Rootbound

Twenty

Twent y

Tait

It started as a night of tossing and turning, nothing seeming to cool me down or let me get comfortable. A cold shower and a sleep aid I keep for emergencies eventually did the trick. Despite waking up drenched in sweat the next morning, I wake up in the best, or at least the most determined, mood I can recall being in in days.

I guess I am fired up. This is what fired up feels like. It feels good to feel determined and fired up about something.

I am happy to have parameters now, in regards to Henry. This feels like the best case scenario for that anyways. I’m here temporarily, and last night, quite frankly, was too intense for temporary. Neither of us seems to be in a place where we are willing to concede much of ourselves, so at least we did the adult thing and nipped it quick. Go me. Go Henry.

Good.

Great.

Grand.

WONDERFUL!

NO YELLING ON THE BUS!

I quickly dress in some shorts and a tank top after brushing my teeth, swipe on a bit of mascara, and throw my hair in a ponytail, before I head down for breakfast.

There are no extra trucks out front when I get to the big house, though, so I call out when I get inside, “Hello?”

“Hey, Tait, in here!” Grace says.

When I round the corner she continues, “Hey there—I saved you a plate.”

“Oh, shoot, did I miss breakfast?”

“Yes, but we figured you needed the rest, so don’t worry.” She smiles and I look at the clock as I realize that I left my watch and phone back at the cabin in my haste. It’s already past eleven.

“Holy shit,” I exclaim, and then immediately say, “sorry, I just can’t remember the last time I slept in this late.”

“A day with Em and Grady takes a lot out of anyone, let alone all of us and all of… this. Really, you didn’t miss much, I promise. Henry grumbled, Grady annoyed—it’ll be the same way tomorrow.” She grabs a plate of biscuits and gravy from the microwave and slides it across the island to me. “There you go.”

No need to tell her that the portion of my day with Grady and Grandma was the least of it. “Thank you, my favorite. ”

“Your dad said as much.” She turns before I can meet her eyes, surprised, then hands me a coffee as well.

“I have to go take care of a few errands, though, sweetie. You ok if I head out?”

“Of course. Not much I can do today anyways except wander around,” I say with a full mouth of food.

“Oh, speaking of that—Em brought you this.” She grabs the camera off the counter behind her and slides me a piece of paper along with it. “Charlie will be up at Duane’s today if you want to go find them. They need to go for a run to try to steer that herd of horses away before they tear up the place and push any of the elk off. He left you these directions. If you can get there before one you should join them. Just, you know, for work.” She awkwardly shrugs and smiles before turning to head out.

“Grace,” I say before she gets to the door.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you…” And I hope she knows that I mean for more than breakfast. For being gracious, kind, and welcoming, without an ounce of pushiness.

She looks at me, sucks in a breath as if to say something, but decides against it; instead, she smiles and nods before heading out the door.

May as well check the uncles off the list, today, too. Baptism by fire and all that. I inhale the rest of the biscuits and take off, some of my pep gone and replaced with a returning surge of worry, eclipsed with the hope that this won’t be so bad, either.

Henry

“Cast and crew start arriving in two weeks, which is why I wanted to meet on this and finalize it two weeks ago. You can’t expect shit to run smoothly if you can’t show up to meetings when you say you will,” Duane fires at us, and by “us,” I mean me.

“The meeting is a formality, Duane. We approved each other’s schedules over a month ago. Pending some extreme weather, nothing will change,” Charlie replies.

“I’m just saying…”

“What? What exactly are you saying Duane? I told you, something came up,” I snap.

“Then you should’ve given a couple hours’ notice, Marcum. I have other stuff to do besides waiting around on you. Besides that, you were the only one who couldn’t be bothered to show up yesterday,” he replies, and I look at Charlie to try and ask permission with my eyes to backhand Duane.

“Duane, relax,” James says. “It is all covered. Charlie’s right, this meeting is a formality to double verify something we have already verified. What we need to worry about is getting the herd out of here before they tear up the valley for your show’s pretty shots.”

“Fine,” Duane sighs irritably. “Let’s go.”

“Um, let’s wait until one if you don’t mind?” Charlie says.

“What? Why?” Duane asks, and we all look at Charlie, confused. He’s usually the one anxious to get back out and on the ground .

“I left Tait directions to come here in case she wanted to join,” he says.

Duane continues to get redder, stuttering for a second before regaining composure. “Tait’s here?” he asks, more quietly than I would’ve guessed, judging by his face.

“Yes, she is. And you are to treat her to the warmest and kindest version of yourself, do you understand me? You owe us that, at least,” Charlie spits with surprising venom. Even more surprising is Duane’s downward look and nod, not putting up any fight in return.

At that moment, we all hear the truck coming up the driveway. Something somersaults in my chest.

“Well, at least she knows how to show up on time. Early, in fact,” Duane says in my direction. I roll my eyes. I was on time after the morning chores, but he just enjoys lashing out at me.

I inhale deeply through my nose and step out the front door behind James, who is practically running to greet her. He picks her up in a hug and shakes her back and forth a few times before setting her back down. Grady’s lack of boundaries may not come from Charlie, but clearly they stem from somewhere in the Logan bloodline.

“Holy shit. Look at you, kiddo. The last time I saw you, your teeth were as big as your eyes and pointed in different directions!” They both laugh, and James turns to me and says, “Her teeth, not her eyes.”

I can feel her looking my way from behind her sunglasses, so I nod in her direction. Duane shoulder checks me as he passes.

“Tait. Look at you, all grown up. What brings you here after all these years? Is your sister joining you?” he says, putting unnecessary emphasis on the “all these years.”

She picks up on it, her body language stiffening. I’m not surprised by the sass in her tone when she responds, “Well, I’m here to take some photos, Duane. I was hired. And uh, no, Ava isn’t joining me.” She frowns.

