Chapter 26 #2
“My famous Uncle Shay.” The kid laughed, and if it sounded a little bit like tears, they weren’t about to say anything about that. “So you’ve seen guys come back from worse?”
“Shit. I’ve seen guys roll out of burning cars. I’ve seen them fall off of horses. Bridges. One guy I knew? He was just doing a stunt off the top of a three-story building and missed the crash pad altogether, and they said he’d never walk again. I’ve seen him not only walk, but he’s back at work.”
“My dad says he doesn’t think that I’m ever going to fight a bull again.”
Wow, what was he supposed to say to that? Was he supposed to back the dad up, encourage the kid? What?
He could hear the noise in the hallway getting a little louder, so he figured he better say something. “Your dad’s a cowboy, you know? I figure this, I think your fighting bulls is a lot like what I do for living in a weird sort of way.”
Deuce just looked over at him. “How so?”
“You ever heard of century trails? No?” When Deuce whispered his “no”, Seamus settled in. Oh good. He could talk about those for a bit.
“So, I was doing a shoot. This was a long bit ago, but I was supposed to play this rugged Old West mountain man. They take us up to Alaska, and it’s amazing. I cannot tell you the beauty that was there. Cold, but it was a little like being in Heaven.”
Deuce shot him a disbelieving glance, and he shrugged.
“I know, right? You wouldn’t think somebody like me with my house in L.A. and my personal trainer wouldn’t find magic in the middle of nowhere, but there I was. And I had a ball.”
He smiled and settled into his story. “When I went to Kodiak, they showed me these trails, paths with these big, deep divots dug out of them. You see these Kodiak bears? They walk. They walk the same path that their mothers walked, their fathers walked, their grandparents. Generations, generations and generations of these bears have walked these trails, right? Digging in. Every new generation of bear, pushing the dirt and the stone that much deeper and that much deeper. And it’s like magic, man. ”
“Cool?”
Seamus chuckled at the unconvinced single word. “I know. I know, but it was amazing. My point is, you know I’m a nepo baby.”
“I guess I know a little about that.” Deuce admitted. “It’s like me. I’m nothing. I just got this job because… of who my daddy is.”
This was something he thought about all the damn time.
“Sure. But see, we like to pretend to ourselves that we do everything alone, that we’re individuals—that’s the myth, right?
We did this all with no help. We figured this out all alone.
” Seamus shrugged. “Trust me, from one nepo baby to another, we’re walking these paths that someone else dug in before us. ”
Deuce sighed softly, but Seamus had the kid’s attention now, and it felt so damn right.
“But it’s not just you and me, it’s all of us.
Dawson had Sterling. Sterling had Coke. We all walk in the footsteps of the people who came before us.
You’re related to yours. You were shown the path at the start, and it’s a familiar one. You’re lucky.”
“I don’t feel lucky. I’m scared, Mr. Shay. I’m real scared.”
“Me too. Every goddamn day.” And wasn’t that the truth? “But you and me, we got friends, man. We got family. We’ll get you the doctors you need and the therapy, and if you want to get out there in the arena again, then we’ll get you out there.”
There were tears on Deuce’s temples, just sliding down. “You don’t know me from Job.”
Seamus shook his head. “I don’t have to. Again, we’re just walking those trails. I’m walking mine with Dawson, and you’re one of Dawson’s people. Makes you one of mine.”
Deuce held his gaze, something desperate in those clear hazel eyes. “You promise?”
He shouldn’t. There was no universe in which this young man came out of that night at the arena the same person he went in. No way. There were no guarantees in life.
But the fact was it was dark, and it wasn’t his job to break people’s hearts. It was his job to lift them up and give them hope. So, he nodded.
“I promise.”
Deuce let out a tiny noise that probably was a sob, but he didn’t think it sounded hopeless. He thought sounded like relief, and if Seamus had given him any kind of hope or anything to cling to in all this mess, then he had done something really good.
They sat there for the longest moment with Seamus nodding as if to tell Deuce he meant every word, and it was all going to be okay because he couldn’t stop his head from bobbing, and Deuce staring at him like he was a lifeline that the kid couldn’t let go of.
Then Ace Porter strode into the room, looking at his son, hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans, Dawson followed him in, so did Coke and Dillon, and then Greg came.
Seamus could see his dad hovering outside the door, and he smiled when his dad waved and then made a slashing motion across his throat as if to say, “I won’t let anyone else in.”
Good man. Seamus started to rise, but Ace shook his head. “No, you should stay.”
“Oh, I don’t want to take somebody else’s spot.” Seamus rolled his shoulders a little bit, but when he glanced at Deuce, the kid was still looking at him and not anyone else.
So he stayed.
What was he going to do?
He was a stranger to Deuce, but he got it—he knew about being the son, about wearing the weight of their legacies.
He’d never bitch about it, but he understood.
“Son, I want you to understand. Whatever you need. It’s yours.” The stern cowboy frowned deeper, exhausted lines etched out in his face. Then Ace reached out and took Deuce’s hand. “I believe in you, cowboy. I have always and will always have your back, son. Even if when you and I don’t agree.”
Deuce swallowed hard, but he clutched his dad’s hand. “I’m sorry, Dad. Dawson, I’m so sorry.”
Dawson shook his head. “Don’t you fucking apologize to me, man. You didn’t do anything wrong. That cowboy? He’s safe. I can’t ask for anything more.”
Coke nodded once, slow and obviously in pain. “That’s our job, our calling; the reason the good Lord made us is to make sure the cowboys get home safe. It is not an easy life, but it’s ours. And when you’re ready, you come home to New Mexico. There’s a cabin for you, and you can heal there.”
Seamus thought that was an amazing idea. “And I know the best in the business of healing and strengthening. Dawes and I got your back.”
“Dad, this is Shay. Seamus Givens—the guy who played Ranger Mack Fellows? He’s…he’s my friend.”
Jesus Christ, Seamus’s heart was breaking, and he needed strength. “You know it.”
Deuce’s fingers clenched, and Ace leaned down, listening as his son whispered. Then he stood.
“Y’all. Deuce here is real tired. Do y’all mind? I’m gonna sit here and watch him.”
Seamus stood. “I’ll be back in the morning. If you need anything, let us know.”
Then he walked straight out of that room and into his father’s arms.