Chapter 22: An Extra Purchase

Having dropped off Artemis to a happy family on a ranch outside of Fresno, Cole headed south on CA-99, pulling off forty-five minutes later at the Circle N Stables Saddle Shop in Tulare. A couple of weeks earlier, he’d taken one of his oldest saddles for repairs, the leather covering on the horn having come unstitched.

A bell jingled as he pushed open the door, and he stepped inside, breathing in the earthy essence of leather. The pretty young Hispanic woman at the counter looked up at him and smiled.

“Hi, Cole. I wondered when you were going to pick up your saddle,” she greeted him in her soft Spanish accent.

“Hey there, Juanita,” Cole grinned. “How’s business?”

She shuffled through a stack of invoices. “We can’t complain. Who would listen anyway?” she laughed. “Roberto finished resewing your saddle horn last week. I’ll get him to bring it up here.”