Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
GABE
“Daddy!” Aurora’s sweet voice squealed as her freckled face came into view on my phone screen. A genuine smile split my lips. I missed my girl. This was her weekend with her mom, so I wouldn’t see her again until Friday, but Celeste was always willing to let her video call me whenever she liked.
“Hey, pumpkin. I miss you.” It took everything I had not to let my voice crack as a combination of pain and guilt tightened my throat.
I hated that her mom and I couldn’t make it work, that we weren’t in love and never had been.
But it was time. We needed to end things and move on before resentment settled in and our daughter suffered because of it.
“I miss you more,” she proclaimed, and I shook my head.
“Uh-uh, no way. I miss you more.” And I did. I missed her so much it made my chest ache. I couldn’t wait until school was out and I got her for two weeks at a time during summer break. This every other weekend bullshit was killing me.
“I miss you times infinity,” she replied, and I widened my eyes dramatically, holding up my hands in surrender.
“Whoa, pulling out the big guns. How am I supposed to top that?”
“You can’t,” she replied smugly. I chuckled, and a soft giggle fell from her lips. The sound was like music to my ears. I didn’t get to hear it nearly as often now that her mom and I were divorced. Yet another reason for the guilt churning in my gut.
I shoved down those feelings and cleared my throat.
“When is your big dance recital?” It didn’t matter that I had to drive more than two hours to Nashville; I wasn’t about to miss the big recital she’d been practicing for the last few months.
I knew it was coming up, but Celeste hadn’t given me the details yet.
“In two weeks,” she replied excitedly. She would be with her mom again, so I thankfully wouldn’t have to worry about getting her ready and fixing her hair just so. I was hopeless with a curling iron.
“I’ll be there. Just have your mom send me the details.”
“Okay,” she chirped, eyes alight with excitement.
She’d adjusted to her new life in Nashville easily, making new friends and joining a dance team.
She did well in school and was already talking about attending music camp this summer.
I would be forever grateful to Celeste for deciding to move back to Nashville to be closer to her parents.
I’d had no desire to stay in Texas after our divorce, but I would have just to be close to Rory.
A knock at the door drew my attention away from her. I wasn’t expecting any visitors, so I assumed it was just a delivery. Whatever it was, they could leave it on the porch. I opened my mouth to ask her how Andy, her pet chinchilla, was doing when a more persistent knock sounded.
“Sorry, Pumpkin, but I gotta go. There’s someone at the door.” I promised to call her back later, and we said our goodbyes. Tucking my phone into my pocket, I headed for the front door, pulling it open without looking first. I drew up short, surprise rendering me speechless.
“Woody,” I said, stunned to see my best friend standing on my front porch.
Elwood Hayes stood at nearly six and a half feet tall, his broad shoulders filling the doorway like they might brush against the frame when he walked through it.
Where I was lean and wiry, he was all bulk and power.
He had a presence that was impossible to ignore.
Relief tightened my throat, and I had to swallow the emotion welling up inside at seeing him in person for the first time since his stroke.
Even though his wife, RaeAnne, had kept me updated on his recovery and I’d video chatted with him from time to time, seeing him in the flesh, thriving, and back at full strength was something to behold.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, a genuine smile curving my lips at this unexpected surprise.
He ignored my question and shook his head with a chuckle.
“Are you ever gonna stop calling me that?” Nobody else addressed him that way anymore, but it had always stuck with me.
When I originally came to the ranch to work for him, I revived his old high school nickname.
It was the name everyone in the bleachers chanted at football games on Friday nights back when he dominated the field, and I was just a wide-eyed middle schooler watching him obliterate his opponents.
“Probably not,” I replied, stepping aside to let him in.
“Here,” he said, thrusting a six pack into my hands. “A housewarming present.”
“You mean, you didn’t buy me coordinating linens or a crockpot to welcome me into my new home?” I asked, feigning offense. One side of his mouth quirked up, and he let out an amused snort before pulling me into a backslapping hug.
“It’s good to have you back,” he said before releasing me. It was good to be back. I’d missed this small town with its rustic charm and all its quirks while living so close to the city for so long. I wasn’t built for the suburbs.
“How did you know where to find me? I just moved in yesterday and haven’t given you my address yet.”
He shot me an exasperated look. “It’s Poplar Ridge,” he replied simply as though that explained everything, and I guessed it probably did.
This house was only about three minutes from Main Street and had been the only house for rent inside the city lines.
It wouldn’t have taken much asking around to figure out where I lived.
“Let me guess… Dorthea?” The beautician who’d been doing hair in town for over forty years knew everything about everybody. If you needed information, that was who you went to, but it usually came at a price.
“Ran into her at the post office. I had to come into town to pick up Nash’s new bull riding helmet.”
“I’m glad to hear he’s sticking with it.
He showed a lot of promise in that junior rodeo he competed in a few years ago,” I said, recalling the video he’d sent me.
He used to send me a lot of videos from the kids’ competitions, including Jasmine’s barrel races.
They were always of her runs and never up close, so I couldn’t see her face.
Had I seen a more recent photo or video of her, I might have recognized her sooner and avoided staring at her breasts like a horny teenager.
That was what I got for staying gone so long, but I’d spent the past few years trying to salvage my marriage, and Celeste hated it here.
That probably should’ve been my first clue things weren’t going to work out between us, but I’d wanted to do right by her.
So I gave our marriage my all until I couldn’t anymore, and she found someone else who could love her the way I couldn’t.
At this point, I wasn’t sure I was even capable of falling in love, considering I’d spent the last eight years trying to love my wife and failing at it.
Elwood’s long, frustrated sigh pulled me from the memory.
“I hope he continues to stay with it. We’re doing our best to keep him busy and out of trouble, but he keeps finding it.
” His youngest son lost his high school sweetheart tragically last year, and he’d been in a downward spiral ever since.
He’d never been one to cause problems but had been getting into trouble more frequently lately and behaving recklessly.
It was almost like he was ready to follow her into the grave.
“I’m sorry, man,” I said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “If there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“I appreciate it. Maybe having another positive male role model around will help. Plus, being a fellow bull rider, he might listen to you more than he does me. Maybe you can give him some pointers, help him train when you’re not busy with the horses?”
“Of course.” A heaviness settled around us, the weight of grief pressing in like an invading army. The past year had been hard on his family. No sooner had he fully recovered from his accident and all the surgeries and procedures that followed, Nash’s girlfriend died.
“Although,” he said finally, cutting through the tense moment, “you probably won’t have a spare second to yourself once Jasmine gets ahold of you.”
I gulped, hoping he wouldn’t notice my discomfort at the mention of her name.
“She’s gearing up for racing season, so she’s been training every day. I’m sure she’ll rope you into helping her. She always did prefer you over the other trainers. Between you and me, I think she had a little crush on you back then,” he said with a chuckle.
I was suddenly struck speechless, not knowing how to respond to that.
Did I admit I knew about her crush? Should I tell him I ran into her last night?
It seemed best to keep that information to myself.
It would open up too many questions. Thankfully, he saved me from having to respond because he had an agenda.
“Anyway, I came to see if you wanted to grab lunch. The cafe on the corner still serves that hot brown you love so much.” Being so close to Kentucky, hot browns were a menu staple in most restaurants in the area.
They were hard to come by in Dallas, so I hadn’t had one in years.
As if on cue, my stomach let out an audible growl.
“I guess that’s your answer,” I said and swiped my keys off the counter. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with my best friend over my favorite meal for the first time in nearly a decade. It felt like coming home.
And damn did that feel good.