“Thank you for coming.”
“Thank River.”
He only smirks. “I heard you landed yourself the rodeo doctor. Good for you, man.”
“Thanks.”
We stay there silent for a while, staring out across the land my family purchased when they were just twenty years old. Two people young and in love. My mom wanted horses and chickens, and my dad gave that to her.
“She’s good for you. I can tell.”
My gaze shifts to a man I would call a distant friend. Like many of us from around here, we all grew up together. Austin is Tate’s age, but I recall him being around in his teenage years.
My eyes drift down to his hand hanging between us while his elbow posts on the fence. His gold wedding band glints in the sunshine. Something like envy settles in my chest, knowing he found the woman of his dreams.
“She is,” I mumble. “Best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Then here’s my advice for you.” I turn to face him now. “Listen to her. She got you here despite how you feel about Tate. Don’t let your unresolved shit with him ruin it.”
“Trying not to.” My swallow is forced, attempting to come up with something more to say. There’s nothing. Not a single thought that won’t have me vomiting all the emotions flowing through me at the moment. “I’m going to get going.”
“Good seeing you. Let’s grab a beer next weekend after you wipe the floor again.”
“Deal.”
We clap hands before I take off tramping through the field that holds my family’s legacy.
Something like guilt settles in my gut for leaving Tate to handle this all on his own. He’d begged me to help for years, but my answer was always a no. I was so determined not to let him run or ruin my life any more than he always had.
Slipping into the truck, I unlock my phone.
River: Everything okay?
River: Do you need my surgical skills?
River: Please say yes.
I can only chuckle. I’ve come to learn no one loves cows the way my woman does. She doesn’t know it yet, but tomorrow we’re going to pick up fifteen new ones. A cattle rancher a few counties over is selling his land, and that was the last of the stock he had to get rid of.
Me: No surgery needed, but we can play doctor when I get home.
Her response is immediate, as if she’d been waiting for my reply.
River: Get home safe cowboy.
Staring at her messages, my pulse bounds. Her words from earlier replaying in my mind.I think I’ll stay here for a while. I hope she does. Hell, I don’t want her to ever leave.
Searching my contacts, I find Tate.
Me: Checked on the cow. She’ll be fine. Left Austin with some more antibiotics. If there’s any trouble, I’ll come back out and check on her.
It’s a few moments before the three little dots dance across the bottom of the screen, disappearing, reappearing, and then disappearing again just before my phone rings. The background picture I have for Tate’s contact fills the screen. It’s been so long since he called me that I forgot about it.
He’d been a teenager then, Tate’s arm looped around my neck while I held up our trophy for the team roping competition we’d won at Boulder Ranch that weekend. It wasn’t anything we practiced doing other than for work on the family farm, but somehow, we pulled out a win.
“Hello?”
The line is silent, but I can hear Tate breathing on the other end. “Thank you, Grayson.”
