“Get your ass over here,” Billy motioned at him.
“Billy!” Renie scolded her husband. “Don’t talk to Bullet like that.”
Bullet swore Billy looked embarrassed. “Like what? Jesus, Renie, this ain’t no pansy-assed business we’re runnin’ here.”
She reached up and kissed his cheek, “Play nice with the other cowboys, sweetheart.” She smiled at Bullet on her way out of the barn.
“What’ up?”
“Nothin’. Christ almighty. What’s everybody’s problem? I wanna talk to you about loadin’ horses in the
mornin’.”
Instead of looking at Bullet, Billy looked at Jace. “What’re you lookin’ at?”
“Nothin’,” laughed Jace. “You aren’t acting any different than you usually do.”
“You’re damn right,” Billy huffed and sat on a bale of hay. “If you can’t take it, you can go back inside, with the women.” This time Billy was looking at Bullet.
“What the hell did I do?”
“He’s just mad because Renie wants him to talk to you,” Jace explained.
“About what?”
“Your wife dyin’.”
“Why?”
“Exactly,” Billy groaned. “I told her it wasn’t any of our business.”
“I gotta get off this ride before I lose my lunch.”
Billy looked at Jace. “Now what’s he talkin’ about?”
Jace shrugged his shoulders.
“Never mind,” said Bullet. “I’ll tell her you talked to me. That it? Can I go now?”
“No, you can’t go. And you can’t lie to my wife. Now, sit your ass down.”
“How about me, can I go?” asked Jace.
“No, you can’t go either. If Renie wants to know if I really talked to Bullet, you can vouch for me.”
“Just get this over with, would ya?” Bullet was running out of patience. Either they were gonna fire him, or they weren’t. They needed to make up their minds.
“You know Willow isn’t Renie’s biological daughter, right?”
Huh? No, he didn’t. “What happened to her mama?”
“Car accident.”
“Damn.” Bullet put his head in his hand. “I’m sorry, Billy.”
“Yeah, it was sad, but don’t be sayin’ sorry to me. Truth is, I didn’t know she had a baby until after she died.”
“Oh.”