Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chesney
The lunch rush at Wildflower Café lasts exactly forty-seven minutes today.
Not that I timed it or anything.
By one-thirty, the café has emptied enough that Truett and I can actually hear ourselves think again.
He picks at the last few fries on his plate while I stare out the window toward Main Street.
Sweet Briar’s annual Fall Jubilee starts tomorrow, and a few groups of people look to be putting finishing touches on a couple of the parade floats near the restaurant.
It’s strange how normal life looks after losing someone.
People laugh, kids ride bikes, Mrs. Greenway waters the flowers outside the bank. The world just…keeps going.
“You’ve seemed happier lately.”
I turn my head at the sound of my brother’s voice. “What?”
“The last month or so,” he says, leaning back in the booth. “I’ve noticed.”
Shrugging, I stir the ice around my Diet Coke before taking a sip. “I don’t know what you mean,” I say obtusely, swallowing down the soda and my grin.
Truett snorts. “Oh, I’m sure you don’t.”
The corner of my mouth twitches. “Maybe things are going well.”
“Looks like it from where I’m sitting.” My brother’s smile is wide and genuine. “You and Jasper seem to have things figured out.”
My eyes lift to his. “We’ve found our flow with the ranch.”
“I’m well aware of that, but I wasn’t talking about business,” he drawls with a smirk.
Heat crawls up my neck, and I glance out the window again.
Truett being Truett, he notices the shift immediately. “Oh.” I can hear the grin around the single word. “What’s with the bashful look all the sudden?”
“I hate you,” I mutter, breathing out a small chuckle.
“No, you don’t,” he counters. My brother lets me squirm for another moment before his smile fades.
“You know…” He rubs the back of his neck.
“I’m tired.” Something in the way he says that makes me pause and look at him, and not just on a surface level.
The exhaustion I’ve noticed for months seems deeper now, like it’s settled into his bones.
“I thought once Dad…” Truett pauses, then clears his throat.
“I thought things would get easier. They haven’t. ”
The confession comes quietly. I wait, giving him the space to continue when he’s ready. Whatever it is, I can visibly see how much it’s weighing on him.
“I spent so long taking care of him.” He looks out the window, but instead of watching the people preparing for tomorrow’s event, his gaze is much more far off.
“Running the ranch, making every decision with him.” Breathing out a small, humorless laugh, he says, “Even when he was sick, I still had somebody to ask.”
My chest tightens.
“I’d call him from the pasture. You know, for shit like, ‘what would you do about this issue?’ or ‘what do you think of this bull?’ ‘Should we sell those calves now or wait?’” Truett smiles thoughtfully, but it fades as quickly as it appeared.
“I always had someone smarter than me. Now, it’s just me.
I thought I knew how to run this place. It’s been my whole life for as long as I can remember.
” My brother shakes his head. “But turns out, I knew how to help Dad run it. No matter what, I knew I could turn to him and he’d have the answer.
It felt less daunting having him at the house.
I feel…” He pauses, searching for the word. “Alone. And in over my head.”
The honesty takes my breath away. It’s so raw and vulnerable.
So candid. Silence settles between us. I don’t know what to say.
Guilt clutches at my insides because I know my brother probably wouldn’t be this exhausted or feel as alone if I’d never run away from this town and my life.
If I had stayed in Sweet Briar and came into the family business like I was meant to.
I can’t take the last almost-twenty years back, but I want to do…
something. I need to do something. And not just help out in the mornings.
Something to really take the weight off his tired shoulders.
Even if I don’t know what that is yet.
The conversation eventually fades. I get the feeling Truett wasn’t so much looking for opinions or advice, but more so needing to get it off his chest. Once Magnolia drops off the check a few minutes later, I pay the bill, and we climb into our separate trucks.
The workday is nowhere near over for either of us, but that’s not what’s on my mind during the drive to Wind River.
The idea came to me at the café. It started small, but with every mile, it grows.
By the time I get to the ranch, it’s all I can think about.
It went from barely a passing thought to all-consuming in the matter of twenty minutes.
I find Jasper in the equipment barn, changing the hydraulic hose on a tractor.
His usual Stetson is replaced with a backward baseball cap, and grease streaks his forearms. He glances up at the sound of my footsteps, a smile spreading when he sees me.
