Chapter 2
Henry Sutter
Henry kicked off his boots at his mom's back door. His feet hurt and so did his back. It had been a long, busy week, and he was at the end of a long day. He could just crush some food right then.
"Oh, my gosh, Mom. It smells so good. What are you even cooking?
It smells like Thanksgiving in here." Henry spoke as he went to take the cover off of one of the dishes that was on the counter.
Jen Sutter, his own beloved mother, reached out and smacked the back of his hand with a quick, snapping motion that caused him to furrow his eyebrows and stare at her with an injured expression.
She made a face back at him. "I'll have plenty left over, don't worry, but you can't get into it yet. They'll be here any minute, and I have it looking pretty."
"Who's it for?" he asked.
"Those women," she said, looking at her son like he should know exactly who she was talking about.
Henry shrugged and shook his head at her. "I think I remember Dad saying you had the apartment booked this weekend."
"Yeah, that's the ones, and they added the family package onto the deal, so I have to cook all weekend.
I might've bit off more than I can chew," she said, stirring a pot nervously.
"I think I need to change the package. I have to cook for the next three days straight.
This is meal one of six. Plus, there are two light lunches in there.
Eight meals, Henry. Plus showing them around. What have I done to myself?"
"Why'd you do that? They have a kitchen in the apartment."
"Well, I know that. And that's what most people do, but these girls bought the family plan on top of the rancher for the weekend package. I offered it because… well, because honestly, I priced it so high that I thought if somebody actually buys this, then I'll make six meals standing on my head."
"Six meals and two lunches."
"Yes."
"The family plan? So, the idea is that this is what you make for the family every day?" Henry asked, looking around the kitchen.
Jen made a curious face and leaned in Henry's direction, taking a big sniff through her nose. "Oh, my goodness, baby, I was wondering what that smell was. You smell so bad."
He let out a little laugh. "I know. I've been up since four in the morning, and I helped Mitchell deliver two calves. Then I helped Dad with those new troughs all day."
"I know. Thank you. I had to get Josh to help me out with getting some things ready for tomorrow."
"Dad already pulled him off of that. Those mamas and babies needed bedding, and he's got Josh doing that now. And speaking of Josh, I have to stay here until someone's available to take me home. Josh has my truck. He and Mitchell are bringing it back to me in the morning."
"Why are they using your truck?"
"He's going to mend the fence on the corner of pasture four, and he'd have to make two trips of lumber in his truck, so he's using mine. He and Mitchell are going to Butte in the morning, anyway, so I told him to just drop it at my house then."
"We'll get you home, but you could just spend the night. I'm going to need Josh's help tomorrow with these guests."
"He knows that. He said you didn't need him till eleven."
"Will he be back by then?" she asked.
"Yeah, he said he and his dad are coming by early.
" He breathed a tired sigh. "I would spend the night, but I need to go check on my place.
I want to. I've got that table going. Plus, I want to take the day off tomorrow.
If I wake up here, I'm going to want to check on Candice and those new calves, and I'll be here for two hours and not take a day off. "
"I understand," she said, nodding and wiping her hands on her apron. "Dad said your table was coming along."
"It is. And I like doing it. I'm not a carpenter or anything, but I like those new tools."
She came to stand closer to him and pulled back, making a look of regret. "I'm glad we're catching up and everything, but can you please go take a shower?"
"Yes, I'm going," Henry answered as she was still getting the question out.
He reached out and took one of the chocolate chip cookies that was on a plate on the bar. The plate was so full of them that no one would ever notice it was missing. But his mother still gave him a playful look of warning.
"I didn't touch anything but the one I took," he said, defending himself.
She smiled. "I'll make you a whole plate of food after I feed these women," she promised.
"Who are they?"
"They're Judd's friends—the girls who are acting in that movie. They're coming to do research for their characters."
Henry shook his head as he slowly began to retreat to the hall.
"If they're researching, they should probably smell this.
