Page 155
Jack Weston. Brother. Son. Cowboy. Forever in our hearts.
Every time I see the epitaph, a fresh wave of grief nearly takes me under. That gravestone a reminder I’ve outlived him by almost twenty years. I should start putting the rest of my time to good use.
“Hey, Jack.” After removing my hat to rest it next to my knee, I set the whiskey bottle and Glencairn glasses I carry on top of the headstone.
“Wanted you to see what we’ve been working on.” I pour us each a glass, leave Jack’s and pick up mine. “It’s Mom and Dad’s. The barrels from the year they were killed.” I exhale. “Fuck. I’m glad you weren’t around for that.”
I hold up my glass to the dying sunlight, watching as sunbeams dance between the edges of copper and brown. “Still needs a name and a label, but we’re working on that.”
There’s a rustle of wind in the trees, and I look skyward. I chuckle. Jack’s never more than a whisper away.
“Get on with it, that what you’re trying to tell me?” A smile tilts my lips. “Hell, you can probably guess I’m not just here for the whiskey.” I shoot the contents of my glass down, breathe out its burn. “I’m here to tell you I got a girl.”
I can’t help but smile at the memory of telling Delilah I love her. Her lips on mine, that hold tight feeling in my gut I knew would stay with me for the rest of my life.
“I’m gonna marry her. Ask her at least. If she’ll have me—I’ll have to wait and see. But she’s worth it. She’s the one thing in the world that could make me want a forever. After you, after Mom and Dad, that’s saying a lot.”
Jack would say it says everything. He’d ask me what the fuck am I waiting for, tell me to go ask her right now, ring be damned.
“You’d like her. Mom and Dad would too.” I chuckle, thinking about my girl. “She’s gonna keep me on my toes for the rest of my life.”
I run a hand over my mouth, feel the scrape of my whiskers beneath my palm, and exhale my grief. Never gone, but healed these last few months by Delilah. I fell in love with her because she wasn’t afraid to show me her pain, her past.
But she also wasn’t afraid of mine.
“I miss you, Jack. And I’m sorry. I don’t think I ever apologized for leaving you there that day. I hope you can forgive me.” I clear my throat, take a deep breath, looking off into the distance at the wildflower-freckled pasture, doing my best not to cry. “Because I finally fucking think I forgive myself. And damn. It’s good to be home.”
I grab Jack’s glass and take his shot for the both of us. He’d be proud of how damn good it tastes. “I love you, brother. Till tomorrow.”
With that, I settle my hat on my head, grab the whiskey and the glasses, and stand. My eyes snag on the cloud of smoke darkening the sky above the Coop.
I shake my head and chuckle before glancing back down at Jack. “Okay. I get the point.”
* * *
“I don’t fucking believe it.” Ezra stands, jaw dropped, when he sees Delilah and me walking hand in hand across the bonfire-lit field. “You came.”
“I came.”
“It wasn’t me.” Delilah gives me a teasing look. “He’s here of his own free will.”
Everyone’s here. A Weston-gone-wild spectacle of chaos and clamor. Adirondack chairs circle a bonfire. Whiskey and wine bottles sit on an empty barrel rolled out from the Coop. Music plays from River’s speaker.
“Uncle Cole!” Evangeline squeals and flies toward me. I catch her up, toss her on my shoulders. She kicks her bare feet like she’s trying to spur a bull. “Yay, yay, yay!”
“How about one more yay for good measure?” Wells gives me a grin. “Good to see you.”
“Let’s not make it a big deal,” I grumble.
“We’re here for marshmallows.” Delilah tickles Evvie’s toes.
I set Evvie down, watching as she grips Delilah’s hand and leads her toward the fire, where the rest of my family and a bag of marshmallows await. Before I can follow, my arm’s snagged by River.
“Cole. We got a situation with the run.”
“It can wait.” I shift my gaze from his tense face to Delilah’s. Bright, beautiful, lit up by firelight. “Whatever it is, we won’t solve it now.”
River nods and crosses his tattooed arms over his chest, an unspoken understanding passing between us.
