Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
He did so without any further pestering, and so in appreciation of that, when we got to the Red, instead of making him take the time to drive me up the long road to the house, where my truck and trailer were parked, I told him I’d unload Juju and ride there. That way he had one stop, at the stables, so the guys could unload their horses.
“Thanks, Glenn,” he said sincerely, giving me a wide smile. “It’s my first baby, you know, so all I’m wanting is to stay home with her and my wife.”
I nodded, and as I led my girl out of the trailer, before I could saddle up, Everett took hold of my shoulder.
“Ev?”
He took a breath. “I just want you to know that Mac is a real good man, and I ain’t never seen him chase no tail.”
I had no idea what I was supposed to say to that. “Okay.”
“You and him.” He stopped and thought a second. “I can see that.”
He could?
“You can?”
“I reckon so. He’s scary and mean, and you’re gentle and kind and soft-spoken like Stef. Y’all will balance each other out real nice.”
He thought I was gentle? Soft-spoken? What the hell?
“Everett, when have you ever known me to be kind?”
His scowl was funny. “You take care of all them orphans who work for you up there at the Bronc, and I watched you carry Bella three miles through the brush when she got out that time and tangled with them coyotes. You ain’t never got no hurtful word for no one but members of your family.”
I smiled at him, overwhelmed by how he saw me and how maybe I should start seeing myself. Perhaps I was more of a nurturer than I realized. There could be more of my mother in me than I gave myself credit for.
“And everyone knows the only people you complain on is your own.”
That was true. “Yeah.”
“So if you end up on the ranch, living in Mac’s sweet little house down by the creek, that’d be just fine,” Everett finished, offering me his hand.
Amazing how people could surprise you.
It was almost four when Juju and I came cantering up the drive. She was happy to be out of the trailer, and I was just happy, period. The stitches in my side hurt a bit, a twinge now and then, but when Mac had checked it, there was no redness or any signs of infection. Rand had done a really good job, and the hug I gave him when I left, which startled the hell out of him, was my thank-you.
“Don’t”—he’d coughed—“stay away so long, all right? I’d like to see you some.”
“Yessir,” I teased, and he did a really odd thing and put his hand on my cheek and studied my face. “Rand?”
“Just…come around.”
I heard him that time because I’d believed Mac the night before when he told me how things really were. People actually wanted me around, so maybe I could quit being a prick and thinking everyone was only saying what they were saying because they thought they had to, or because they felt sorry for me. My father didn’t give a good goddamn about me, but that was not a surprise. To have the others care was more than I would have ever imagined possible.
So as I came up on the main house, where Rand and Stef lived, I was in a really good mood but not so blinded with happiness so as not to find odd the two unfamiliar cars parked in front.
Most parked cars would be down by the stables, or down at the front office, or even farther out by Mac’s place if someone came to call on him, and none of that would’ve given me pause. But here in front of the big house, where no random visitors ever came, and you had to specifically take the turn at the fork to get to, where I’d only ever expect Stef’s car or Rand’s truck, well, cars parked here would mean someone there to specifically see one of them, and while it was possible—Stef did have friends in town—it wasn’t likely. In fact, when Rand was on a drive, Stef usually took the opportunity to get off the ranch and visit Charlotte or other friends scattered across the country.
As I ran through different scenarios in my head, I realized he could be having company, that maybe someone had driven in from the airport in Lubbock to visit him. But the cars weren’t rentals, and neither vehicle belonged to Rand’s mother, May, because I knew her scary pink Jeep Wrangler on sight.
I was probably overthinking it. Stef certainly must know all kinds of people I didn’t have any clue about. But then I saw Bella pacing on the porch, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. What was the dog doing outside?