“Okay.” Austin stood up and kissed Clay over Bea’s head, not hiding it, but it was so quickly done, Clay responded in kind, smiling when Austin smiled at him. “We’ll wait on the steps for you, after I braid Bea’s hair.”
“Sounds good.”
Not waiting, Clay hustled down to Maddy’s office, and breathless, handed over the forms to her and passed along Austin’s message about the receipt. Then, almost running, he made it to the main lodge to find Austin and Bea sitting in the shade of the top step.
Bea’s hair was done in a thick braid down her back, and she was saying something to Austin, laughing. When she saw Clay, she ran up to him and grabbed his hand.
“Dad said that you’re kissing friends now,” she said, tugging on his hand to get him up the steps as fast as possible. “I saw you kissing each other before. It was gross.”
“It can be gross, sometimes,” said Clay, wrinkling his nose as though overcome at the grossness of it all. “But I like kissing your dad, in spite of that.”
He smiled at Austin to get him to join in the fun of it, the easy way Bea seemed to have accepted that he and her dad were now dating. Austin seemed as relaxed as Clay had ever seen him, those shoulders finally coming down to a more normal position, and the smile Austin gave him in return was warm and slow and not the least bit hesitant.
“Let’s go to lunch,” said Austin, and together they all mounted the steps and went inside.
Sitting between the two of them, Bea chattered away to anyone who would listen the whole time they were eating, and after they bussed their trays, Clay had to dash up to the barn, there to clean out box stalls and haul horse shit, and to find Leland to ask him for the evening off.
“Do you mind, boss?” asked Clay, peeling the hay from his shirt front.
“No, I don’t mind,” said Leland. “Always say you should take time off when you need it. Where you headed?”
“We’re going to find a view so Austin can paint.” Clay ducked his head, searching for more hay stuck to his person. “I was figuring to drive us out to the ridge. Then after, the three of us are getting kraut burgers in Chugwater.”
“Taking Bea?” asked Leland. He reached up to the hooks where he kept the keys. “Might be too much for Ladybelle. Take the F150, as it’s a little rugged up there and you wouldn’t want to get stuck with her in your keeping.”
“Thanks, Dad,” said Clay, joking.
“Welcome, son,” said Leland, joining in.
The rest of Clay’s afternoon lagged despite him being right where he wanted to be, in the barn, working with horses, helping Brody get a group of guests ready for a little trail ride before the rains came, led by the ever-stoic Quint. But finally, finally, he could set his tools and responsibilities aside to go to his room for a quick shower, a fresh t-shirt, tight but not too tight, and to run a cloth over his boots. He dabbed on some cologne, a dragged a comb through his hair, and he was almost dizzy as he walked down the stairs, feeling that this was going to be a very special night.
While it wasn’t their first date, not really, it was the first one where Austin had full custody of Bea, the first one where Clay knew his own heart had been handed over, the first one with the three of them. He might not be ready to be a single dad, but he sure was ready to be there when Austin needed him.
The two of them were waiting for him on the path beneath the trees, hand in hand, expectant, smiling when they saw him. Austin had a sage green t-shirt on that Clay had never seen him wear before. It set his eyes to a deeper green, his hair to burnished copper. Over his shoulder was looped a black canvas bag that no doubt held his paint things.
As for Bea, from somewhere she’d gotten a tie-dyed t-shirt and her hair was in two braids over her shoulders. Both of them wore their straw hats, and Clay’s heart leaped, seeing them like this, and he closed his eyes for a minute, so he could remember them this way forever.
“You okay?” asked Austin.
“Just taking pictures with my head,” said Clay just before kissing Austin right in front of Bea.
“Gross!” Bea hopped up and down, tugging on Austin’s arm. “We’re supposed to be painting, not kissing. Kissing’s for later. Let’s paint!”
“Okay, okay,” said Clay. He drew Leland’s truck keys out of his pocket and swirled them around and around. “Let’s ride!”
Together they went up the service road to where the truck was parked, and as soon as Clay had opened the driver’s side door, Bea leaped in and sat on the small divider between the seats.
“That’s not a seat for little girls, honeybee,” said Austin. “There’s no seat belt.”
“But I want to ride in the front like I did in the yellow truck.” Bea crossed her arms over her chest, looking like she was trying to imagine she weighed a zillion pounds so they couldn’t move her.
“It should be okay,” said Clay. “We’re just going up to the ridge and maybe down into the valley a little way. Later on the road, sure, she’ll sit in back.”
“You’re spoiling her,” said Austin.
Clay just smiled and got into the driver’s seat, and Austin, shaking his head, got in as well.
“My job is to spoil her, I do believe,” said Clay. Then he added, “On the main roads you get in back with a seatbelt on, okay, Bea?”
