Sunset Ridge by Carol Lynne Page B

was one thing, but Gray drew the line when his niece started telling stories about other people. He leaned over until his face was right in hers. “Now you listen to me. This is going to stop right here. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you think you can get away with acting like you are, but I won’t stand for it. Consider yourself carless for the next month. You’ll take the bus to and from school. When you get home you’ll go to your room and stay there until dinner, after which you’ll do the dishes.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding. Georgia gets paid for doing the dishes.”
    Staring at his niece, Gray wondered how he could undo years of indulgence without doing more harm than good. He wasn’t without blame, but his father had accomplished the bulk of the spoiling. Despite everything, when Gray looked at Raleigh he saw the little girl who was abandoned by her mother at such a young age.
    Gray took a deep breath. Yelling at Raleigh wasn’t the answer. He needed to find a way to get through to his niece without pushing her away. Perhaps Georgia could help? “I’ll let Georgia help you with the dishes as long as you show her respect.”
    Raleigh rolled her eyes. “Can’t one of the ranch hands take me to school at least? The bus is completely disgusting.”
    “We’ll see how you’re doing after the first week. If you’re helping Georgia like you’re supposed to, I’m sure I can get someone to drive you into town for school.”
    When Raleigh didn’t reply, Gray made no move to start the car. “This is where you say thank you,” he finally reminded her.
    “Thank you? I’m supposed to thank you for grounding me?”
    “You’re damn lucky I’m going easy on you. Cut your losses and say thank you before I decide to tack something else on to your punishment.”
    “Thank you,” Raleigh grumbled.
    Baby steps, Gray reminded himself.

    * * * *

    Ram skipped breakfast the next morning and was already busy at work when his cell phone rang. He looked at the display and took a deep breath before answering. “Ram.”
    “Missed you at breakfast this morning,” Gray said.
    “Yeah, I just got back from the hospital. Uncle Bob’s going to sit with her while I try to get some work done.” Although Raleigh had something to do with Ram’s breakfast refusal, he also didn’t want to deal with his lingering feelings of unease around Gray. “Besides, I thought I’d stay out of the line of fire at the breakfast table.”
    “No bullets fired this morning unless she used a silencer. I’m sure it’ll be a few days before she’s willing to talk to me again. I could’ve used the company.”
    Ram refused to apologise for missing the meal so he kept quiet. He’d needed Gray’s company the previous night, but, once again, Raleigh had come between them.
    “You still there?” Gray asked.
    “Yep, just going over the vaccination schedule for the pregnant mares. It looks like three of them are due for their nine month rhino vaccination. Good planning, by the way, I’d say the foals should drop right near the first of the year.”
    “Good. I’d like to go over the list of available brood mares and get them matched up with a couple of our newest stallions. Can you spare an hour or so?”
    Ram had to remind himself that a daily meeting with Gray was part of the job. “Yeah, I’ll be up in ten minutes.”
    “See ya then.”
    Ram hung up the phone and took a stroll through the stables. He spotted Kyle, one of the hands, and headed his way. “Why’s Lady still in her stall?”
    Kyle shook a load of manure off the pitchfork before turning to address Ram. “She didn’t want to leave this morning. I thought it’d be better to leave her until you had a chance to check on her.”
    Ram walked back and entered Lady’s stall. Unlike most of the pregnant mares, Lady was purely a work horse. According to Gray, one of the stallions had jumped the fence and got into the pasture while Lady was in season. Ram ran a