7. Flint
Flint
“You assumed I needed lessons. I just didn’t correct you. That right there was the moment I fell in love with her,” I explain to Thomas O'Meowley. He just blinks up at me and doesn't say a word as I recount for the five hundredth time exactly how I fell in love with Ronnie.
It's been a month since I met her for that amazing birthday weekend, and my life hasn't been the same since. When I woke up in the motel room, the loneliness was crushing.
I know we had something amazing between us. But it must have made her afraid because she wasn't there.
I've spent the past thirty days trying to bribe Lauren into telling me more details about Ronnie. My latest round of bribery involved chocolate and that pissed off Bronco, her husband, so much that I ended up mucking out stalls for the next five days.
There has to be a way for me to find her. At this point, I'm thinking of going online to cross-reference every Veronica I can find in Asheville. Then I'll go door-to-door and knock on every place until I find her again.
“I know she was the love of my life,” I tell Duchess who headbutts my shin. She's been clinging to me ever since I came back. It's like she can sense my grief at losing Veronica.
“Don't you worry. She's out there somewhere, and this cowboy will do whatever it takes to bring your new mom home,” I explain as I give her gentle pets. When she’s finally content that I’ve given her enough attention, I put down more straw to keep her friends warm and comfortable.
I built this place not long after I came to Valor Ranch. Duchess needed medical attention and well, I looked after her. Then a neighbor who had been caring for several cats moved, leaving them behind. Plus, a pretty little Calico gave birth under Bronco’s porch.
I needed a place so the cats could be safe from the elements, and that’s how you end up building a cat shed from leftover lumber.
The shed has multiple perches at varying heights, plenty of straw, and even the occasional bit of nip for the recreational crowd who likes to experiment when they think I’m not looking.
A truck beeps loudly in the distance, and I quickly finish my refresh of the straw. I say goodbye to the feline community who has listened with rapt attention to the sad saga of my broken heart before I jog down the dirt path to the cabin.
Duchess follows me, pausing once to glare over her shoulder toward the shed. I suspect she and Thomas are in the middle of a huge spat. He just told her he didn’t want children.
“There’s cat dad, finally,” Kane mutters from the back of the truck where he’s already unloading a stack of lumber without me.
It’s a running joke among the guys. They all call me cat dad because I keep adopting every stray that comes along.
But it’s not my fault that the ones who need love the most keep finding me.
He almost steps on Duchess’ tail with his big boot, barely managing to avoid her at the last second. She hisses at him, and I wave it away. “Don’t take it personally. She’s having relationship problems.”
The look he sends me tells me he doesn’t understand the intricacies of feline relationships and doesn’t care to. “Look, this is all we could get on the truck today. I’ll get the rest of the lumber tomorrow.”
I survey the burned cabin that we’re supposed to be rebuilding. “Don’t reckon it matters. It’ll take us about three months to get it done.”
He shakes his head, muttering something underneath his breath about stupid kids. Some teenagers got to hanging out in the woods next to Valor Ranch. They were playing with matches, and one thing led to another. We were fortunate. Only the property burned. The kids were uninjured though shaken up.
Not that the sheriff will go easy on them. The trio of troublemakers are now doing community service around town and probably will be until they’re ready to join the Wildflower Retirement Community.
Kane pauses to look at the cabin too. He lets out a low whistle. “Do you think the new guy is going to be pissed?”
I shrug. “Nah, I'll let him bunk with me. We should have the repairs finished by the end of summer.”
“Let's hope he's not pissed,” Kane says. “You promised him room and board with the position, and you know how cranky civilians can be.”
I chuckle. “Don’t you worry about him. I have a way with people.”
“Did you get that dam checked?” He grunts.
I set another load of lumber down, muscles burning and lungs aching. Feels good, hell of a lot better than lying around in a hospital bed worried you’re gonna die. “Yeah, the creek is rising from the extra rain this season, but it’ll hold just fine. No reason for Bronco to worry.”
