Devils on Horseback: Lee, Book 4 by Beth Williamson Read Free Book Online

the fucking stalls. How the hell was he supposed to do things like put in a fence post or hold a board to nail it in? He was crippled and nothing would change that, no matter how much he wished it would.
    “You need a harness.” Sophie’s voice startled him yet again.
    “What the hell are you doing?” He wiped his arm across his sweaty brow and tried to slow down his racing heart.
    She looked dirtier than the floor with smudges of God only knew what on her face and arms. He reluctantly acknowledged she had been working, when he honestly expected her not to given the sass in her. “You need a harness, like Ned. He can’t plow the field without a harness to hold the plow ’cause he ain’t got no hands either.”
    Lee’s face grew hot at the bald statement, but damned if the little imp wasn’t right.
    Genny crept into the barn with a bucket full of cool water in case her new employee was thirsty. Of course, she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit she was really checking on Lee. She was afraid he’d run back to Tanger or maybe she wanted to be around him again. That thought made her almost blush. The soft murmur of voices came from the back of the barn as the stench of the mess made her eyes burn. She knew the barn needed work, a lot of it, and felt guilty each time she moved Ned to another stall, but there was only so much she could do. It really was embarrassing to have a stranger see how bad things had gotten on the farm.
    Yet this was why she needed help and, grudgingly, a man’s strength. Genny wasn’t tiny, but she just couldn’t pick up a fence post and put it in a hole, and she surely could not harvest acres and acres of wheat. Lee wasn’t what she was expecting, but then again, he was working for next to nothing. He might not have two hands, but he had strength in abundance judging by the width and size of his shoulders.
    When she walked nearer to the stalls, she heard Sophie tell him he needed a harness like the horse, and Genny’s face heated. Oh hell, did the child have no manners at all? And whose fault was that? Certainly not Henry, he barely even looked at Sophie and had no hand in raising her.
    No, the blame lay squarely on Genny’s shoulders. Since Lee’s arrival at the farm, nothing had gone right between the girl and the man—this was just another nail in Genny’s coffin of bad choices.
    Genny walked quickly toward them, her mind whirling with the right way to apologize for Sophie’s too-honest ways. Mr. Blackwood had agreed to her terms of employment knowing she had a child, but it didn’t involve her daughter’s insults.
    “You’re right.”
    His softly worded response made her pause in mid-stride. Surprise kept her there.
    “I am?” Sophie’s tone was full of shock. “Mama usually tells me I’m wrong.”
    Genny grimaced, knowing that was a true statement. The girl usually had the craziest notions and she had to keep her feet on the ground. Dreaming and wishing weren’t going to get her anywhere in life. Genny’s life had gone completely sideways and she was determined her daughter would have better.
    Pasting on a smile, Genny cleared her throat and walked toward them with enough noise they could hear her coming. No need letting him know she’d been spying on them, or rather eavesdropping. Some habits were hard to break, and she was no saint with her overabundance of flaws and vices. God gave her what He thought she needed and there was no changing it.
    “I thought y’all might be thirsty.” Genny’s hand started to cramp from carrying the bucket. It was heavy but if she were honest with herself, she had been gripping it too tightly. Another sign that Lee put her off balance.
    As she walked toward them she avoided looking into the stalls—the smell told the story quite clearly. Lee and Sophie were down toward Ned’s current stall, a wheelbarrow behind them mounded with horse shit and hay, some of which looked like it had white and green fur growing on it. Genny