They should build a campfire and eat beans out of a can or whatever those people ate.
Aren't they wagon-train people? Give 'em some beef jerky and a can of corn and call it a night. It's more authentic that way."
But she didn't feel the need to respond. They both knew he was joking, and he just smiled and headed down the hall to take a shower. He would use the downstairs guest bedroom, which had a full bathroom inside. It was Bailey's old room, but she took over Henry's old room when he bought a house.
His parents had adopted a six-year-old girl when he was a freshman in high school.
Bailey had stolen Henry's heart from the moment she came home.
She was a junior in high school now, and she went to school in Butte since it was the closest larger city to the ranch.
Henry had bought a home in Butte a couple of years ago, and now that his sister had a license and a car, she was over to his house all the time, even when he wasn't at home.
Missoula was a larger city than Butte and had more to offer, but Butte was only a half-hour from the ranch, and Missoula was twice that far.
Most of the time, he didn’t mind that he had to drive a half-hour to and from the ranch. It was inconvenient tonight because his dad would have to take him home after a long day.
Henry considered everything while he was in the shower, and he decided to stay the night at the ranch. He would still take the day off tomorrow, but he would just sleep there tonight and save his father the trip.
Henry was accustomed to long days on the ranch working with animals.
He knew how to take an effective shower, and within minutes, he had lathered and rinsed and repeated.
Henry was now fresh as a daisy, and he felt so much better.
His jeans and shirt were neatly folded near the bathroom sink, but he knew he couldn't put them back on with how clean he felt at the moment.
He figured those women weren't there yet, so he had no second thoughts about making his way through his mom's house with very little covering.
Henry towel-dried his hair and ran his fingers through it, pushing it away from his face.
He wrapped the towel around his waist and headed out of the bathroom in search of some clean clothes.
He glanced both ways in the hallway, and when he saw that no one was there, he went quietly and quickly to the staircase, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached the second floor.
He had passed an opening that led to the main living area, and sure enough, he could hear women's voices from a distance.
He figured the guests had arrived. No one could see him from where he was, so he kept moving.
He found the upstairs hallway and walked toward the spare bedroom where some of his old clothes were stored. He was walking quickly, but he stopped when one of the doors opened just as he passed in front of it.
There was a woman on the other side of that door, and he watched in amazement as she noticed him and then reacted.
She was smiling when she first opened the door, but that only lasted a split-second.
Her smile faded, and she looked shocked before her face whipped violently into the edge of the door.
She must've taken a step at the wrong time because her foot got in the way, and made the door bounce back.
She ran straight into the edge of the solid door.
There was a cracking thud and then a moan, and she went limp.
Henry dropped his dirty clothes and grabbed her by the arm, but she put a hand out, straightening, blinking, and touching her forehead with the other hand.
"Oh, whoa, are you okay?" he asked, having seen the whole thing. "Are you all right?" he repeated.
She blinked dazedly. "I hit my head," she said.
He had to stop the laughter from coming out. He was nervous from how hard she had hit it, and it was difficult to contain his reaction to her words. He held it in, though.
"You did hit your head," he said assuredly.
"You hit it hard. Oh goodness. That'll leave a mark.
It is leaving a mark right now." Henry could already see a vertical line forming on the front of her forehead where the corner of the door had smacked her face.
"We might need some ice for that," he continued, staring at it as started to swell.
The young woman touched her forehead, wearing a serious expression.
He could see that her eyes were full of tears, and he wanted to reach out and comfort her. She was sweet and cute, and he hated that she got hurt.
"What are you doing walking around with no clothes on?" she asked in a tone of dismay, as if that were the important thing at a time like this.
"I was just walking by here to get some clothes," he said.
She was turned away from him, leaning in and looking closely at the mirror, inspecting her forehead.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"No, you can't. I was just using the restroom. The lady who owns this house told me to come up here and use this one. I didn't expect to see anyone or to… intrude on your… shirtlessness."