One Wild Cowboy by CATHY GILLEN THACKER Page A

far, has been released to parental custody. And rather than be relieved, he was resentful about that, too.” Emily paused, shook her head. “I’ve never seen Simone so upset.” She had told her to take a few days off—with pay—until she could get things straightened out.
    Dylan listened quietly. “How’s Andrew taking it?” he asked finally.
    â€œHe’s angry and ashamed.”
    â€œRemorseful?” he pressed.
    â€œI wouldn’t say that.”
    Dylan nodded, not at all surprised.
    Where was his compassion? Emily wondered in frustration. She knew he had it—he showed it to the horses he trained. He’d also bestowed it on her on more than one occasion.
    â€œAnd don’t say I told you so, ” Emily grumbled, actually as shocked as Simone that the trauma of being arrested hadn’t been enough to shake some sense into the fifteen-year-old boy.
    Something inscrutable flickered in Dylan’s expression as he folded his arms across his chest. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
    Emily studied Dylan, not about to let him off the hook for his part in this mess.
    For a moment she thought he was going to put up the usual barrier to his private thoughts. Instead, something in his gaze shifted, became more intimate which, in turn, prompted her to admit, “I’m afraid this is going to backfire on everyone.” Emily sighed. “That all it will do is make a bad situation worse.”
    â€œThat’s up to Andrew.”
    Emily wasn’t used to feeling this helpless. She wrung her hands. “I feel I should do something.”
    Dylan placed a steadying hand on her elbow. “The best thing you can do is stand back and let it play out. This is Andrew’s life. These are his choices to make, his consequences to deal with.”
    Emily forced herself to remain calm. “He hasn’t made the right choices thus far,” she warned.
    â€œLet’s hope that changes,” Dylan said. “And soon.”
    Â 
    E MILY WAS NOT CONTENT to leave everything up to fate—or the impulsive emotions of a teenage boy in crisis. As soonas the café closed for the day, she drove over to the sheriff’s department, to see what she could do.
    Luck was with her. Deputy Rio Vasquez, the officer who’d arrested Andrew the night before, was just coming on duty. Her cousin, Kyle McCabe, was also on shift.
    The two deputies shared the same outlook. “Dylan was right to call us and take a hard line,” Rio said.
    Kyle nodded. “I know it seems like it isn’t that big a deal. But it is. Pranks like this are gateway crimes. The kids don’t see it that way, of course. They think they’re just messing around and accepting dares and having fun.” He sighed heavily. “But things have a way of getting out of control—fast—with kids this age and before you know it, someone is badly hurt. Or there’s a fatal car accident. And then lives are really turned upside down.”
    â€œDylan knows this better than anyone,” Rio added.
    Emily did a double take. “What do you mean?” she asked.
    Rio and Kyle exchanged wary looks.
    Whatever they knew, Emily realized in disappointment, they weren’t going to share.
    â€œThe point is,” Rio continued, sidestepping her question completely, “Dylan takes the situation very seriously. And that’s good. The worst thing any of you could have done is used your influence with the district attorney to try to have the whole matter dropped, before any real consequences were felt.”
    Dylan had said as much, but somehow it helped hearing the same thing from two such experienced lawmen.
    Emily thanked them both, and Kyle walked her outside. Because he was her cousin, and they’d grown up together, he knew her pretty well. “So does this mean it’s over with you and Dylan Reeves?” he asked curiously.
    Emily could confide in Kyle the