Page 30 of The Scars We Heal

“How are you liking Jake’s guest house?” Juniper asked, holding Whitley so she wouldn’t topple over.

“It’s nice,” I replied, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s a two bedroom cottage, but it’s honestly the perfect size for us. Whit gets her own space and everything. I’ve been working on painting a few different rooms and adding some personal touches, too.”

Both Ellison and Juniper exchanged sly glances, almost like they didn’t think I would notice.

I looked back and forth between them. “What?”

Ellison just laughed. “Oh, nothing. It’s just sweet he’s letting you make the house your own.”

Juniper nodded, adding, “Yeah, you don’t hear very often of landlords letting their tenants change the inside of the house. Especially if he was planning on using it for an Airbnb.”

“Do you think that’s weird?” I wrung my hands together, suddenly very aware of myself. “I guess I didn’t really think much of it when he told me to decorate the house…”

Juniper shook her head, quick to alleviate my concerns. “Don’t overthink it. He wouldn’t let you do it if he didn’t want you to.”

Despite her reassurances, doubt crept in. “If you’re sure.”

Ellison rolled her eyes at my lack of confidence, but there was a smile on her face. “Honestly, I think that man would let you do anything if you asked. He’d probably do anything for you if you wanted him to.”

“What does that⁠—”

The crackle of the loud speaker cut me off. “Folks, we’re moving on to our next event. We’ve got a great lineup of team ropers coming soon.”

Whitley squealed as she pointed toward Reid and Colter when they mounted their horses near the roping boxes at the end of the arena where our seats were.

“Is that Uncle Colt?” All of my thoughts about Jake vanished when I looked at the beaming grin on my daughter’s face. “Do you think he’s going to win today?”

She shook her head. “No.”

The three of us adults burst into laughter, unable to help ourselves.

“No?” Ellison asked. “Why not?”

“Uncle Colt can’t win because he told me…he, uh, he told me his arm hurts too bad from carrying really heavy things like furniture, and his leg hurts because he had to run a lot after horses and cows, and his head hurts, and his butt hurts because he was…he, he, he was sticking stuff up it.” She sucked in a deep breath at the end of her sentence, her mouth wide open as she tilted her head toward the sky and made some kind of breathing noise before breaking into a fit of giggles. “Butt! Butt! Butt!”

Juniper, who had been in the middle of drinking water, almost did a spit take when the words came out of my daughter’s mouth. Wiping her mouth, she swallowed then let out a nervous laugh. “Dang. I didn’t realize Colter had so many ailments.” She looked over at Ellison. “By the sounds of it, you’d think he was the one who’s pregnant. Also, I can’t decide if I want to know what he’s been up to lately.”

“Sometimes he acts like it.” Ellison rolled her eyes. “Also, that butt thing is news to me. Maybe we should have Whitley ask him what kind of things he’s been doing when I’m not around.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “She can give Colter a hard time for me.”

“Don’t encourage that,” I groaned. “She absolutely will, and then that attitude will continue for the next week.”

Juniper and Ellison found it humorous, but until they had kids of their own, they wouldn’t understand what having a four-year-old going on fourteen was like.

“Pay attention, bug. Uncle Colt and Reid are about to rope.” I pointed to the arena where Colter and Reid were backing their horses into the boxes next to the chute.

“This pair of cowboys are five-time NFR qualifiers and your reigning team roping world champions! Let them hear you, folks!” the rodeo announcer called out, prompting Whitley to scream at the top of her lungs while clapping.

Only a few people around gave us weird looks. I offered them apologetic smiles to make up for my daughter’s ear-splitting cheers.

The event moved so fast that if you blinked, you’d miss it. One second, Colter and Reid’s horses were charging out of the boxes, and the next, Colter already had the steer’s horns roped. Their run was over in an instant, and the announcer read off their time of four-point-six seconds.

“That’ll put Colter Carson and Reid Lawson at the top of our leaderboard, proving once again why they are among the best of the best.”

“I guess you were wrong, Whit.” Ellison laughed. “Colter must not have been hurting too bad, because they just won.”

Whitley just giggled, nodding erratically.

The rodeo announcer wrapped up the saddle bronc riding event then called out over the speakers, “Folks, you’re going to want to direct your attention to the east end of the arena as we begin our lineup of tie-down ropers.”