18. Travis
CHAPTER 18
Travis
Dust flew all over the place as one of the hands got bucked off a new colt we just got in today, clearing up enough for me to level him and the rest of the men gathered along the round pen with a flat stare.
“Didn’t you just say you’d be able to break him in, Ty?” Finn asked from across the fence with a grin on his face. He sat atop the fence readjusting the baseball cap he always wore.
I got here a little after the guys did, just in time to spot Finn getting one of the colts started by running laps. When it came to riding, we liked to ease the young stirs into it by getting them used to not only being tacked up but also being around the rider.
My dad always taught us that building a bond with a horse was just as important as training it.
Finn switched with Toby and hopped into the pen. I was watching him reach for the reins and calming the colt when I heard footsteps approaching behind me.
“How long have those cowboys been getting their asses handed to them?” Dad asked as he came up to the railing, resting his arm between the bars.
“Long enough that they should be embarrassed to call themselves cowboys,” I snorted.
“Sounds like you need to invest in an actual trainer,” Wren teased as she sidled up to my right. My sister had been staying on the ranch for a week now, getting ready for the rodeo coming up that weekend like she did every year. She had been riding her mare on the ranch every day along with Dad, enjoying her time on Silver Hill before heading back to Montana for work.
Her long hair was braided over one shoulder and there was a big, dimpled smile on her lips.
“You’re awfully happy today. Who did you torture to get that look on your face?” I teased her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a side hug.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Ha. Ha. No torture, just a job offer.”
“What job offer?” I frowned.
She shrugged before exchanging a look with Dad.
“You want to tell him, or should I?” Wren asked.
“Seeing as we need some extra help around the ranch, I mentioned to Wren that I might have to start looking for a few additional hands. Then she came up with an even better solution.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Wren’s smile widened. “It means that you’re looking at Silver Hill Ranch’s new trainer, big brother.”
The sound of Finn getting bucked off the colt went ignored as I stared at my little sister with a slow grin. “Are you serious? What about Montana?”
“I didn’t want to say anything until Dad and I got things sorted but I was already thinking about coming back. Besides, Montana will always be there whenever I want to go back. For now, I think I’d like to be home for a little while. That okay with you?”
“Is that okay with me?” I ruffled her hair, making her grunt. Dad watched us with a smile on his weathered face, and I knew just how happy he was to finally have my baby sister back home. “Do you even have to ask, you troublemaker?”
Wren laughed, loud and bright. “You’re calling me the troublemaker? You sure you’re not mistaking me for that idiot over there?”
She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder toward Finn as he bent down to pick up his cap off the ground that must have fallen off when he fell from the colt. “Hey, I may act like an idiot but at least I look good doing it. Will you get in here already? I’m getting tired of eating dust.”
Wren climbed over the fence and hopped into the pen with ease. She clapped her hands together, getting everyone’s attention. “All right, boys. Buckle in for a lesson you’ll never forget.”
And just like that, my sister proceeded to not only train the colt, but the cowboys watching her as well.
After herding a few heifers out to a new pasture with my dad, we made our way back to the main house a few hours later.
It was around this hour that Mom usually had something prepared for all of us to scarf down before heading back out to do some more work before the day ended. I took Sable back to the stables before making my way over to the main house down the gravel path. It was when I reached the steps of the back porch that I noticed a little boy with dark curls sitting on the rocking chair to my left.
By the looks of it, River was very concentrated in the book he had on his lap.
“Hey, River,” I greeted as I approached him.
He looked up and his eyes lit up when he spotted me. “Travis!”
“What are you doing out here alone?”
River frowned and looked around. “Amelia was doing garden work. She said I could play here.”
The cute way he said “garden work”—turning his r’s into w’s—made me smile.
“Want me to keep you company?” Knowing my mother, she was bound to be out here for a while. If I didn’t see her back here, that only meant she was in the front working away on anything she deemed in need of some loving. It had been almost a month since Delilah started dropping River off with my parents and it was clear as day that River was comfortable being here.
