Chapter 24
She’s Everything - Brad Paisley
Wyatt
I woke early the next morning, my eyes opening to the sight of Kinsley sleeping beside me.
A pang hit my chest. Last night, after turning in, Kinsley had gone to the bathroom to wash up. I had pretended to be asleep when she returned, just lying there. The waves of disappointment had poured off her as she climbed into bed beside me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her; I always wanted her. But something inside me was holding back, despite letting her believe we were trying again.
With a gentle touch, I kissed her forehead then quietly slipped out of bed. Pulling on my jeans and t-shirt, I tiptoed out of the room, making my way down the stairs and out the front door. The morning breeze greeted me as I headed over to the barn to start chores. If I was going to stay here, I was determined to be useful.
“Morning, Drifter,” I greeted my horse in his stall, throwing him some hay before fetching his grain.
“Morning,” Ben, the farmhand, called out as he walked down the aisle, an insulated mug of coffee in his hand. “You’re out early.”
I nodded. “Here to help.”
“Great.” Ben grabbed a cart of hay. “Get some coffee from the tack room.”
Once I had a few gulps of coffee, I started scooping pelleted feed into the horses’ buckets.
“You want your horse turned out with the others today?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, let’s try it.”
“We don’t have any real aggressive ones, except Gambler, but we’ll keep him separate.”
I nodded in agreement as we set about haltering the horses and leading them to the pasture behind the barn.
When I released Drifter, his head shot up, eyes wide as he surveyed his surroundings. He stood still, sniffing the air.
Smirking at him, I said, “It’s called freedom, boy. Enjoy.”
Heeding my advice, Drifter took off running, giving a few spirited kicks and squeals. I laughed, watching him embrace his newfound liberty. He galloped up to the nearest group of horses, and they greeted one another by blowing into each other’s noses before taking off running together.
Watching them, I felt a deep satisfaction. This was all I wanted for him: room to move, a herd to be a part of, and fresh grass to eat. I leaned back against the fence, a contented smile playing on my lips.
“Well, that is a nice sight,” Kinsley’s voice came from behind me. She approached, crossed her arms over the top rail of the fence, and rested her chin on them.
“He’s living the dream.” My gaze was still fixed on the horses.
We fell into a comfortable silence, simply watching them.
After a moment, Kinsley broke the quiet. “You snuck out on me this morning.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I admitted, turning to face her. “I wanted to be helpful while I’m here.”
“Well, we’d better stop standing around and get the barn cleaned,” she said.
With the three of us working together, we mucked out the stalls in record time, then headed up to the house for breakfast. The horses always came first.
Mrs. Jackson, as usual, had outdone herself. We filled our plates with eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and fresh fruit. I could get used to eating like this every day.
“I want to move the cattle to another pasture today,” Kinsley’s dad, Cal, said between mouthfuls. He turned to me. “You up for it?”
“You bet.” I swallowed my last bite of toast.
“I’m coming too,” Kinsley added and finished her orange juice in a quick gulp.
We headed back out to the barn, grabbed two ranch horses from their paddock, and got them tacked up. Riding over the range and rounding up cattle, I breathed easier. All the stresses of life on the road, trying to win all the time, vanished.
Kinsley watched me out of the corner of her eye.
“What?” I asked her.
“I like you here.” She bit at the inside of her cheek.
“I like being here,” I conceded, and it was the truth. If my father hadn’t sold our farm, I could’ve given up the rodeo to manage the cattle. It was work I loved.
“Stay,” Kinsley blurted out suddenly, then sucked in a breath, clamping her mouth shut.
“What do you mean?” I asked, taken aback.
“Stay with me. Work for the farm.”
“Kinsley, we’ve talked about this.” My defenses rose as I braced myself for the same old argument.
It wasn’t the first time she had brought this up. Why couldn’t she understand I needed to make my own way? Winning this season might allow me to save some money, but then what? Buy my own farm? Try to get ours back? I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just had to do it on my own.
“I don’t understand—”
“Kinsley,” Cal’s sharp voice interrupted, cutting through our conversation as he rode up. “There are a couple of cows falling behind over on that side. Go round them up.”
“But—”
“Now, Kinsley.”
I saw a flash of reluctance in her expression, but she relented and loped off after the stragglers. I exhaled a sigh of relief and dragged a hand down my face.
“Don’t think you’re off the hook, son.” Cal turned his attention to me. “I know my daughter is pushy, but she takes after me, so now you’re dealing with the big gun.”
I realized then that my reprieve was short-lived. I shifted nervously in my saddle as his no-nonsense expression bore into me. He had every reason to be angry with me. I could only guess what Kinsley has told him about what went on between us. I doubted I came across in a good light and fully expected him to lay into me for hurting his daughter.
“Do you love my daughter?” he asked directly.
“Yes, sir,” I answered honestly. I meant it. Despite what I’d put her through, it was never because I didn’t love her.
“Lucky for you, I can see that. That’s why I put up with your bullshit.”
His bluntness took me aback, and I was stunned for a moment. I started to protest, but he interrupted, and I clamped my mouth shut.
“I like you, Wyatt. Kinsley has a very generous heart, and I’m glad she chose someone who doesn’t take advantage of that. I can respect that you want to earn your own way, but you need to look realistically at your future. Do you want a life with Kinsley?”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation. She was the one thing I was certain of. It was just everything else...
“Well, her future is this ranch. I’m a lucky man to have two daughters who want what I’ve built for them. Kinsley and Abby will run this ranch together one day—God help us all. So, if you want to be with my daughter, this ranch is your future too. You best just start accepting it now. I’m not handing you anything; you’ll work your ass off for this family. We’ll make sure you earn it. Do you understand?”
I managed a nod, feeling as though I’d been smacked across the face with a baseball bat. I had no idea what to do with what he’d just said.
“Good. Now, get your ass in gear and get these cows moving. I don’t want this taking all day.”
Cal rode off towards Kinsley, leaving me with the left flank of the herd and my head spinning.