Epilogue - Ty - Continued
M ichelle not only agreed, she agreed wholeheartedly. Which was when both Hudson and Ty found out that she wasn’t content, and wasn’t happy, and longed for a change, without any idea what to change to.
She started making lists first thing, and wrote to Longfellow Elementary to have the boys’ records sent up to Hysham. And she began packing, hauling boxes from the liquor store, and donating what they might not need.
“Easier to get there than to bring it,” she said, more than once amidst her whirl of organization. “When can we leave?”
Hudson gave notice, and Michelle did, too, and Ty enjoyed his last cups of coffee at the Luna Bar. The boys, excited beyond belief, did their best to get in the way and could barely fall asleep each night.
They departed on a frosty morning, the last week of February, going up I-25, and from there along I-94 to Hysham, rather than taking the back roads, which might have been prettier, but which, most assuredly, would have been still covered in snow. The boys slept on and off, and Michelle did obsessive searches for jobs on her phone, though Ty assured her more than once that Gus wanted her to work for him.
After an uneventful drive beneath eggshell colored skies, they arrived at Hysham. After trundling through the small town, so they could take a look, Hudson took the Myers Cutoff Road to the stone marker that announced the entrance to Wandering Willow Ranch.
As Hudson drove along the neatly graveled and rather long driveway, Ty told himself that Gus’s ranch wasn’t too big nor too grand for the likes of him. That being able to pet Honey and ride her and groom her and give her kisses would be as good as owning her. That the boys would be happy in their little school, and that Michelle wouldn’t regret coming up this far north. And that Hudson would love him all the days of his life. Now, that wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?
The house, as they pulled up into the snow-flecked horseshoe driveway, was enormous. Made of green boards with white trim, it had a new-looking wraparound wooden porch. On the porch stood an older man with a bushy mustache, wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, and gray-white hair. He was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, both of which looked rather new, and he was wearing a red-and-black plaid flannel jacket and looked every inch a rancher.
Ty hopped out, carrying the small cooler that had been tucked at his feet, now empty of all snacks and waters.
“You might as well go around and say howdy to that horse of yours,” said Gus, unexpectedly. “I told her you were coming and I don’t want her thinking I’m a liar.”
Ty could hardly make sense of the words coming out of Gus’s mouth, but he dropped the cooler and, with a glance at Hudson, sprinted to the side of the house.
There, he saw an arrangement of white-fenced paddocks, fences that looked made of real boards, newly painted. In the far pasture, way, way, way far away beyond the paddocks and the two red barns, he thought he saw a small herd of cattle.
In the nearest paddock he saw a round, white mare, who would be Snowbell. And beside her, looking like a splash of sunshine on a gloomy day, was his beloved Honey.
Her ears were pricked and the second they locked eyes, she began bugling a greeting and trotted over to the fence. A fence which he vaulted over so he could greet her as she came up to him. He hugged her neck and inhaled her horsey scent, and felt her hugging him back, her neck curved so her soft mouth could nibble on his jacket. And if she left a trail of slobber behind, he simply did not care.
“Hey, girl,” he whispered into her mane, running his fingers through it, taking out some knots, leaving others behind for the fairies. “Did you miss me?”
“She did, son,” said a low, warm voice. Ty looked up to see Gus on the other side of the fence. Gus, and Hudson, and Michelle and the boys, all looking a little cold in the low light of a late February afternoon. “She hasn’t looked so pert as she does right now since she got here. Even old Snowball couldn’t cheer her up, but I’d say you have.”
“How much, Mr. Odell?” asked Hudson. “I know you said we’d work out jobs and all of that, but how much would you take for Honey? I know Ty will get to ride her, but?—”
“Oh,” said Gus, looking a little dismayed, as if this wasn’t at all the first question he’d expected from them. “I thought you already knew. She doesn’t belong to me. Never did. She belongs to Ty, here. Can’t you see they’re in love?”
For a long moment, Ty couldn’t believe his ears. If what Gus was saying was true—if all of Gus’s promises were true—then Ty knew he was the luckiest man alive. A ranching job—a good one—with Hudson at his side, and Honey his own horse? Never could never be better than this moment.
“Don’t say no to me, son,” said Gus.
“I won’t, sir,” said Ty. His chest felt full to bursting. “And once we start regenerative ranching, all your rancher friends will be jealous of you.”
“I hope so,” said Gus. “Now, I’ve met everybody, and you’ve had a moment with your best girl, so why don’t you come inside? Supper’s almost ready. Mrs. Radford, Fran, she likes to be called, is the last of my staff who stayed on, and she’s a darn right master of the kitchen. Hot food is what you need on a cold night as this, and it’s only going to get colder.”
“I’ll put the horses in the stable first,” said Ty.
“You do that, son,” said Gus. “Then come on in and wash up. We don’t want to keep Fran waiting.”
“We’ve got the luggage and stuff, Ty,” said Hudson. “Take your time.”
“No, didn’t I just say we don’t want to keep Fran waiting?” asked Gus in somewhat of a huff. “You hurry along, Ty, and make it quick. There are lights in the barn. You can go out later and kiss her goodnight.”
Ty hurried, and Snowbell and Honey didn’t seem to mind being taken into the warm barn. There, Ty found a series of box stalls with high end latches and electronic watering bowls tucked into the corner of each one.
No other horses occupied the box stalls, so he put Snowbell and Honey next door to each other, and found the horse cookies, and made sure of their hay nets. Then with a kiss to Snowbell’s nose, and one to Honey’s, he shut the barn door, dusted the flecks of hay from his blue jeans, and hurried along the path to the wide porch. And after only a second’s hesitation, he let himself in.
