“That was totally not my fault,” Lucas says. “You were distracting me and fucking with the radio. Plus it was raining like hell.”
My eyes crinkle when I laugh, and I’m surprised at how easy it is to slip into something close to friendly banter with him. After that night in the barn, I figured we wouldn’t be able to have a civil conversation to save our lives, but it’s just as easy as it always used to be, way back when.
“Sure, blame it on me,” I say with a chuckle. “I swear you just wanted an excuse for a mud bath. Could’ve just taken me to a spa.”
We’d been absolutelyfilthy, coated up to our shoulders in mud and grime as we tried to dig the truck out enough to get some traction. Thank God we’d had cell service, or it would’ve been truly filthy.
“Nah, just wanted a workout after those burgers,” he jokes back. “You think that place is still open?”
“The diner? It was barely standing when we went back then. It’s probably been demolished by now. At least, I hope it has.”
Lucas snorts along with me, easy as it always was. “I’d say we should go check, but our dads were pissed enough about having to dig us out the first time. Probably not a good idea to tempt fate, especially now that Everett would be the only one coming to the rescue.”
The casual reminder that Al isn’t around anymore hits me like a punch to the throat, and my laughter sputters out halfway through. Lucas doesn’t sound upset, just… wistful, maybe? Likehe’s come to terms with the fact that his dad is gone, but still wishes he had more time.
It’s a sobering thought, and we fall back into silence for a bit.
Memory lane doesn’t seem to be done with either of us, though, and we wind up babbling through old stories in between stretches of silence as the drive drags on. We both carefully avoid the topic of our relationship, but that makes me want to talk about it even more. The more we talk, the more I remember howgoodwe were together. He always knew how to make me laugh, and that hasn’t changed at all. We may have been dating, and I may have been in love with him, but first and foremost, we were friends.
It makes me wish, just a little, that I could have that again.
I know it can’t happen, that I could never handle it with how much heartache I still carry, but it’s a nice thought.
Even though the drive definitely isn’t as bad as I expected it to be — in fact, if I’m honest with myself, it’s actually surprisingly enjoyable — I’m still glad when we finally make it to Bozeman. Traffic gets worse the closer we get to the rodeo house, but thankfully, we manage to get into the back lot without incident. Even better, I only cuss out two other drivers.
“Forgot the mouth on you,” Lucas says with a laugh as I park by the spot we’ll meet our client.
Heat rushes through me at his words, even though I know that’s not what he means.
“Sometimes cursing is necessary to make your point,” I say with a roll of my eyes, firmly ignoring the desire to show him whatelsemy mouth can do.
“Pretty sure you made it,” he teases.
I scoff at him and turn the truck off, but don’t argue. I’ll admit that I maybe went a little overboard on the threats I muttered under my breath when that guy cut in front of us, but the windows were up. He didn’t hear any of it.
When I glance out over the crowd of people moving horses and tack around, I catch sight of Jake, already making his way toward us.
“That’s our guy, in the blue boots,” I tell Lucas as I pop the truck door open and shoot Jake an easy wave. “Go introduce yourself, I’ll get Ernie out and hand him off.”
If Lucas is going to stick around, he should get to know our clients. We’ve been working with Jake for years, and he’s a good guy. As long as Lucas doesn’t put his foot in his mouth, it’ll be good for them to get acquainted.
Lucas moves to slide out of the truck, and I pause for a second when I notice how stiff his movements are. Is his leg giving him issues?
I shake the thought off — it’s none of my business, and I’ve taken enough pot shots about his leg that I doubt asking him would do me any good. We’ve gone this long without pissing each other off, no need to push it. Besides, it’s probably just stiffness from sitting in the truck for so long. It can’t be comfortable for someone as tall as him to be cramped like that.
Whatever. I’ve got things to do.
I send him off to meet Jake as I wander around to the trailer. Ernie is as well-adjusted as ever, calm even with all the sound and bustling movement around us. He lets me lead him out of the trailer without issue, nudging his nose against my hip when I turn to close the doors up.
“Spoiled, aren’t you?” I ask with a laugh.
I pull a mint out of my pocket and let him lap it up from my palm anyway.
“Good to see you, Jenny,” Jake says when I walk up and pass him the lead.
“You too.” I smile when he scratches over Ernie’s forelock just the way he likes. “Keep my boy out of trouble, yeah?”
“Always,” Jake promises with a grin. “I’ll see you two tomorrow night, then?”
