Puzzling it Out

The office attached to the stables was cool and quiet. Charlie Prince was on hold with a shipping clerk who was checking on the arrival of some new horses for him. As he held the phone in one hand, he picked up a small, framed picture on the corner of the desk with the other.

Liana Wade. In the picture, she was smiling as she stood next to Ginger, her mare. The boss had just put the photo on the desk the week before. Charlie looked at her smile a few moments longer before putting the frame back in it's place.

Finally, the clerk came back on the line. Charlie listened for a moment before saying, "And you're sure they'll be here on Thursday? Four of 'em? Fine." Abruptly, he hung up the phone.

Picking up the picture again, he touched it lightly with one finger. Beautiful eyes. Silky light brown hair. The boss sure had himself a pretty girl for a wife, Charlie thought to himself.

Truth was that, other than his job, Charlie hadn't been thinking about much else but Liana Wade since he'd been here in the Glen. He couldn't quite figure those two out.

Miz Wade always looked at the boss like she was madly in love with him. Always had a smile on her face when she saw him. And that look in her eyes... Charlie had begun to think he'd do just about anything if Liana Wade would only look at him the way she looked at her husband.

His light blue eyes burning and intense, Charlie put the picture back on the desk again. Rising, he started outside, pulling on his gloves as he went. Mounting the bay that was saddled and waiting for him, he began putting the horse through it's paces.

He'd thought Liana Wade was something special the moment he had seen her. Trying to get that big Christmas tree down off the top of her car. Then, she'd told him she was Mrs. Wade. He'd immediately told himself to quit thinking about her. She was the boss' wife and off-limits. That had worked for a little while.

Then, he had begun to notice the way Ben and Liana Wade acted around each other. She was in love with him. That was obvious. But was the boss actually in love with her?

Most of the time he seemed to look at her like he wasn't really sure who she was, Charlie thought to himself. Like he didn't know what he was doing with a wife. Charlie had tried to get more information out of Liana about when they'd met, how long they'd been married. But she seemed reluctant to talk with Charlie about anything. It was like she was nervous around him. He couldn't understand why. He did his best to be polite to her. Always openin' doors and tippin' his hat to her when he had it on.

It was the way girls had always looked at him since he was a teenager, Charlie reflected to himself. Like he was strange. Sure, he'd served a little time on robbery and assault charges when he was a juvenile, but most people didn't know that. He was sure Liana Wade didn't know it.

When he asked the boss about his wife, Ben Wade got a non-committal look on his face. Didn't seem to want to talk about her. Charlie had begun to wonder if he even knew that much about her--his own wife.

He'd been puzzling over all this since he'd arrived here. And now, someone had come who might be able to give him some more information. The man the boss called his "business manager", Dan Evans. Charlie was determined to find out more about the Wades from him.