Smells of beef stew accosted him from the wide front hallway, and he followed his nose, expecting to end up in some grand dining room, but that was not to be. Supper was being served in the very large kitchen, in which all the appliances gleamed and looked modern and new. In fact, everything looked clean, so maybe Gus had misled them all as to how rundown the ranch was, just to get their support.
“You’re Ty, right?” asked a smiling woman with brown hair and an apron tied around her ample middle. “Skinny as a rail, of course. Sit down and eat. You can wash at my sink first. Then sit down and eat.”
Ty washed up, then sat down next to Hudson on one side of the table. On the other, Michelle sat between Gareth and Trevor, who looked as though their faces had been hastily washed, and that Michelle had run her fingers through their hair in an attempt to tidy them up. Gus sat at the end of the table, and once all the platters and bowls were placed on the table, Fran took a seat at the other end.
“We don’t operate on much ceremony here,” said Gus. “Pick up, serve yourself, and pass to your left.”
Ty did as he was told, taking beef stew and cornbread and pats of butter. Then he opened his mouth to start asking questions about his new job, and did Gus have anything he wanted to ask, and where would they all sleep, as it was getting late and maybe the local hotel wouldn’t have any rooms?
“Gus, I wanted to ask you about?—”
“No,” said Gus as he wiped his mustache free of butter. “I’m putting you up here, in this house. There are plenty of rooms. There’s an office for Michelle, so she can dig in and take over. Town’s only five miles, and the school bus comes at seven thirty. Hudson can use the forklift and help me move some lumber, and we’ll figure it out from there. If Hudson prefers, I know the guy who owns Torgerson’s. And Ty knows what he needs to do, so can we just enjoy the fine supper Fran made for us and leave any business dealings for tomorrow?”
Feeling obediently under Gus’s control, and comfortably so, which felt odd, Ty ate his dinner, and offered to help Fran clear up and was refused. She refused Michelle’s help as well.
“You all just relax,” she said, tightening her apron strings. “In the morning, Michelle, we can go over the bills and receipts and take a look at what’s in the pantry and freezer. As Ty starts hiring wranglers and ranch hands, they’re going to want feeding. We have a bunkhouse, you know, and that needs airing out and supplied with bedding and suchlike. I’m the cook, and you’re in charge of everything else.”
Ty just smiled at Michelle, looking a tad overwhelmed, and yes, tired. She’d be a great asset to the Odell household, though, he just knew it. In the meantime, he needed to say goodnight to his best girl.
“Come with me, Hudson,” he said. He swept his hand along Hudson’s strong arm and warmed himself with the smile in Hudson’s brown eyes. “Put on your coat. We’re way far north now, and the sun has gone down and I want you to stay warm.”
They bundled up against the cold and strode out of the house, closing the wide, heavy door carefully behind them. Ty led the way, though he felt quite unfamiliar with his surroundings just yet.
Luckily, there were auto-lights that blazed their light as they went past, following the white fence line and into the closest barn. Ty imagined the other barn was filled with more box stalls and bales of hay and bags of grain, the walls tidily arrayed with bridles and saddles and other equipment necessary for running a ranch.
He’d see it all in the morning, but for now, there was Honey, waiting for him in the low light of the barn. He turned the knob just inside the main door to make it a little brighter and led Hudson to the box stall.
“That’s Snowbell,” said Ty, reaching to grab a horse cookie from the bin just outside her door. “Here you go, girl. Eat up and sleep well.”
At Honey’s stall, Ty opened the sliding door and stepped in, greeting Honey as he had before, but more slowly this time, gladness in his heart, his fingers in her mane.
“Oh, the rides we’ll have, girl,” he whispered into her soft, pointed ear. “Now that you’re mine.”
“Should I be jealous?” asked Hudson from behind him.
Ty turned, his feet crunching in the flakes of sawdust that lined the bottom of the box stall. He could see by Hudson’s smile that he was only teasing, but not for a minute did Ty want Hudson to feel anything but completely loved.
“No,” he said, then laughed. “I love you both equally.”
“The way you dote on that horse,” said Hudson, sweeping a soft kiss to Ty’s temple as he attempted to circle one arm around Hudson’s waist, difficult to do when he was wearing his warmest coat, and loop his other arm around Honey’s strong neck. “I feel very loved, indeed.”
“Let’s kiss beneath the stars,” said Ty. He gave Honey a last kiss and pat goodnight, serving her with a horse cookie before slipping out and sliding the door closed.
“Yes, please,” said Hudson.
Ty turned the stable lights back to dim, and when the two of them stepped out into the February night, it was cold, a small icy wind slipping around Ty’s ears, since he had no scarf.
Hudson took off his scarf and tried to loop it around Ty’s neck, but Ty pushed him off and simply pressed close, as close as he could. Hudson’s arms came around him, and Ty tipped his head back, and they kissed, their mouths warm in the cold air.
The sky was full of dim, gray clouds, so they could not see the stars. But beyond the gray sky, the stars were there, shining bright, and on another night, they would see them. They’d turn the auto-lights off, and stand in the yard and look up and be dazzled by the sight of all those silver specks, twinkling and blinking like promises of a happy future. Though how Ty could be happier than he already was, he had no idea. But just as long as he had Hudson with him, hope was a promise that would always come true.
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Would you like to read more of my m/m cowboy romances? I’ve got a whole series you can binge on! Start with The Foreman and the Drifter, Book #1 in my Farthingdale Ranch series.