19. Chased
NINETEEN
Chased
CARTER
“You look like a zombie.” Jake observed me stumbling out into the dawn.
Did I put my boots on the wrong feet? Wouldn’t put it past me. I’d been up half the night. Couldn’t sleep with the way Sage and I had left things. I’d mucked out the stables until the early hours and talked to the horses instead of tossing and turning in my bunk, a decision I regretted now.
“What the hell are we doing today?” I rubbed both eyes.
Ash came up and explained. “We started a new tradition last year. Each day after Thanksgiving, assuming we have snow—which this is Montana, so of course we do—we break out the sleighs and give free rides all day to anyone in the community who stops by. They bring canned goods to donate to the local food bank. This was Chris’s idea; he’s big on giving back.
He bought two beautiful wooden sleighs last year that we use on this occasion. Here they come now.”
Eldon’s truck appeared, hauling a flatbed behind it with said sleighs. They were a little dusty from storage, but I could see they’d shine with dark wood and brass accents when cleaned up.
My half-brother was a saint. Always doing some good.
Then there was me. Ripping the heart out of a sweet, small-town woman.
“Ash, I’m not feeling so great today,” I groaned, holding my stomach.
“You look like shit, too.” He motioned for me to follow him off to the side. Jake cast me a pitiful glance and left us. “What the fuck is going on with you?”
No point lying to Ash. Although I wasn’t sure how much he knew about my situation with Sage. I filled him in on the basic details.
“So you went against my advice and got yourself involved with her, anyway? Did you think I was joking when I warned you?” He raised his voice, and I shrank back.
“No, sir. I just thought that she… I’d hoped that I… I thought we could handle it, not getting in too deep.”
“Jesus. Get the fuck out of my sight right now,” he grumbled. “Wait, I had a message from Chris. He’s flying in. He’s arranged for your extraction on your last day tomorrow. Between the whole debacle with Red Amos and now Sage? I think it’s best you get ready to leave our ranch.”
Extraction? I snorted, imagining a military operation to extract me from the ranch.
He stalked away, leaving me feeling more like shit than ever. Not even the thought of the money I was about to come into could cheer my mood. I headed back into the quiet of the bunkhouse and fell into my bunk, shutting out the world around me—one I’d no longer belong in after tomorrow.
I woke mid-afternoon, surprised Ash and the guys would let me sleep that long. The sounds of people wafted in from outside. Already dressed, I brushed my teeth and guzzled a gallon of water. When I reached for the coat I’d worn every day—the one belonging to Sage’s dad—it fell on the floor.
The inside of the jacket landed face up, the shearling lining well-worn but still able to provide warmth.
Like her, it’d seen me through this experience.
I almost hated to part with it. But I’d have to tomorrow.
Just like I’d be leaving Sage behind. I’d rolled the situation over in my head all night long.
How could she possibly fit into my life in New York?
But how could I fit into her life here? We were two opposites never meant to attract, but did.
I picked up the jacket, noticing something sticking out of the inner pocket I hadn’t seen before.
I pulled out an old letter; the paper yellowed around the edges, the handwriting barely readable.
My dearest Mrs. Wylde,
I’m writing this from the kitchen table, though you’re only out helping a neighbor with her newborn for the day. You kind, loving soul.
The girls helped me in the garden this morning. Sage insisted on planting the lavender exactly where the sunlight hits longest, saying it “felt right.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her she sounds just like me with my love of the land.
The rows of baby apple trees are a joyous sight. Everything we’re growing is still small, still finding its roots, but I think that’s the beauty of it. We don’t rush things here. We let them take their time, settle in, and become what they’re meant to be.
I miss you, darling, even though you’ll be home in a few hours.
In case you forgot, just wanted to remind you that there’s a place for you here in everything we’re building… and in every corner of my heart.
Always yours,
Mr. Wylde
Must be Sage’s father who penned this love letter, so simple yet filled with heart. Certainly, my father and mother never bothered writing to each other.
Sage had a better example of a loving relationship than I did. She was a woman who stayed, who loved, who cared deeper than thirty days could contain. I was a man with no proven track record for staying with anyone for any length of time.
One line choked me up though, rereading it out loud: “We don’t rush things here. We let them take their time, settle in, and become what they’re meant to be.”
