“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. I need you here to keep an eye on the herd. I’ll write up instructions for you tonight just in case anything comes up.”
I nod, even though I’d rather be by her side. “All right. But if you change your mind, you let me know, okay?”
“I will,” she promises, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. It’s not much, but it’s enough to ease some of the worry gnawing at my gut.
“Good,” I say, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Now, why don’t you sit down for a minute? I’ll make us some coffee.”
She hesitates, then nods again. “Okay.”
As I move around the kitchen, I steal glances at her. She’s sitting at the table now, her elbows resting on the surface and her head in her hands. She looks so tired, so weighed down by everything. I wish I could take some of that burden off her shoulders, and I’ll do everything I can to do so.
And I’ll be here to support her, whether she asks for it or not.
She opens her laptop and starts typing.
“Are you working?”
“Yes.”
I sigh and walk over to her, closing the laptop. “Take a break.”
She starts to argue, but I shoot her a look, and she closes her mouth.
“You need downtime,” I continue. “You’re going a thousand miles an hour toward saving the cattle, and you’re going to burn out.”
“I’m fine.”
“You may think that, and maybe you are right now, but you need a break. You need to shut your brain off from this, okay?”
“I can’t shut my brain off, Wade. If I don’t…if I don’t figure this out soon, I could lose everything. I always imagined coming back here to raise a family. Maybe I thought I’d get married and have kids, and those grandkids would be enough to make him stop being such a bastard to me. I cannot fail at any of this. I have to prove to him that I am good enough.”
Ooh.
My heart shatters for her. I take a couple of slow, deep breaths as I fight the urge to get back in the truck, drive over to Frank’s, and punch him in the face for what he’s done to his daughter.
I pour us both a cup of coffee, add some creamer, and then carry the mugs to the table. She is talking about staying, though, and that’s a big deal. I want to focus on that and get excited about it, but right now, that’s not what she needs.
“You’re enough, Sutton,” I tell her.
She doesn’t look up, just stares at the coffee mug as if it’s about to do a little song and dance.
“You’re enough, Sutton,” I continue. “Regardless of what that man says or does, it’s a him thing, not a you thing. His own insecurities are what’s driving him to treat you this way. I know that it’s easy to say that, but really hard to accept. I’m not lessening what you’re dealing with because none of it is okay. There’s a lot of anger, a lot of resentment between you and your dad. It’s not something that will be fixed overnight, either. You also need to come to terms with the fact that it may never be repaired.”
She chuckles drily as she shakes her head. She finally looks up at me, a small smile on her lips. “When in the hell did you get so smart, Mr. Callahan?”
“Trial and error, Miss Bishop, trial and error,” I reply with a chuckle. “Honestly, I think the real circle of life is that our kids are born to shine the light on our weaknesses, and we’re meant to grow from that so that we can evolve as a species. Unfortunately, a lot of people can’t remove their ego long enough to understand that.”
“Whoa,” she giggles. “That’s deep. So, you think that having Caleb helped you grow as a human?”
“Listen, I had a great childhood, but my parents weren’t perfect. I’m not a perfect dad either, but I do my best to learn from my mistakes so that when Caleb becomes a dad, he’s able to make those changes for his kids, too. I don’t hide my struggles or my emotions from him, and I’d like to think it’s why he is the way he is.”
“He’s got a big heart. He’s such a good kid.”
“That he is. I’d like to take credit for it, but he was just born that way.”
“I’m certain you are a lot of the reason for it.” She smiles.
