For the first time in years...
I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else.
12
SADIE
The boys were still laughing.
Twenty minutes later.
They were still laughing.
Unfortunately.
Beast had changed shirts.
The manure was gone.
His mood wasn't.
The three ranch hands wisely stayed on the opposite side of the pasture.
Far away from the giant former Ranger.
Self-preservation was finally kicking in.
I was helping Hank carry feed into the barn when I heard a truck.
Not one of ours.
Not Beast's.
Not a delivery truck.
My stomach dropped before I even looked.
Because I already knew.
Gerald.
The dusty pickup rolled into the yard.
My grip tightened on the box in my hands.
Beside me, Dad went completely still.
Neither reaction escaped Beast.
Nothing ever escaped Beast.
He looked from me.
To Dad.
To the truck.
Then toward Gerald.