“Hired by who?” Duane asks quietly, more to himself than anyone else. Charlie shoots him one of his death glares, so he doesn’t press.

James laughs and throws his arm around her again. “Looks like we don’t need an extra body after all, Duane. You’re off the hook.”

He rolls his eyes. “Perfect. I’ve got a shitload of actual work to take care of anyway. Someone has to. Tait, it’s lovely to see you. I’m sure we’ll all get together soon.” He turns and takes his leave.

“You can ride with me in the rig!” James says, looking down fondly at her. Charlie and I simultaneously reply “NO.”

“What? Why not?” James whines.

“Because you’ve flipped that thing three times. You’re on your own. We are all going to stay on horseback,” Charlie states.

“Fine. Let her at least ride with me in the truck down the road so we can all catch up with her a bit?”

“She’s here for six weeks, James,” I say when I see that Tait’s face has gone from happy to nervous in an instant.

“That okay?” Charlie asks her.

“Yeah, I just—haven’t ridden a horse since I was a kid. I love them and everything, but I’d imagine this kind of ride requires some speed and skill in that aspect.” She toes a pebble with her boot .

“Ah… I didn’t think about that,” Charlie says, and proceeds to do the same thing.

I see these two are going to need a little coaxing, so, mentally setting aside the irony in it being me to do it, I offer up a suggestion…

“Charlie, why don’t you take her in the rig, and James and I will keep up on the horses? There’s an extra helmet and a headset in the trailer. That’ll be better for taking pictures, anyways.”

Tait and Charlie both nod emphatically, as if relieved. I load up the truck hauling the horse trailer while James follows with the toy trailer.

“What’s the need for driving these horses out of the valley, exactly? Wouldn’t they typically avoid groups of people, anyway?” Tait asks when we’re all in the truck, quickly avoiding any awkward silence.

“It’s less to do with the show and being concerned about them, and more for the horses’ sakes, actually,” says Charlie. “It’s a small enough herd that we’ve grown somewhat accustomed to them, but you still have to encourage them to rotate areas before they decimate one in particular, plus it’s just better conditions for winter. Eventually, we’ll have to push them onto government land where they’ll most likely be driven to auction, but I haven’t felt the need to yet.”

“Auction for what?” she asks, concerned.

“Just for pets, really. The ones that aren’t bought usually end up in a comfortable sanctuary, with plenty of hay and shelter. Nothing sinister happens to them. Actually, horses that would have otherwise died because of the state they were in often get saved that way. And we—by ‘we’ I mean LeighAnn—end up with the rest.”

“I had no idea that was even a thing, still. Or that there were still herds of wild horses out there—anywhere.”

“Yeah. In a lot of places, even in California, they get large enough that they’ll use helicopters to drive them out.”

“You guys don’t though?” she says, and Charlie snorts a laugh.

“No, I still do some things the old-fashioned way. I figure I’ve got my ancestors rolling in their graves enough as it is.…”

“He’s full of shit. He just likes them,” I say.

At that, the energy shifts into something more pensive until I can practically feel them both grasping for something to talk about next.

Tait’s the first to be successful. “Does LeighAnn not do anything with the equine center anymore? I remember she used to be great at all that… Teaching and training for all the Western timed events and such… She even started that breeding program and hired trainers for cutting horses and everything, right?”

She says it so excitedly, with such admiration… and the familiar, nasty pit of dread and guilt opens up in my stomach.

“Not anymore. We closed down that entity and sold most of our personal stock about three years ago… before the show started production. We needed the room for them, the show’s horses and all that. She’s filled up her personal barn with rescues, now,” Charlie replies, smiling. Covering for me where he shouldn’t have to, making it worse by laying it on further. “It’s simpler that way, anyway. When we got away from traditional cattle ranching, we were going in a bunch of different directions trying to make money. Keeping the property intact and keeping it a simple dude ranch, inviting outsiders to come, stay, and experience the outdoors and this life, is what really matters anyways.”

Thankfully, we roll up to the edge of the valley, and my torture ends. I accidentally slam the truck door and head to the back of the horse trailer, ready to be deafened by the wind, to clear my head.

“Henry, can you get Tait set up with the helmet and headset? I’m going that way a bit to see if I can glass them,” Charlie calls out, holding up the binoculars in explanation.

Tait grabs her camera and waits as I unload and ready the horses, while James backs the rig out of the trailer. I look over at her expression, expecting to see a hint of worry. It’s like a dune buggy on steroids and mean—if a machine can look mean.

Instead, she’s got a wild, excited look in her eye. She chews her lower lip and smiles a little. That’s when she turns my way and catches me staring again.

The issue here is that I now know how good those lips taste and feel, and I’m just supposed to forget the little noises she makes, too. She must be oblivious to where my thoughts have veered because her smile grows.

“Suit me up.”

I laugh and gesture for her to go into the trailer. The first helmet I place on her head is way too loose. The second one too tight…

“… and this one is juuuuuuusssst right,” she says in a cartoon voice when the third one fits.

“You excited?” I ask, my fingers fumbling around for the buckle underneath her chin.

“It looks fast. Is it fast?”

“Yes, but you’ll be able to communicate with Charlie through the headset the whole time when you push this,” I say, guiding her hand to the button. “Let him know if you need a break or anything.”

“I’m sure I’ll be just fine.” She bats my hands away and buckles the helmet herself before she marches over to the rig.

Charlie coughs behind me. He definitely does not see me looking at her ass from behind my sunglasses, but I whip around anyway and head over to the horses.

“Nice to see you being friendly for a change,” Charlie says to my back.

Heat. The heat is stifling, and I am ready to move and to get some damn air.