Chapter 14
The alarm on Rusty’s phone beeped, dragging him from sleep. In his dreams, his house had been filled with his sons and their families. His wife of more than fifty years was at his side. There was love and laughter in every room.
He opened his eyes and the dream receded like the tide. His life came into focus. Everyone was gone—everyone but his dear, sweet Lucy. Then, he remembered the storm and the fact that she’d stayed the night in Red Grove.
Rusty was truly alone.
Sitting up in bed, he scrubbed his face with his hands. His knuckles ached, a sure sign that there was a chill in the air. Swinging his feet onto the floor, he stood. His knees popped and pain settled low in his back.
Yesterday, he’d been happy to do all of Lucy’s chores. It had felt like a game. Just like most games, ranching was something meant for the young.
And Rusty was no longer a young man.
He reached his arms overhead, stretching out his back.
Moving slowly, he dressed. Rusty walked down the silent hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen.
He started a pot of coffee, collecting the first drop straight into his cup.
Standing at the sink, he looked outside and took a sip of his brew.
Fat, gray clouds filled the sky. A fine mist hung in the air.
Last night’s storm had been filled with fury. Who knew what kind of damage had been done to the property by the winds and the rain. Clearing debris would be another task added to the long list of things that needed to be done.
But more had happened last night, other than the storm.
Rusty had spent an hour on the video call with his lady friend, Nancy. It was the closest thing he’d had to a date in almost sixty years. He’d been at the kitchen table, and she’d been on the screened-in porch of her condo. What had she called that thing? Oh yeah, a lanai.
He’d had rain and she’d had sun.
They’d gotten off the call when it was time for Nancy to go to Happy Hour at her retirement community.
Before she signed off, she’d said, “I hope we can talk again soon.”
“Is later tonight too soon?”
She’d laughed. “You were always the funny one when we were in high school.”
He hadn’t been joking.
“You should come to Florida sometime,” she’d said.
Ranch life didn’t leave much room for vacations. In fact, Rusty hadn’t left the Five Steers in years. “If I visit you,” he said, “I might not come back at all.”
“That would be perfectly fine with me,” said Nancy. “I’ve got plenty of room.”
This time, her tone was serious.
Rusty never saw himself as the kind of man who could sit on a lanai and go to Happy Hour with friends. He’d always seen his place as being here, at the ranch. But he’d also seen himself handing down the responsibilities to his sons and having his wife with him until the end.
Things hadn’t worked out the way he wanted. Rusty took a sip of coffee and realized that he was ready for a change. For him, someone setting fire to the old barn and trying to kill Lucy was more than enough reason to leave.
He wished that his granddaughter saw it the same way.
Land was only land. Then again, she’d been lost since the day her brother died. Maybe the Five Steers Ranch was the only place she felt safe. Or maybe she found comfort in all the memories. Or maybe it didn’t matter why. But it was time for them to both move on.
He took the last swallow of his coffee and set the cup in the sink.
There were chores and they weren’t going to do themselves.
Picking up the truck keys from a dish on the counter, Rusty pulled a jacket off a peg.
As he walked down the hallway, he slipped his arms into the coat.
He opened the front door and stepped into the damp morning.
The truck was parked at the side of the house.
He opened the door and hoisted himself into the cab.
Using the key, he started the ignition. The engine rumbled to life, and he pulled onto a dirt track that led to the upper pasture.
The road was lined by trees on both sides.
In the distance, mountains were just black smudges against the dark clouds.
There was a rugged kind of beauty he would miss if he went to Florida.
As the truck climbed a hill, Rusty wondered if he’d really be able to leave the Five Steers Ranch.
Just like Lucy, his bones were made up of this land.
He crested the rise. On the downward slope, a large pine tree was in the middle of the road.
He took his foot off the accelerator and dropped it to the brake.
The truck didn’t stop.
He pressed his foot harder, pushing the pedal all the way to the floorboard. Gravity pulled the truck down the hill. The speedometer climbed. Twenty miles per hour. Thirty. Thirty-five. Forty miles per hour.
He slammed his foot onto the brake again. And again. The truck didn’t slow. Rusty jerked the wheel hard to the left. At least he wouldn’t hit the tree head-on.
The road, muddy from last night’s rain, spun the truck like a child’s top.
