Chapter 42 - Heston
HESTON
The more I had of Hattie last night, the more I wanted, and I’m not sure we got more than a few hours of shut-eye. My body protested when I finally forced myself out of bed this morning, and it took some major convincing to get Hattie on her feet as well.
I’d have held her naked body against mine for the next week straight if the kitchen were stocked with anything to eat or drink.
Since she doesn’t have to work tomorrow, we decided to leave her truck at Solana Bluffs while I drove us back to Westridge to pick up some of her things at her house and stop by the grocery store for provisions.
Hattie’s legs are curled up on the seat.
Her eyes are closed, and she’s smiling as she lets the open air whip around her damp hair.
She took a quick shower before we left and insisted she didn’t need a hair dryer, since rolling the windows down on the way to town worked just as well.
I relax my hand on the steering wheel and let out a chuckle at the sight of her.
Everything she does reminds me how damn lucky I am.
Eventually, she attempts to smooth the wild strands out of her face as she rolls up the window. “We should swing by the ranch, too,” she suggests.
A subtle rasp in her voice makes me pause. “Okay,” I agree. “If you want to.”
She lets out a deep sigh. “What I really want is to go back to Solana Bluffs as soon as possible. But Marcus said something yesterday that—well, you know what?” She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Never mind. I’m sick of thinking about it.”
I’d hoped that we’d never have to talk about that prick again, but deep down, I knew better. I don’t think he’ll be totally out of either of our heads until I know for sure that he’s gone.
“Tell me what he said.”
Hattie shrugs and twists her fingers in her lap.
“It may have been nothing. He said that he—he’d burn the ranch ground.
” She turns to face me, and even out of the corner of my eye, it’s impossible to miss the worry in her expression.
“That’s just desperation talking, right?
I mean, no one could get away with doing something like that. There’s no way he’d actually do it.”
I reach over to take her hand with a firm grip. “Nah. If it makes you feel better, you should mention it to your dad, just so he’s aware. And Gage, too. We’ll make sure the place is protected.”
“You will?”
My eyes flick over to her before focusing back on the road. “Yeah.” I squeeze her hand. “Trust me, okay?”
She nods and shifts her body to get more comfortable again. “Okay,” she whispers.
“The fuck is a kraut burger?” Rafe asks.
Granger widens his eyes from across the island in the bunkhouse kitchen. “What? You mean you’ve never had one?”
Rafe twists his face. “I’ve never even heard of one.”
“My mom makes them during branding every year.”
“Texas isn’t a brand state,” Rafe mumbles over the rim of his steaming cup of coffee. “And we don’t make burgers with kraut. Whatever the hell that is.”
“Ground beef, onions, and cabbage stuffed into a big roll of bread. Sounds gross, now that I say it out loud, but I promise they’re good.”
It feels like a strange hallucination seeing him in the middle of a casual conversation under this roof.
Even though we butted heads in the past, I always respected him.
I have even more respect for him now. He’s going out of his way to make up for lost time and misplaced anger.
Just an hour ago, he’d shaken my hand and didn’t even bristle when Hattie and I showed up wearing the same exact clothes we had on yesterday.
I’m shocked, and beyond grateful, for the way he’s handled things this time around.
“Done,” Gage says, walking into the kitchen while still looking down at his phone.
Rafe pushes off from where he was leaning forward on the counter and stands up straight. “Yeah?”
“Yep,” Gage confirms. “It’s not much, but I had them throw up two cameras at your gate, one pointed at the house, and one more at the end of the lane facing the office building. Any movement in front of them will trigger a notification to your phone immediately.”
“Jeez, Gage. That was quick.” Hattie perks up beside me. “Now teach him what a notification is and how to download the app,” she adds with an amused smirk.
“I’m sure I can get it figured out,” Rafe defends himself. “I’m not too worried about it at this point. Everything was cleared out of Marcus’s office and apartment when I went in there this morning.”
I scoff. “Finally got embarrassed enough to give up.”
