Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
The lecture hall was quiet as Beau wrote on the whiteboard.
He set the marker down and turned to face the class.
About forty of the Ranch’s high school students looked back at him from their desks, some attentive, some tired, some pretending not to fidget in their seats.
Beau leaned against the desk at the front of the room.
“Let’s talk about the negative ideas people have about fear. ”
A few students straightened as they listened to his words, possibly sensing his words were important.
“I think society as a whole has fallen into this idea that feeling fear means we’re weak.”
Several students nodded their heads.
“Or that maybe we’ve already failed.”
More students nodded that time.
“Most people think courage means not being afraid,” he continued. “But that’s not true. Courage is doing the hard thing even when you are afraid.”
He turned and wrote a few names on the board.
Hugh Thompson Jr.
Rosa Parks
Desman Doss
Irena Sendler
Harriet Tubman
He stepped to the side so everyone could see the board. “We can recognize these names from history. Each person listed did something brave and changed someone’s life by their bravery, some of these people changed many lives. Do you think they were scared? Of consequences? Of punishment? Of death?”
Heads nodded.
Turning, he wrote a few more names.
Vin Diesel
Patrick Dempsey
Danny Trejo
A few students looked confused. Beau smiled gently.
“Don’t worry. These are celebrities so their actions aren’t as widely taught as the ones we see in our history books, but Vin Diesel saved a family from a burning car, Patrick Dempsey pulled a teenager from an overturned car, and Danny Trejo saved an infant from a similar accident.
Do you think they did it without feeling a tiny bit of fear? ”
Several students shook their heads.
“Me either. I think that while they were probably filled with adrenalin, there had to be a tiny voice warning them of the dangers they were also facing.”
He paused, hoping his words were making their way into each student's heart.
One student raised their hand.
“Yes?”
“Are you scared? When you give your talks?”
Beau laughed. “Every time.”
The student looked surprised. “You seem so… confident.”
“Sharing vulnerable pieces of yourself with strangers is hard. I never know how a room will respond. I never know if something I say might touch someone or if it will fail completely. The uncertainty is terrifying.”
The student nodded.
Beau gestured back toward the names on the board.
“Think about the people we talked about today. Do we remember them because they were scared?” He paused. “Or do we remember them because they acted bravely anyway?”
“The bravery,” a student said quietly.
Beau nodded. “Exactly.” He folded his arms again, his voice steady. “I’ve found that the people who build the best lives aren’t the people who never get scared. They’re the people who decide something else is more important than their fear.”
The bell rang and the room immediately exploded into movement. Chairs scraped, backpacks zipped, and students flooded toward the door.
“Alright, that’s it for today,” Beau said. “Have a good day.”
Within a minute the room had mostly cleared. Except for Derek.
Beau smiled as the Ranch owner walked toward the front of the classroom.
“If I had known you were here, I would have called on you to answer a question.”
Derek laughed. “I enjoy your classes. Hiring you was an excellent choice.”
That time Beau smiled. “I appreciate that, Derek.”
“I’ve heard wonderful things about Palmer. Miss Samantha said she’s branching out and making friends.”
Beau nodded. “Making friends. Accepting praise. Learning about farm animals.”
“Farm animals?”
“Yeah.” Beau chuckled. “She stepped in goose poop yesterday. Compared it to hell.”
Derek laughed loudly. “That tracks.”
“It was a whole ordeal,” Beau said. “There was screaming. A lot of screaming.”
“I would’ve paid money to see that,” Derek answered, still laughing.
Beau slung his bag over his shoulder. “I’m glad you stopped by. I did have a question.”
“Yes?” Derek asked, immediately more serious.
“Well, it’s a legen…dairy request.”
Derek raised his eyebrows.
“Mon-moo-mental even.”
That time Derek pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I really wanted to seize the moo-ment.”
Derek’s face blanched. “I feel like I need to sit down for this.”
