CHAPTER 8
Phoebe
“Let me go instead.”
“Why? I’m perfectly fine!”
Jake frowns. “You just finished a double shift, Pea. Let one of us drive the supplies out. It’s getting seriously cold.”
“And I am wearing seriously warm gear. See?” I gesture like a game show hostess to my weatherproof coveralls, then strike a pose. “Three layers underneath. Insulating liner under the helmet. Practical and fashionable!”
He isn’t amused.
“You worry too much. Seriously, you need a girlfriend so you can start obsessing about her safety instead of mine.”
He laughs and shakes his head.
“And anyway, you’re Mom’s right-hand man. I’ve got this. Go spend some time with Daddy, too—he’s missed you a lot, you know.”
My big brother looks out over the ranch, squinting into the sun. He’s taking our father’s illness very hard. I wonder if his concern over me is simply misdirected worry about Dad.
We don’t say it aloud, but we’re all thinking the same thing—this might be the last Christmas we have with him.
My brothers know I dropped everything in my life to move home last year after he was diagnosed.
And they know that in addition to my nursing work, I’ve picked up the slack at home and on the ranch.
I appreciate how much my oldest brother cares for me, but I wish he’d give me some credit for knowing what I’m doing. If I were the careless type, I wouldn’t be alive. Heaven knows that this isn’t exactly a safe, suburban cul de sac around here.
Travis Ranch is six hundred square miles of untamed, rugged land.
“At least the weather is clear,” Jake says.
“Yes, and it’s just ninety minutes out and ninety minutes back.
” I smack the top of the large gear locker on the back of this beast of an all-terrain vehicle.
Inside are the supplies I’m taking out to Jeb and Louise, the caretakers of our farthest out grazing land, along with extra gas, food, tools, and anything I might need in an emergency.
“Do you have your phone?”
I unzip the breast pocket of my coveralls and provide the evidence that I do, in fact, have my phone. Then put it back and zip up again.
“Got your avalanche whistle?”
I pull the cord out from my thermal turtleneck so he can see the bright orange plastic of the rescue whistle. “Here you go, even though it’s flat nearly the whole way, it’s not even snowing, and there will be no avalanche in my future.”
“Thanks for humoring me,” Jake says. “Do you have extra ammo for your rifle?”
“Sure do.” I snap my helmet’s chin strap, put on my giant gloves, and settle the goggles over my eyes. “See you this afternoon!”
“Please be careful, Phoebe.”
I punch him in the upper arm. “Jake! I freaking live here. You’re just visiting. I do this kind of stuff all the time while you’re out smacking hockey pucks around an ice rink. So please, please, just give it a rest, will ya?”
He nods, surrendering. He’s a sweetheart, even if he’s a pain in my butt.
“I’m not a little girl anymore, Jake.”
“But you’ll always be my baby sister.”
I stand on my tip toes, pull my mouth guard aside, and kiss his cheek. Then I put it all back in place and yank up my balaclava to protect my lower face. “I love you, you big goof.” I jump on the ATV and turn the ignition switch, checking the multifunction dashboard. Everything’s a go.
Jake decides to resume arguing with me, but I pull my goggles into place, smile, and point to my ear as if I can’t hear him. I give him a thumbs up and take off down the dirt lane.
I look back to see him standing with his arms crossed over his chest, scowling. I blow him a kiss.