is just fine.” She took a step toward him. “And my career is far from over.” She made a shooing motion, dismissing him. “So feel free to take your presumptions and march right on out of here. They aren’t needed or wanted.”
Boone opened his mouth to say something but didn’t know exactly how to respond. This was the champion barrel racer? She was younger than his sister, Shannon. She was also incredibly beautiful.
And her glare was hot enough to burn him.
“Daddy!” Hailey’s voice finally caught his attention. From her perch on top of the horse, she reached toward him. “You’re home.”
Boone pulled her from the large horse and gathered his daughter to his chest in a hug. “It’s so good to see you.” He kissed the top of her head. Her hair was the same exact honey-blond shade his late wife’s had been. The thought made Boone’s chest ache. “I love you so much.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “I missed you.” She tipped her head back a bit to meet his eyes. “But you should be nicer to Violet. She’s my friend.”
Boone pivoted to see the blonde woman again. Violet. She still looked as if she wouldn’t mind seeing a horse kick him more than a few times. He cleared his throat and extended his free hand. “I’m Boone Jarrett.”
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, pointedly ignoring his offered handshake. “I figured as much.”
He let his hand drop back to his side. When she didn’t supply her last name he said, “I assume you’re the famous Violet Byrd?” It had taken a moment of digging through his mental files, but he had finally remembered the name of the champion barrel racer who had once been a camper at Red Dog Ranch.
“She’s great,” Hailey said. “I love Violet.”
Piper, Boone’s niece, who was the same age as Hailey, waved at him from on top of her miniature horse. “Hi, Uncle Boone.”
“Hey there, sweetheart.” He carried Hailey over to where Piper was and patted his niece’s head. Double braids went down Piper’s back. She had worn her hair that way ever since it had been long enough to make into a braid. Piper swung off her little white horse to hug his leg.
He crouched to meet her, setting Hailey down in the process. “Do you know where your dad or your uncle Rhett is?” Piper’s dad was Boone’s younger brother, Wade, who was the head of maintenance at Red Dog Ranch, while Rhett, the eldest Jarrett, was the owner and director.
Hailey touched his arm. “Uncle Rhett is gone away.”
“Everyone’s sad because of Silas,” Piper added.
Boone’s stomach clenched, he looked to Violet. Silas was Rhett and Macy’s one-month-old son. Violet sighed and nodded slowly. So she knew what they were talking about.
Boone rose. “What’s going on?”
Violet glanced at Hailey and Piper. “Could you girls get Sheep’s saddle off and make sure his bucket is full of fresh water?” She jutted her chin toward the little white horse. “I’ll join you in the barn in just a minute.”
Hailey jumped up and down beside her cousin as Piper led Sheep out of the arena. Boone watched the two little girls as they walked away, not exactly happy that Hailey was still involved in something horse-related, but also knowing that whatever Violet wanted to say, she clearly didn’t want to say it in front of the girls.
He turned toward her. “What happened?” And why hadn’t anyone called him? Why did she know more about his family than he did?
Violet’s eyes searched his. “Macy noticed Silas has been having a hard time breathing these last few days, but she wrote that off as being a new mother who worried too much. But this morning his lips and the tips of his fingers started turning blue.”
Boone latched his hand onto the nearby fence rail for support. “Blue?”
Every loss, every miscarriage and blow he and June had faced during their years of infertility after having Hailey, crashed through him. He didn’t want Rhett to go through the loss of a child. Dear God, be with them.
“They rushed him to urgent care,” Violet said. “From there he was taken by helicopter to Texas Children’s Hospital. Rhett and Macy followed by car. You can image how frantic and upset they are.” She wound the large horse’s long lead line around in her hand. “I’m sure they mean to call you later when they know more.”
Boone’s knees felt weak. Not another hit for their family. They couldn’t take it. Why did God keep chipping away at the Jarretts? “They took him all the way to Houston?”
She nodded.
“Do they know what’s wrong?” Boone prayed for Silas and Rhett and Macy. He prayed for the doctors and nurses at the hospital and he asked God to help get his family through the season of hit after hit they seemed stuck in. Since his wife’s death, Boone had been angry at and doubtful of God, but he knew right now prayer and people gifted in the medical field were the two most important things for little Silas. Despite his personal struggles, the only thing Boone knew how to