He had no way to control the vehicle. The back end cut through the sapling on one side of the road and pushed the nose down the embankment.
Tree branches slapped at the windshield.
A large boulder jutted out of the ground.
It was his last chance to stop the truck before it crashed into the ravine at the bottom of the hill.
Rusty held on to the steering wheel with all his strength.
A pain shot up his left arm. His heart pounded against his chest. His pulse thrummed in his ears and his stomach roiled.
Sweat dripped into Rusty’s eyes. The truck smashed into the rock.
His forehead hit the dashboard and a pain exploded in his chest. Something hot and wet snaked down his cheek.
He touched his face. His fingers came away covered in blood.
Pain from his arm shot up his neck and jaw.
And then, his vision started to close in from all sides.
The last thing Rusty remembered was a pinprick of light. Then, everything turned to black.
Before Lucy opened her eyes, she remembered everything from the previous night.
The date. The storm. The sex. Weak light leaked in between the curtain panels.
It turned the room hazy. Aiden lay beside her.
The blankets were only pulled up to his waist, and one of his long legs was thrown over the covers.
It gave her the perfect view of his toned pecs, his tight abs, and the muscles in his leg.
She studied him and understood the irony. They’d had sex in the dark. She knew how he felt and touched and tasted. But she didn’t know how he looked.
He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes fluttered open. He turned to where she lay on the pillow next to him. “Morning,” he said with a dimple-filled smile.
She couldn’t help it. Lucy smiled as well. “Good morning.”
Rolling to his side, he tucked his arm under his head. “What are we going to do today?” he asked.
We. Lucy wanted to see Aiden again. Truly, she did.
But she wasn’t ready to go from always being alone to being part of a couple.
“I need to get back to the ranch,” she said, sitting up.
“There are chores. All the cattle needed to be brought down from the upper pasture.” She had no idea how they’d fared during last night’s storm.
Grandpa Rusty would already be awake and trying to take care of everything on his own.
“My grandfather will be wondering where I am.”
“Yeah, of course.” It was impossible to miss the disappointment in his tone.
“At least let me make you some breakfast,” he said, rising from the bed.
He was clad only in a pair of boxer shorts.
The muscles in his back were well defined.
A line of red scratches rose up on his shoulder blade.
Funny, she didn’t remember raking her nails across his skin.
“I have eggs and sausage. Bagels. I can make you a sandwich.”
The temptation to stay was like the pull of a magnet. But really… “I can’t. I have to get back home.” She threw the blankets back and stood. Clothes were strewn across the floor. Her shirt was tangled in the straps of her bra. She continued, “I’ll take a rain check on breakfast, though.”
“No pun intended,” said Aiden.
A storm joke. She liked it. “No pun intended.”
“I’ll give you a minute to get ready,” he said.
Lucy picked up her shirt. The silk was wrinkled. One of the buttons hung by its thread. What would her grandmother think to have her favorite shirt look like a dust cloth?
Well, maybe it wasn’t that bad. But she should have been more careful with something that didn’t belong to her.
Lucy stripped out of Aiden’s shirt and redressed in her bra and top.
She went to the living room. Aiden stood in the adjacent kitchen, measuring coffee grounds into a filter.
Her jeans were on the floor, and she stepped into those as well.
Her phone was on the end table. She hit the home button.
It was 5:52 a.m.
Grandpa Rusty was definitely working already. If she hurried, she could get back to the ranch and have breakfast ready and waiting for when he got home. She tucked her phone into her back pocket. Her shoes were by the door. She stepped into them. “I’m heading out,” she yelled toward the kitchen.
“Hold up one second,” said Aiden.
He came out of the kitchen a moment later, holding a stainless steel cup with a lid. “I made you coffee. It’s not from freshly ground beans,” he said. “But it’ll wake you up on the way home.”
She took the offered cup. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll get this back to you.”
“That’s all part of my master plan,” he said, smiling wider.
She laughed. It was time for her to go. But what now? Did she kiss him? Give him a hug? Just leave? “Well, thanks for everything.”
“I hope we can get together soon,” he said, reaching for the door handle.
She held up the coffee cup. “I will get this back to you.”
He placed his lips on the side of her head. “Soon,” he whispered into her hair.