Beau nodded, solemnly. “Probably.”
“Okay, lay it on me,” Derek said after he’d sat down on the closest desk.
“There is a blind highland cow who needs a new home. Palmer is rather drawn to her. I think she can relate to her because the cow needs a family—”
“And she did too until she came to Rawhide,” Derek finished.
Beau nodded.
“I’ll reach out to Reese and see how we should go about purchasing.”
“Yeah, don’t have a cow. I already did all that. I have the cashier’s check ready, I just need your permission to board her here until I can make other arrangements. I figured I’d milk your love for Palmer for all it’s worth.”
Derek shook his head. “I’m surrounded by brats.” Grinning, he added, “Gotta go, I have udder things to do.”
Beau spotted Palmer almost immediately when he arrived at the preschool door. She stood near the teacher, bouncing slightly on her toes, Allysa tucked under her arm. The moment she saw Beau, her whole face lit up. Beau didn’t think he’d ever get tired of that.
“Daddy!”
She ran across the classroom and Beau stepped in, right in time to catch her in a hug.
“Hey, pretty baby,” he said fondly.
Palmer squeezed him tight.
“I had a good day!”
“I’m glad,” he said, lifting her easily into his arms. “What did you learn today?”
“We learned about butterflies and then we made paper butterflies,” Palmer said. “And Heather spilled glue everywhere, but it’s okay because accidents happen.”
Her words made his heart soar. “That’s right, baby. Accidents happen.”
“It was very sticky.”
“Did you help her clean up the mess?”
Palmer’s eyes grew comically wide. “No. I just offered emotional support.”
Beau laughed. “That’s fair.”
“I also learned a new cow fact!”
It seemed she learned a new cow fact every hour since they’d visited the petting zoo.
“Oh, wow! A new one! What did you learn this time?”
“That highland cows can live up to twenty years. That’s longer than any other breed of cows!”
“That’s a happy thought, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Beau held her close as they walked down the busy hallway.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, pretty baby?”
“Can we get ice cream today?”
Beau glanced over. “Ice cream?”
She shrugged. “I’ve really been wanting to go to the ice cream bar in the cafe, but I’ve been too scared. I think it’s time for me to be brave about it now.”
He grinned. “I think we can manage that.”
Palmer smiled. “Yay!”
“Yay!” he repeated, delighted that her Little one was coming out to play.
He kissed her forehead before setting her on her feet and taking her hand. “Was Allysa good in class today?”
“Well,” Palmer said, tapping her chin. “She might have said a bad word.”
“Well, that would be very naughty,” Beau said.
“Would you be mad at her?”
“No, pretty baby. She made a mistake and I would have to discipline her, but I wouldn’t be mad.”
“How would you discipline her?” Palmer asked, nervously.
“I think the appropriate punishment for saying ugly words would be to put some soap on her pacifier. When your mouth says dirty words, we have to clean it,” he explained gently.
“Gross,” she shivered. “Then what would happen to Allysa?”
“When her time was up, I’d help her rinse her mouth and give her lots of snuggles and love.”
“And then you would forgive her?”
“Well, Daddy believes forgiveness should be given before a punishment. So while I would have already forgiven her for her naughty behavior, I would follow through with my discipline because she needed it.”
“She needs it?” Palmer asked, her forehead wrinkling like it did when she was thinking hard about something.
“Yes. Maybe she needs it to help her forgive herself or to help erase her guilty feelings, or maybe because she needs to know Daddy will follow through when she needs him too.”
Palmer nodded, taking in his words.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“For what, pretty baby?” he asked, pushing open the cafe door.
“For answering all my questions so Allysa and I feel safe.”
“You’re welcome, baby. I’m glad you’re asking questions. It’s very brave. You’ve grown so much in just a few days and I’m so proud of you.”
“You’re proud of me?”
“I am. So very proud!”
Palmer smiled again. “I like making you proud, Daddy.”