I clench my jaw and nod.“Still remember which pedal makes it go forward.”
“Good,” he snaps.“Then you can follow my lead and try not to break anything else.”
The morning air is heavy already, the kind that sticks to your skin before the sun’s even climbed high.Everyone fans out.Anders helps me hitch the auger to the tractor while Jensen grabs gloves.There’s no glamour in any of it, just diesel, dust, and the sound of metal on metal.
McKenna, halfway across the barnyard, is swearing under his breath as he tries to figure out the shovel-to-wheelbarrow ratio of manure.Jamie’s filming from a safe distance, grin plastered across his face like he’s documenting a wildlife show.
“Content gold,” he says under his breath, snapping a shot of Anders swinging the post driver over his head like Thor.“Teamwork.Community.Redemption arc.”
I glare.“We are being careful about what we post, right?”
He sobers instantly.“Yeah.I’m keeping it tight.Your mom, Olivia, the work.The internet lovesher,though, Nate.The video of Tessa helping Olivia braid her hair.Millions of views.But...."
He looks away, and my chest tightens."What?"I snap.
"I didn't post it, I swear, but there are a few videos of Tessa saving Sloane.Someone put together a video that looks professionally edited.They managed to catch it all.She’s trending with the tagCowgirl Angel.”
My chest tightens.“She’d hate that.”
“Probably,” Jamie says, smirking.“But the fans are eating it up.Makes the team look human again.This is not only good for your image, Cap, but also for the teams.Head office has been in contact, they are thrilled.”
I want to say something about how I am not home for PR, or for anyone else but me.But the words get stuck in my throat.I should set Jamie straight, but I don't.
By noon, every muscle in my body burns in a way I haven’t felt since rookie camp.Eli’s been assigning us tasks like he’s trying to kill me through manual labour.Fence repair.Hauling feed bags and cutting down fallen branches along the fenceline.Anders’s shirtless, covered in sweat, swearing that his “city muscles” aren’t built for this.McKenna looks like he’s aged a decade.Even Jensen, calm, unflappable Jensen, has a streak of dirt across his cheek and the faintest hint of a smile.
It feels good, brutal, but good.
It’s the kind of tired that clears the static in my head.The kind that burns off regret and noise.And somewhere between sweating through my shirt and catching Eli watching me without his usual glare, I realize this is the first time I’ve feltusefulin months.
When Dad drives by in the truck, he doesn’t wave.But he slows down.I see the way his eyes flick over the scene, his son actually working, his team helping.The slightest nod, like he’s filing it away, like maybe I’m not a total disappointment after all.
We work straight through the afternoon, the guys laughing, swearing, helping each other out like they’ve done this forever.
McKenna gets tangled in a coil of barbed wire and yells, “This stuff’s more dangerous than half the defence lines we’ve played!”
Anders chuckles, “That’s because you can actually get your hands on the wire.”
Jensen grins, leaning against the post driver.“You two done flirting, or should we get the fence fixed before winter?”
Even Eli cracks a smile at that.
By the time we finish, the sun’s dipping low, bleeding gold through the trees.Sweat glues my shirt to my back.My hands are raw, my arms jelly, and my soul… lighter.
I lean against the fence, watching the herd shift in the distance, slow and content, tails flicking at flies.And for the first time in a long time, I feel something in me settle.
That’s how it goes for the next three days.
Up before sunrise.Run around the lake, the mist curling off the water like smoke.Then straight to the farm until the light fades.
Eli stops barking orders by day two.Dad starts bringing us sandwiches instead of scowls.Mom insists on dinner with the whole crew each night, her kitchen table overflowing with bodies and noise.
By the third evening, we’re less like a hockey team and more like a family.The fence lines gleam straight and solid.The gates swing true.The feed bins are full.
Jamie keeps posting photos, McKenna getting bucked off a hay bale, Eli and me on horseback, and Kenzie leading Jensen around on a horse.One shot of me holding a calf steady while Eli tags its ear goes viral.Comments flood in:Captain Carson’s comeback.Family, faith, and hard work.
I scroll through them late that night, lying on the dock, phone dim against the stars.Every photo, every video, every smiling face, Tessa’s name in the comment section.Everyone wants to know who she is and if she is ok.
She’s not even here, and somehow, she is all around me.Kenzie said she’d be back soon.That Chase wanted her to rest for a couple of days.That she needs time before she can have visitors.But everyone’s waiting.