River nodded and scooted to one side to make room for me on the chair. I ruffled his hair, accepting his invitation. “What are you doing there?”
“Coloring, want to see?”
I nodded and before I knew it, he was crawling onto my lap and swinging his little legs. I blinked, surprised that he felt comfortable enough to do something like this.
There wasn’t a kind bone in Irene North’s body, so I knew that the reason he was such a loving kid had everything to do with his sister.
I could count on one hand the amount of people in my life who knew how to get under my skin. And the one who took the number one spot was Delilah. In more ways than one, she had single handedly managed to rile me up, throw me off, and frustrate me to no end. She was also kind, patient, and selfless to a fault. It made me think about how lonely she must have felt, putting everyone else before herself. Sacrificing so much to do the right thing.
Thinking about her led me back to the other night when I’d almost kissed her...again. I wanted to kiss her so bad I couldn’t think about anything else when we were in the stockroom. I nearly lost all sense of self-control with her when she mentioned Amanda, of all people.
If she’d sounded the tiniest bit disinterested, like any friend would, then I would have ignored her words and moved on. But she wasn’t my friend. I was a fool for pretending we were in the first place. She’s never been just a friend no matter how many times we say it.
The jealousy brimming in her chocolate brown eyes relit the fire I’d been trying to extinguish when it came to what I felt for her. If she didn’t care—if she wasn’t interested in me—then she wouldn’t have been so adamant to pretend she didn’t want to know if I was seeing anyone. But she did.
I knew it. I felt it with every stuttering beat of her heart that nearly matched mine.
If only she knew how jealous I’d been imagining she’d been with another man. One second, I was jealous like a madman over a woman I was obsessed with, and the next I was seething at her words for encouraging me to go off and see other women. As if it wasn’t eating away at her.
It ate away at me, seeing the hurt flash in her eyes when I admitted I had been with other women. If I could take it back I would, if only to avoid hurting her. But life always seemed to throw us off any course we’d chosen to take together years ago.
If I needed proof that Delilah still felt something for me, she showed me just by that one look alone .
I would have kissed her then and there if she hadn’t told me she couldn’t do this.
Pleaded with me.
Seeing the conflict on her beautiful face put a stop to the fire burning me from the inside out. I wanted her more than anything, but I also wanted her to feel ready to tackle what this was between us. The more she ran, the more I thought I was losing her.
Then again, I wasn’t one to give up that easily.
River flipped the pages of the sketchbook he had, showing me all his drawings, and telling me stories about what each meant. Painting a world before me. It was only when he flipped over to the last page, the most recent one I’d seen him drawing, that I stopped him.
“What do you have there, buddy?” It looked like he drew two people standing outside on a rainy day. One of them was smaller than the other in height. Holding hands. What caught my attention was that they both looked sad.
River shrugged. “Just a drawing.”
“Can I ask what it’s about?”
He hesitated before pointing to the little kid in the drawing. “That’s me.” He dragged his finger toward the taller stick figure with long brown hair. “That’s Lila.”
“Why do you guys look so sad?”
“Because…when Lila is sad, I’m sad. And she’s sad today.”
I started rocking us back and forth, wanting him to have a sense of safety to talk about this with me. His head hung low when he spoke about Delilah, as if his mood really was dependent on how she was feeling. Because he loved her that much.
“Why do you think she’s sad?”
“Because when our mom calls, she cries a lot. She doesn’t think I hear her because I’m supposed to be sleeping, but I’m not actually sleeping.” He whispered that last part to me by cupping his hands over his mouth.
I knew Irene had called Delilah a few days ago. If what River was saying was true, then she must have called again today.
I patted his arm and motioned toward the house. “You want go in and eat? I have a feeling that if you ask, Amelia will give you some chocolate.”
As soon as I mentioned chocolate, River slid off my lap and bounded toward the door. He waited for me to open the door and when I did, his hand reached up toward mine.
Surprised, I smiled when I realized what he wanted.
I reached down and took it before we went inside together, promising I’d never let this kid be sad if I had anything to do with it.