Little shit.
I kiss his chest while rubbing his belly. Warwick follows suit. I'm tempted to stroke Colt while sucking on his nipples, but now is not the time.
All of the conversations can wait because this fragile thing between us must be protected at all costs.
Within moments, Colt is drifting off, his arms still firmly clamped around our backs. We don’t rise for several more hours.
* * *
“Canwe go downstairs and watch some TV?” Colt asks, stretching and yawning at the same time.
“Don’t you need more sleep?” I ask, both Wick and I catching his case of the yawns.
He shakes his head. “I'm tiredandrestless. I need something mindless.”
Wick and I get up with him and try not to hover too much as we walk with him down the stairs. We settle into place and set up Colt’s favorite season ofFriends.
Just as I'm pulling out the ingredients for a simple spaghetti dinner, Trip opens the barn door, knocking as he enters.
“Hey, just seeing if now is a good time to stop by.”
I gesture him in and point at the pasta.
“Yeah, that sounds great. I haven't had spaghetti in a while. Mind if I invite Sam over?”
Colt yells over from the couch. “They're treating me like an invalid. I've already taken a nap, and I feel a million times better. So yes, please have Sam join us.”
Trip takes off his hat, crushing it in his hands. He walks over to the living area and sits in an overstuffed chair across from Colt, who pauses the show.
“I don't want to interrupt yourFriendsbinge, but you all have to know that you saved a few lives today.”
Everyone sort of shuffles around, not really looking Trip in the eye.
He continues, “Charlie and his crew are staying in the main house with us for a few days, and he wanted me to relay to you how much he appreciated the Rebel Sky crew rushing to the scene. The county fire rescue doesn’t officially service our lands out here, and Jason and Justin were the only ones on-call with our volunteer department. It could have been so much worse,” he says, repeating our sentiment from earlier. “But all of the animals and humans are safe.”
All of us sort of shake our heads and gesture away the compliment. “It was nothing, boss,” Wick says.
“No, it wasn't nothing. We’re dealing with the drought like everyone else and haven’t ever come close to something like that. I chatted with Charlie, and he wants to talk about what we've done here. I know the cattle shuffle I instituted helped, but damn, Joaquin, there are so many things you've done around here to make this place drought tolerant.”
I shake my head. “Most of that was Colt, Abel, and Wick working together.” I grab more packets of pasta and jars of sauce from the cabinets. “Trip, invite Wills and his crew over. There’s plenty.”
He gives me a thumbs up and sends out a quick text.
Wick nods. “Good call. They could probably use a distraction tonight. And Trip, honestly, Colt’s been the idea guy, and Joaquin was the one who made sure everything got implemented.”
Looking up from his phone, Trip shakes his head. “Good teamwork is what it is. Sounds like all of you worked really hard together. And…maybe I'm not supposed to say this because I now own everything, but owning everything is terrifying.”
I look at my boss and realize once more how young he really is and how much responsibility he's taken on.
He continues, “And that I can just rely on all of you to bring your A-game is…I can't put it into words. But I appreciate it more than you could possibly know. Charlie didn't do anything wrong, and that fire was probably just a bad situation waiting to happen. But seeing y’all out there making sure the dry leaves are out of the gutters and working out an irrigation plan…makes me proud of the work we’re doing here.”
Trip clears his throat and looks away, quickly wiping at his eyes.
Warwick stands and pulls Trip into a big hug. “I’ve seen you grow from a young boy to a man who’s working hard stay on top of everything. You’re doing a great job, and this is still an amazing place to work. I mean, I miss your dad, and I damn sure miss your mom, but you've been running this place for a while. If everything works and is as safe as it should be, well, in the end, that's all on you.”
Just as we’re about to get truly maudlin, Abel opens the barn door. “What the hell, guys? I step away for two minutes, and you nearly burn down someone’s ranch?”
Sam follows behind him with a big bowl of salad. “You know these guys. All of ‘em are troublemakers.”
