Durban smiles against my lips, and I laugh. If this could be my every Friday night, I’d be a very happy woman.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Durban
Since Iverson and Jamison are still in the hospital waiting for the new arrival to show, I bring Campbell with me to do chores Saturday morning. She’s wearing jeans and boots and a little pink top that makes me want to park this pickup in the nearest opening between the trees.
She hangs back with the horses while I take a round bale out to the cows. By the time I return, she’s picked the fresh eggs, topped off the chicken feed and water, and is in the barn with the kittens. She’s sitting on a square bale of hay, cross-legged, with little kittens crawling all over her and the mama cat sprawled at her side. Even Coal ditched me to hang out with Campbell.
I find an empty five-gallon pail and turn it over. As soon as I take a seat on it, two little kittens make their way to me, little tails straight in the air. I pick one kittenup while the other claws its way up my jeans. Mama Cat sees me and comes sauntering over.
“She likes you,” Campbell says. Her long hair is hanging out the back of the Hawthorne Guest Ranch ball cap she retrieved from her car before we left.
“She knows I feed her.” I rub the cat’s cheeks and she swipes all around my legs. The kittens are sniffing me and I give them pets too.
“She’s a good mama.”
She is, and she’s getting fixed next month so she can be a spoiled barn cat. “I have a soft spot for good mamas.”
Campbell strokes a hand over a blissfully sleeping kitten. Both of our phones vibrate at the same time. I take mine out.
Iverson: It’s a boy. Tavis Hennessy.
A delighted gasp leaves Campbell. “A nephew! That’s going to rock Jamison’s world after bossing two sisters around all her life.”
I chuckle and tuck my phone away. I’m elated for my brother, and I can’t wait until I get to meet the little guy. But right now, I’m more than a little grateful to have a mostly normal morning with Campbell where I don’t feel like we’re sneaking around.
Having dinner with Haven last night was more fun than I thought it’d ever be. Campbell put Haven to work and talked to him like a friend. For a while, I didn’t think he’d leave, and I honestly didn’t mind. We were chatting about the ranch, laughing about some of the wild cowboys we worked with and where they are now. Campbell shared what it was like growing up as a Hawthorne with the whole spread of the ranch as her backyard. Privileged but protected. And we talked aboutwhat it was like to work for her dad. Hard damn work, but the job was stable.
I might not be looking for another relationship, but last night resembled what I wanted from one.
“Iverson’s been looking after rowdy boys for a few decades now.” Mama Cat decided the dog would make a better bed and trotted over to him. “A son won’t faze him after me and Haven.”
“You guys don’t seem rowdy. You seem very, very serious.”
“Not that serious.”
She laughed and one of the kittens jerked awake. “You are definitely the most serious.”
“I wasn’t always.” I like her laugh, but the thought that she thinks I’m the least exciting of the bunch bothers me. I’m fun, dammit.
“Hmm, not so sure about that.” A smile still plays along her lips. “I think you were always the voice of reason. Who’s that character? Jiminy Cricket?”
“He was the conscience.” I’m sounding less like a thrill by the second. At least I can rock her world in bed. A little scrape of longing scratches the back of my throat. Before Natalie, women often moved on because I wasn’t the rough and rowdy cowboy they wanted. That’s why being with Natalie was a reprieve. She sometimes joked about how I should send her cowboy videos instead of dick pics, but she mostly liked that I listened to her.
I listened, but she didn’t often reciprocate. I saw it as a sign that she wasn’t with me just because I could rope a steer. Our worlds didn’t overlap, but she assumed I couldn’t know enough about hers to have an opinion on it, and I didn’t realize that until I’d wasted so much time.
A pit smolders in my gut.
“What are you thinking about?” Campbell’s scratching under the tiny chin of a tortie. “Did I insult you?”
“No.” A foolish feeling slowly sinks in. I’m being sensitive. “I was just thinking that you’re right. I’m usually the one telling everyone what won’t work with their plan or the execution.”
Her pink lips turn down. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Avery was Jiminy Cricket for us. Sometimes, I joke that’s why she moved so far away. She’d had enough of our shit.”
“Would you have come back if you didn’t have to?” I like where I live. Do I want to see more of the world? Maybe. I’ve seen the bad parts and that’s enough for me.
“I missed home. And since Jamison defied Daddy’s rules about dating his employees, he’s lightened up a little. I think he realizes that we can take care of ourselves. I mean, he raised us to.” She sighs. “I just didn’t think I’d be able to do what I want here. Planning my ex’s wedding wasn’t it, and I’m not sure if I can make an entire living doing event planning for rural communities, but I’m going to try.”