Gage tilts his head. “Yeah, maybe. But you can’t be too careful. We should still probably order more cameras next week, just in case. Better ones.”
“How’d you arrange that so fast? You must have a lot of money,” Granger suggests with curious eyes. I lean over and smack him across the back of the head. “Ow,” he cringes. “I’m just saying.”
Gage chuckles. “My wife gets all my money, and gives me a little for snacks and more security cameras sometimes.”
Granger looks confused by Gage’s dry sarcasm. “Huh. Okay.”
“What about the gate?” Rafe chimes back in.
“Should be delivered tonight,” Gage answers. He nods toward Tripp and Warren, who are standing near the kitchen table, then looks at me. “We can get it set up pretty quick, if we all pitch in.”
“Can’t they just install it for us?” Hattie asks.
Gage deadpans. “Yeah, but I can’t trust them. Never worked with them before.”
“I don’t have much going on tomorrow,” I say, holding back an eye roll at how extreme he gets in situations like this. “I’m in.”
Hattie yawns and leans into my side. My arm lifts to wrap around her, and I can’t help but flick my eyes over to Rafe for a moment. He smirks, barely, as he takes another sip of coffee.
Gage shakes his head. “Blythe is off work tomorrow. After cows are fed in the morning, I ain’t leaving my house.”
Normally, I’d give him crap for acting so whipped, but I get it now. If Hattie pulled ten shifts straight without a day off work, I wouldn’t want to leave the house when she got home either. “Alright,” I agree with a nod. “We’ll go tonight, then.”
“I can make kraut burgers and bring them with us,” Granger offers.
“You’re staying here, kid,” Gage tells him.
Rafe shakes his head while the rest of us laugh. Granger might think we’re too hard on him sometimes. The truth is that he should take Gage keeping him here as a compliment. Someone has to hold down the fort, and it seems he’s earned his place enough for the job.
I look over my shoulder after hearing Warren clear his throat. He gives me an upward nod, and I reluctantly leave my seat next to Hattie to see what he wants. I follow him and Tripp past the dining table and toward the back corner, where it’s quieter.
I’m not in the mood to play a game, but out of habit, I grab a cue from the wall.
“Any crazy shit floating around in your head you want to bring up?” Warren asks, picking up a yellow and white-striped nine-ball.
I lean my hips back against the pool table and run a hand through my hair. We’ve been in spots like this before, plenty of times. When someone hurts the people we love, or attempts to, it usually ends in chaos and revenge. Or at the very least, a deranged set of plans to stop it.
Having put my high-tempered days behind me, I don’t like the idea of poking the bear if he’s already gone into hibernation. When we take the aggressive approach, someone always gets hurt. For once, I’d like to look at things with a more level head and try to keep the peace while we have it.
I glance over at Gage, who is carefully watching our conversation. He looks like he’s itching to leave the kitchen and find out if we’re plotting anything. Warren and Tripp are looking at me with the same level of enthusiasm to jump into action, and I actually huff a laugh through my nose.
Somehow, when I was at my lowest, having just quit rodeo for good, the universe brought me to this ranch. I showed up here with nothing but a trunk full of buckles and wounded pride. At the time, I didn’t expect it to change my life.
Little did I know, taking this job would turn out to be so much more than a paycheck or an escape from the rest of the world that only saw the worst in me.
When I stepped foot into the bunkhouse, I was about to meet three guys who, for whatever reason, decided they were going to be my brothers.
And they haven’t stopped acting like it ever since.
My mouth remains lifted at the corners as I stare down at the worn wood flooring. This spot next to the pool table is visibly more scuffed and faded than the rest of the room. I run the end of the cue over a plank that looks especially beat up.
We’ve shuffled back and forth on this floor while playing at least one thousand games of pool here over the years. It’s the best spot for dancing, too. The quickest path to the jukebox. The most natural place to gather for talks like this one.
I should replace the roughed-up flooring before I move out of this place. But something about changing a single thing about it doesn’t feel right. I like the battered parts just the way they are.
