“I don’t think I’m going to stop worrying about this until it’s over.”
“Well, that sucks,” I say, completely honestly. “You need to live your life, and you have a hell of a lot more to do in the next couple of months than I do.”
“I know, I know,” he grumbles and rubs a hand downhis face. “It’s just so dumb.” That sounded almost like a whine, but Cam doesn’t ever whine, so I let it pass.
“It’s not dumb to want to feel your best when you’re dealing with something so awful, Cam. You’re doing your best here, and I’m going along to make sure you have a good time and to like... protect you.”
I wasn’t really planning on saying that, and now that I have I can’t meet his gaze.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever said they wanted to protect me,” he says quietly.
“Well, I do,” I mumble, still looking down. “You deserve it, and your mom knows we’ve been friends for a long time. She’s going to understand when we break up but keep being friends.”
“Yeah, she might.”
“Shewill,” I correct him, and I’m going to make sure I don’t break that promise.
The smellof Nebraska greets me as soon as I step off the airplane, and as soon as I see my greeting party I’m running down the stairs and to the two big SUVs waiting by the hangar.
“Uncle AJ!” My five nieces and nephews are all jumping, shouting, and smiling like maniacs. I freaking love it.
I drop to my knees in front of them and get hit from all sides.
Damn, I love these kiddos. They’re for sure the bestthings my sisters have ever done, and I tell them that every chance I get since that always pisses them off.
Being an annoying younger brother is one of my callings in life, and it’s a true pleasure when I can get both Julie and Sandy together to becomesuperannoying.
Their husbands get quick hugs from me, Dad a longer one, and I save the best for last and sweep Mom off her feet so she can wrap her arms around me.
“Missed you,” she murmurs in my ear.
“Me too, Momma.” I kiss her cheek noisily, then put her down and look over at Julie and her husband Logan. “What’s for dinner?”
“Your favorite, of course,” Julie says with a roll of her eyes. “Mom demanded it.”
“Of course she did. I’m her favorite.” Julie has been in charge of food at the ranch ever since she was fourteen and declared herself the chef of the Quick household. Since then she’s opened a restaurant, and her husband manages it beside her, but Mom is still the one who calls the shots.
“Shut up,” Julie and Sandy shout at the same time, and I have to smile at their outrage.
“Make me,” I taunt them. They look up at me, since they’re as short as Mom, and when I smirk at them I can see they’re about to jump me, so I run away just fast enough that they can’t catch me.
I love making them forget they’re grown women, it really is a passion of mine.
I spendthe first two weeks at home almost completely disconnected from the outside world.
Cam really came through for me and I don’t have a single thing to do except enjoy some time with my family.
Since Julie and Logan live at the ranch, in the house they built just a couple of years ago, I get to hang out with them every day too. That is, when Dad gives me some time to breathe, since he always puts me to work, and the winter in Nebraska means there’s double the shit to get through to make sure every animal under our care is taken care of.
I enjoy every single second.
Dad has always made sure that Quick Cattle is a successful business. As far as I know the really tough times were when he first bought it before he even met Mom, but he’s always said he’s not the type to retire and forget about it, so it’s no wonder he’s sixty-five and working harder than anyone on the property.
He built this land into what it is with his own two hands, so when I offered to set him up with a cushy life after I got my first big contract, he not-so-politely declined but told me that if I wanted to invest in the ranch then it was definitely something we could discuss.
I just gave him some money and told him to do whatever he wanted with it.
He’s mostly done some upgrades, bought more heads, hired more ranch hands, and grown the business. All I have to do is show up once a year for about a month and be his lackey and we’re square.