That was the entire problem, wasn’t it? Dad’s challenge was too short.
Thirty days to prove I could become a better man living on next to nothing?
Why couldn’t he have written a year? Then I’d have had a full year with Sage, a year to figure things out between us, to become a genuine cowboy.
It was all his fault, this stupid challenge in the first place.
The irony. I wanted to rage against Dad. Against his money, and this challenge. I didn’t want to undertake this in the first place that day that I begged Chris for a job.
But now, there was too little time left.
“Fuck!” I shouted, stuck, at a loss for how to stop time.
I stuffed the letter back into the coat and put it on, and then headed outside, bundled up against the cold.
What I saw lifted my spirits a little. Cars and people came and went; families and couples waited for sleigh rides.
Huge bins of canned goods sat collected near the barn.
Horses stood on standby so the guys could rotate them out for pulling the sleighs.
Children sledded down the hill where church had been the first Sunday I was here.
I meandered over to Jake, who was in charge of one sleigh, helping a family on, and about to take off. He explained the system to me. Ranch hands took turns steering the sleigh, giving people a ride out through the pasture toward the woods for about fifteen minutes, then turning and coming back.
“Hop in with me in the driver’s seat. I’ll give you a lesson.” He offered.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Easy enough to learn.”
He was right; it was simple. And enjoyable. We pulled scarves up over our noses so we wouldn’t freeze. The sun shone in a bright blue sky, turning the snow into sparkling gems.
“Why don’t you take the next family out yourself?” He suggested and turned over the reins.
For the next two hours I rotated in and out, keeping my mind occupied, my hands busy, so that I wouldn’t think. Thinking hurt too much. The work kept me steady, and like most things here, wasn’t difficult. Almost… enjoyable.
I admired Chris and this entire ranch setup. He had things figured out about giving back and making people happy, and animals too. In fact, of all my brothers, Chris was easily the most responsible one. I regretted now that I’d wasted all these years not getting to know him better.
Toward dusk, the families had left, and the ranch returned to normal. Ash had tasked Trig and me with breaking down the horses and loading up the sleighs. The rest of the guys went to eat. Then a car pulled into the ranch. Sage’s car.
She got out and ran to me, calling my name.
“I thought I could let you leave without saying goodbye, but I don’t think I can.” Sadness in her eyes mirrored my own when she got close.
“Oh, baby, come here.” I swooped her into my arms, gripping her tightly. “I thought of you all night long. So glad you’re here. I never meant to hurt you, Sage.”
“I know, but if you could lie to me and tell me your heart hurts just as much, that would make me feel better,” she chuckled.
“I don’t have to lie about that. It’s true.” I pressed my lips to hers, aching inside. The full knowledge hit me at once, just how much I would miss her. I might even miss this ranch. All of it.
Trig got our attention, getting ready to unhitch the last team of horses. “Carter, would you mind taking care of this? I’ve got Autumn and the baby waiting for me to finish working.” He thumbed over at his sister and her baby, sitting in her car across the way.
It shocked me that he’d ask so nicely. “Go on, Trig. Go to Autumn. Sage and I can take a quick ride and then I’ll put the horses away.”
Trig studied me, then gave a curt nod and mumbled, “Thanks. Appreciate it.” It was the closest thing to genuine appreciation I’d ever gotten from him. Maybe his sister’s situation humbled him.
“Take one last ride with me?” I held out my hand to Sage.
“One last ride.” She blinked away unshed tears.
We climbed into the sleigh. I nickered, flicking the reins. The horses moved forward with a gentle jingle of bells. She snuggled into my side under a thick blanket, her head on my shoulder. Under a sky shifting to dusk, the horses steadied on their course.
“Come here.” I took her into my arms, across my lap, pressing my lips to hers, soft, lingering kisses that tasted like goodbye. The sleigh glided over the snow, the ranch fading behind us as we went farther than I’d driven all day.
I stopped the sleigh in a quiet clearing.
Sage shifted, straddling me under the blanket.
Our kisses turned deeper, hungrier, hands roaming under coats and sweaters, heating each other up.
For a few blissful minutes, all I wanted in the world was her.
Everything else disappeared, but her warmth, her taste, the moans she made against my mouth.