Keron molded himself after our father. All he ever wanted was to be part of the family business. When we lost our father, my brother knew exactly what his future would be, running the ranch and making him proud.
I had always been restless and needed something to channel the restless energy into. The time I watched my first rodeo, mylife changed because I knew what I wanted, to be a bronco rider. I couldn’t have been more than six but I was sold.
I wanted to compete, and as much as my parents hated it and our mother feared for her son’s life, I had to follow my own path. Prior to marrying my mother, our father had been a bull rider. He understood my need to chase that thrill, however his career ended by choice. He chose the woman he fell in love with. They supported me and I loved them for giving me the space to be myself.
It was all I ever wanted, so to have that taken from me, I was lost. Being here made me feel a little less lost.
“I don’t know if I should be happy or concerned, little brother.” I grinned and leaned over my legs, dropping my elbows onto my thighs, brushing a hand over my head.
“Maybe a little of both.”
Keron laughed. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Where you at?”
“Miller’s Pointe.”
“How long you been there?”
“Couple days.”
“How long you staying?”
“Don’t know, that’s part of why I’m calling.”
“Ah shit, what’s wrong?” I smirked.
“Nothing really wrong but I’ve been thinking about a lot of shit lately.”
“Like?”
“Like what the hell I’m doing.”
“You’re running, Ro, and that’s okay. You’re allowed time to figure out what you need. The ranch is going to be here no matter how much time you take to work through things.”
“That’s not my life, Keron.”
“It doesn’t have to be. I’m just saying it’s here.”
I jerked a hand down my face. “You know how Pops used to always say shit about how if you can see your future with a woman you’ll know she’s the one?”
“Ah, fuck. You done landed somewhere and fell in love?” His voice was laced with amusement and I laughed hard, because nah, this wasn’t that, but I was also aware that it could be.
“Nah, I’m not in love but over the past six months, I’ve been thinking about a lot of shit and that’s damn sure been part of it. I know I loved Karah, because it hurt like fuck when she walked away, but I’m also glad she did. It would have been a lot more complicated if I’d married her.”
“Yeah, it could have been, but I’m not really understanding where you’re going with this.”
I smirked. “Shit, neither am I. I’m just thinking about things I guess.”
“Well, whoever she is, she has you on my line. So she gets my vote.” I laughed.
“That easy?”
“Prety much. I get home isn’t home for you anymore but I can’t see it any other way. I want you here. Shit, I fucking miss you a lot, little bro, but I get it. Whatever you decide and whatever you need I’m okay with, you just can’t disappear on me. It’s just us, we’re all we got.”
I sighed. “Yeah I know.”