There’s still something surreal about being the reason for that smile.
He stands and wipes his hands on a rag. “Well, this is a nice surprise.”
“I have an idea,” I say, biting back a grin.
His eyebrows lift. “Oh, yeah?” He nods toward the bench in the corner. “Let’s hear it.”
Jasper sits, but I don’t. I’m too restless. I can see the curiosity in his eyes, and it makes me more excited to share this somewhat half-baked idea with him.
“Okay, hear me out,” I start, pacing across the room. “What if we’re thinking too small?”
Studying me for a moment, the corner of his mouth twitches. “I’m listening.”
“I just had lunch with Truett down at the café. He opened up to me about something, which sparked this idea.”
“Well, don’t leave me hanging.” He snorts. “What did he say?”
I run through the whole conversation—Truett missing our dad, how he feels alone and in over his head—and how it hit me that my brother isn’t just grieving.
He’s trying to replace a lifetime of experience overnight.
Jasper listens to all of it, never interrupting, and when I finish, he leans back on the bench.
“I know that feeling,” he says softly.
“I knew you would. That’s exactly why I came straight here.” I start pacing again. “What if… What if neither of you has to keep doing this alone?”
Jasper frowns, confusion wrinkling his forehead. “What do you mean?”
My body is vibrating, and I can’t help but smile.
“I mean…” Pulling out the tiny pad of paper and a pen from my front pocket, I draw two rough boxes.
I label one Wind River and the other Blue Ember, then I draw an arrow connecting them.
Jasper watches me quietly, his eyes bouncing between me and the paper.
Once I’m finished, I look at him and watch as his expression slowly shifts.
I can practically see the lightbulb go off in his mind when it clicks.
Apprehension stares back at me. “You’re serious?”
My grin widens. “I think I am.”
Jasper stands, moving closer to me. He takes the paper from my hand, like he’s making sure he’s seeing and understanding it correctly. “Okay, I like it. Keep talking.”
The words flow out of me easily, the idea sounding better the longer I explain it.
Resources. Equipment. Staff. Buying feed together.
Marketing both ranches under one brand, the way it was originally meant to be.
Being able to offer guests experiences on both properties.
Trail rides that could cross both ranches instead of being limited to one.
I explain how we could share maintenance, breeding programs, and expenses.
I don’t realize how animated I am until I run out of room on the paper. When I finally stop and catch my breath, Jasper’s just staring at me. “What?”
Laughing softly, he says, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this fired up.”
My cheeks heat. “This is always how it was supposed to be. The two families, running everything together, sharing everything together. It’s been right in front of our faces the entire time.
It makes sense, Jasper. The puzzle pieces are falling into place because this was our grandfathers’ plan all along. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“I can’t tell you that, because you’re not wrong.” Jasper steps closer. “It makes so much sense that I’m honestly a little annoyed that I didn’t come up with it first.”
Chuckling, I say, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should.” The barn grows quiet, and neither of us is looking at the poorly drawn blueprint anymore. “You amaze me, Chesney Jennings.”
The words are so soft, I barely hear them. “Why?
Jasper smiles, and I feel it low in my gut. “The way your brain works. You see possibilities where everybody else sees problems.”
Warmth spreads through my chest. My heart is beating so hard, I’m surprised it doesn’t fly through my ribcage. “Careful,” I murmur. “Keep saying things like that…”
“And?” He arches an eyebrow as he hooks a finger through my belt loop.
“I’m going to start believing you.”
A flirty smirk curves his mouth while he tugs me closer with his grip on my jeans. “I hope you do.”
The distance between us vanishes. His forehead brushes mine before his lips have a chance to.
But when they finally do, it’s everything.
Jasper kisses me slowly at first; lips soft and warm, tongue gently stroking mine.
It doesn’t take long for either of us to get lost in the moment.
Sweet and gentle quickly become scorching and hungry.
We shuffle into one of the unused stalls, the kiss never breaking.
It’s a race to see who can get undressed the quickest, a pile of discarded clothes falling to the floor next to our boots.
Jasper’s body is hot against mine. My mouth leaves his, moving to his neck as his head falls back.
I suck and nip and kiss, leaving no area untouched.