“Hello?” Tripp waves a hand in front of my face. “Are you zoned out right now?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I rub my temple. “What did you say?”
“He asked if you had any crazy shit floating around in your head,” Tripp says. “What’s the plan?”
“No crazy shit. No plan,” I answer. Gage wanders over, unable to help himself from joining the conversation.
I shake my head. “Seems like every time the four of us put our heads together and come crashing in with guns blazing, shit gets too messy. Let’s keep things chill this time. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
The guys all nod, but I don’t miss the traces of shock in their expressions. They’re used to me staying in the background or responding with no more than a few words and a grunt.
I’m warming up to the whole talking more thing, though.
It’s not always easy, especially if I’m worked up about something like the situation with Marcus.
But if this weekend taught me anything, it’s that I have to keep working on myself if I’m going to have the life I want.
Hattie deserves that from me. Staying silent when shit hits the fan can’t happen anymore, and neither can jumping in like four bats out of hell to eliminate a threat.
“Not even one tiny gun blazing?” Gage asks with a hint of disappointment.
I study the scene in the kitchen where Rafe tops off his cup of black coffee, and Hattie laughs at something Granger said—three people who would appreciate a break from hardship more than anyone. I want to provide a stretch of peace for them. For all of us.
“Not even one.” I stand and lean the pool stick against the wall.
“You don’t think Marcus is going to do anything?” Tripp asks. “Even after making him look like a dumbass more than once, and after what he said about lighting up Rafe’s place?”
Warren shrugs. “He seems like the all bark, no bite type.”
“We’ll help get the new gate up tonight and be done with the whole thing,” I suggest. “As long as the girls steer clear of Tish for a while, Marcus can do whatever he wants. Rafe has enough cameras and computer files to put him away if he tries anything.”
Gage nods in agreement and looks down, deep in thought. “It’s a good call. We’re with you.”
Hattie draws my attention when she gets up from her seat and lets out a second yawn. I’d like to smirk, remembering how little we slept last night, but a bigger part of me feels guilty that she hasn’t been able to get the uninterrupted rest her mind is probably begging for right now.
She hasn’t mentioned that it’s Jay’s birthday at all. I didn’t expect her to, but I don’t want her to feel like she’s alone with that weight. All I want to do is take care of her and make sure days like this are a little easier on her from now on.
“I’ll meet y’all out front later this afternoon,” I say.
Tripp slaps me on the back of the shoulder as Gage and Warren both nod.
They start talking about weaning calves and moving the bred heifers to the spring pastures as soon as I approach Hattie.
Without protest, she lets me take her hand and lead her down the hall to my room.
Lucky’s paws patter across the floor behind us.
“My dad is literally in the next room,” Hattie whispers as I close the door behind us.
I chuckle and flip the lights off. “No funny business for now. You need a nap.”
“What’s a nap?” she jokes.
I drop to the bed and pull her on top of me. Within seconds, her eyes close, and I rub her back until her breathing settles into a slow rhythm.
“Not sure what time we’ll be back from helping your dad with the gate tonight.”
“Should I go with you?”
“I’d feel better if you stayed here.” I thought about how terrible the timing is, considering Jay’s birthday. “You okay with that? The other guys can probably tackle it on their own if I stick around instead.”
“It’s okay.” She sighs sleepily and nestles her head into the crook of my shoulder. “Lucky will gladly keep your spot warm.”
I smile into her hair. “True.”
“I should probably grab some stuff from my house at some point this weekend.”
I’d like to tell her to grab all of her stuff from her house, but we have plenty of time to talk about that when she isn’t so tired.
She doesn’t make a sound when I push the hair out of her face and bend to kiss her forehead.
I see a lot of sleepless nights and weekend naps in our future, just like this one, and I’m not mad about it.
I don’t know that I’ve ever looked forward to anything more.
“We can head over to your place in the morning, and you can get whatever you need,” I say. “Maybe go out for breakfast or something.”
Her breath dances across my skin as she lets out a soft laugh. “Since when do you suggest going out to eat? What’s the occasion?”
“Life with you.”