Ever since Mama had visited Montana last summer, Bill was always checking up on her. She hadn’t been fond of Lawler Ranch. She thought it was a howling wilderness rather than a simple ten-minute drive to town. However, she and Bill got along like they’d been raised in side-by-side cribs.

“Well, I’m glad to hear she’s doing well, because I’ve got a colt who hates trailers.”

“Uh-huh.” LJ tried to sound neutral. As much as it gave him a nice, warm feeling to have Andra’s father calling him for help, it wasn’t exactly unusual for a colt to hate a horse trailer.

“Don’t use that politician voice with me, Delisle. This colt would drive you through two rosaries and halfway to drink, and if I’m wrong, I owe you a bottle of Bushmills.”

LJ grinned. “Hates ’em a little more than normal, does he? Make it a bottle of Maker’s Mark, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Well, I’d ship him down to you and call that a thirty-dollar bottle well spent, but I can’t exactly get him in a trailer, now can I?”

Ah, so he didn’t just need help; he was starting to miss his daughter and was ready for the two of them to start making their way back west. LJ let him off the hook easy, mostly because he wanted to hang up the phone and practice looking surprised for Andra.

“I think we were planning on heading north for the season soon anyway. Save that colt and that bottle of bourbon for me, and we’ll see you next weekend or so.”

“Sounds good. Give my daughter a hug for me.”

LJ glanced at his phone. “I, uh . . . I definitely will.” Man to man, he and Bill got along decently, but it still caught him off guard on the rare occasions when Bill said something approving like that about LJ’s relationship.

LJ stuck his phone back in his pocket and brushed off thoughts of his boss before he went inside.

In the back of the house, a door slammed. “Shit! Crap, crap, crap, I’m not ready!”

He stopped in the midst of toeing off his boots. “Want me to go out and come back in?”

Andra poked her head out of the front bedroom and scowled at him. “Rose gave it away, didn’t she?”

“No!” LJ said. Andra raised a skeptical eyebrow. She was wearing eyeliner, which both made her eyes even more beautiful and seemed to indicate that something about tonight was special. LJ decided he liked eyeliner. “Well, she did say very loudly that she was going to Mona’s. Why, was there something to give away?”