“So, we should probably address the elephant in the room,” Dad says as Mom heads outside to finish her crossword after breakfast. He waits for her to shut the sliding glass door before clearing his throat and pointing at Denver. “I don’t want you sneaking in through her bedroom window.”
The muscles in Denver’s jaw tick. “Right. I’m sorry, sir.”
“If you two are dating, then that’s fine. I’m happy for you. Obviously Blair’s living under my roof, and that changes things a bit as far as…uh, adult sleepovers.” My burly, hardware-store-owning dadblushes.
“Yep, got it, Dad.” Desperate for this conversation to end, I start to slide my chair back, frantically collecting dirty dishes.
“Butyou’re also both adults. So…I think we need some rules.” He runs a hand through thinning gray hair. “The main one is that Denny uses the front door like a civilized person. Clean up after yourselves. Don’t be too loud.” The blush deepens on his face. “I mean…keep the TV at a reasonable volume. Uh…I don’t know. Just…be responsible when you…you know what I mean.”
What the fuck.I could curl up and die. Here I thought Mom would be the embarrassing parent this morning, and now I’m wishing she would’ve had a moment where she called us names or made an inappropriate comment. Would’ve been immensely preferable to this bizarre sex talk from my father—a man who refused to even utter the word “period” when I was growing up.
“Okay, well…with thatwe’re going to head out.” I slam the dishes into the dishwasher as fast as humanly possible.
“One question,” Denver pipes up.
The hell kind of question could he possibly have as a follow-up?
“I want to steal Blair for the weekend. Austin’s wedding is tomorrow, so I figured it might be fun for her to come stay at the ranch. And I know she has a lot going on here. Before I kidnap her, I thought I’d check if you’ll be okay without her for two nights.”
With unadulterated relief, I sigh and lean a hip against the kitchen counter.
Dad smiles, looking between the two of us. “You kids go have fun.”
Denver
(eighteen years old)
Denver:It’s officially been too long since I kissed you
Blair:It’s been two days
Denver:Two days too long :(
Blair:I miss you too
Blair:I’ll make it up to you when you visit next weekend
Blair had never lived with us, but that didn’t change how empty and quiet the place had been since her move to Vancouver a couple days earlier. I’d driven down with her family to drop her off in a small dorm room—the apartment plan didn’t make sense anymore, since I was staying in Wells Canyon. It was a long five-hour drive back with her parents, and an even longer forty-ish hours since.
Coffee percolated in the corner, and I took a long inhale, staring down at the unending text message chain between us.Nine months.That’s how much time I had to survive before she would be back home for summer, and it didn’t matter what state my family was in come September, I’d be moving with her.
Mom’s new care aide, a young girl—couldn’t be much older than I was—walked into the kitchen. Kate had moved into Grandpa’s old bedroom two weeks after he died to helpcare for Mom, since it was all hands on deck with the ranch. Turns out, Grandpa had taught us how to be cowboys, but not much else about how to operate a cattle ranch. We were fumbling things left and right without him, so Dad made the executive decision to hire help.
“Hey,” Kate said, sliding a cup of tea across the table. “Do you mind taking this to your mom for me?”
“Uh, sure.” I stood up, sliding my phone into my pocket and picking up the tea, careful not to slosh it as I trudged down the hallway to my parents’ room.
The old door squeaked a little when I pushed it open, and I gave my mom a weak smile. She was in bed—where she was more often than not, since quitting cancer treatment—and watchingHappy Dayson the small television sitting on top of her dresser. Dad was famously anti-TV, but when Mom started chemotherapy, and had plenty of days where she couldn’t leave bed, he cracked pretty easily.
“Baby boy, what are you doing hanging around the house on a Tuesday morning?” She shuffled in the bed to sit upright and patted the blanket. Kicking off my boots, I set the tea down on the bedside table and crawled in next to her.
“Wasn’t feeling great when I woke up,” I admitted, leaning back on the pillows and half-watching the show.
“I know it feels like she’ll be gone forever, but she won’t be, honey.” Mom took my hand in hers. So much softer, without hours spent in the garden or saddle, and everything about her seemed tired. Her movements slow and wary, like a chameleon unsure of the next branch.
“Yeah, she’ll be back in the spring. And I’m going to go visit her as often as I can. I mean…not much different than driving five hours to a rodeo for the weekend.”
“You two are lucky to have each other.” Her fingers cinched around mine. “Reminds me a lot of your dad and me. I decided I was going to marry him when I was twelve years old. When I got my driver’s license, the only signature I’dever practiced was one with Wells as my last name, so I just signed my first name.”