Kane takes a big appreciative sniff of the air then looks at me with something that most people would think of as a grimace but on his face, it almost passes for a smile. “Smells like dinner is cooking. Let’s get this done.”
After we finish unloading, we cover the boards with a heavy-duty tarp and make plans to start work tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning, I have to introduce the new hire to the ranch and show him around.
When Bronco asked me months ago to hire a ranch manager to help keep up with the mushrooming paperwork associated with running a thirty-acre ranch, I quickly realized I don’t have the patience for this bullshit.
I’ve always been better at reading people in person, so I looked through a few resumes, found one that looked decent, and sent Ronald an email to let him know he was hired. Sight unseen.
If he does show up with a cranky ass tomorrow, I’ll deal with him. Until then, I’m going to eat with my friends, go home alone, and keep dreaming of the day I can bring my girl home.
Bronco is manning the grill tonight. Most evenings here at Valor Ranch, the guys eat over an open fire. Bronco and Ridge take turns cooking burgers, hot dogs, and any other kind of meat you can stab on a stick.
It's not fancy, but most of the guys here don't want fancy. They want something that feels familiar. Eating with a group of guys and busting each other's balls about the hard days of work we've put in is familiar.
I take a seat next to Cord, but he's wrapped up talking to his girl, Mira. Normally I would tease him, and she’d join in too. We’d gang up on him until his surly frown changed to an easy laugh because we’d chased away his demons for another night.
But I'm not in the mood. I haven't been in much of a joking mood ever since I lost Veronica. She’s all I think about, and my body hurts worse than when they did that surgery and opened me up.
Still, I manage to stay casual enough that no one realizes how melancholy I’ve gotten tonight.
At least that’s what I think when I’m downing my second beer and wishing everyone a good night as I leave.
I make the excuse that I have an early start tomorrow and Duchess leaps from my lap, as if confirming that we really do have to leave.
“What do you have going on?” Bronco barks. He built this place, and he looks after all of us like we’re his little brothers. He’s got no family, so I guess it makes sense. Well, other than Lauren who for some unknown reason took pity on the bastard and married him.
“He has to test new guy. Got to make sure he’s not a whiny little bitch,” Kane says.
“Don't worry. If he is, I'll build him up strong,” I tell them which gets a round of laughter.
On that note, I leave dinner, pausing to tip my hat to Lauren and Mira. I'm walking back to my cabin when I hear boots behind me.
I slow my stride, expecting Cord. But it's not him. It's Ridge. Ridge is one of the older veterans here. He has to be close to twenty years older than me.
They say he was a surgeon at one point. All I know is the man can't grip anything with the last two fingers on his left hand now. He covers it well enough that you wouldn't know unless you were paying attention.
Ridge joins me, matching my pace as I start again.
“You're quiet lately,” he says after the silence has stretched. “Where’s your head at?”
Of course he's asking me about this. Like a lot of guys here, I have the nightmares, depression, and anxiety that come from having seen combat. That’s before you even touch on the chronic pain that you grit your teeth to get through every day.
“I lost the love of my life, and I don't know how to find her again,” I admit.
“Shit.”
“You got some wise words for this one?” I challenge, partially because I’m looking for a fight. It’s not right to take it out on one of my brothers, but if anyone understands, it’ll be Ridge. The man was probably a priest or a saint or something good in a past life.
He whistles. “Afraid my first and only love was the Marines.”
I don’t know why his quiet words settle me. “And you never got over her.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” he mutters. “Sometimes, you go your whole life, and no one ever finds you worth loving.”
I grunt. “You’re not old.”
“I’m a billion, kid. One day, you’ll understand.”
I don’t think he actually is, but maybe there’s a special kind of grief that comes from never finding her. At least, I found Ronnie. I know she’s out there. I just have to figure out the getting her to fall in love with me part.
We walk for a few more minutes in silence. We’re closing in on my cabin when he says, “If it’s meant to be, she’ll come back to you.”
I can't help scoffing at his statement. “She’s not just going to walk back into my life. It doesn't work that way.”