Chapter 21
CASSIE
Rent's on the porch rail when I push open the cabin door, positioned the way he always is in the morning, like he's been there for hours and was beginning to wonder about me.
Mae's in the rocker. The four of them are spread across the steps below her, and they're not kittens anymore.
Tornado's sprawled across the second step like he owns it.
Biscuit is leaning against the post, licking his paw.
Lightning sits at the edge watching something in the tree line, ears finally pointed in the same direction. Steve is asleep.
Steve is always asleep.
It's the reset day between clinics, and the property is quiet.
I fill the bowl, and all six of them move at once.
Tornado gets there first because Tornado always gets there first. Rent drops off the rail.
Mae unfolds herself from the rocker and takes her time about it because Mae has decided she never needs to hurry.
No fuss. No ceremony. Three months of this, and it runs on its own.
I'm back in the rocker watching them eat when Levi comes around the corner of the cabin with two mugs. Three months since the tack room. Two and a half months of him knowing where the food bag is.
He hands me one of the mugs and takes the rocker next to me, long legs stretched out in front of him, and looks out at the property.
"Happy birthday," he says.
"Thanks."
"You want to ride the east fork?"
I look at him over my mug. "You're suggesting a trail ride before the day starts."
"I'm suggesting a trail ride as the day starts."
"You hate mornings."
"I hate mornings when there's no reason for them." He looks at me. "This is a reason, it’s your birthday."
I take a drink of coffee. "Shouldn't you be mucking stalls?"
"I already talked to Kade."
"And?"
"He said go."
I take a drink of coffee. Tornado has wedged himself against Levi's boot and is pushing against it like he's trying to move a fence post. Levi looks down at him, then back at me.
"Yeah," I say. "Let's ride."
***
Kade's at the far end of the barn when we walk in, working down a stall. The barn has that early morning smell of hay, horses, and work already underway.
I go to Cricket's stall, and she puts her nose over the door.
I get her halter on and lead her out to the stall rail across from the tack room.
I run the brush over her back and sides before I reach for the pad.
When I glance over at Levi, he already has Copper's halter on, the brush moving down his back in long strokes, and the saddle pad out on the rail.
I look at the saddle pad. I look at him.
He's famously late to everything. In three months, I have never once seen him ahead of the work.
Kade glances at Levi from the far end of the barn. It's fast, one second, and Levi's jaw shifts, and Kade goes back to the stall as if nothing happened.
I don't know what that is. It sits there anyway.
Levi hands me Cricket's saddle pad before I get to the rack. "Want me to get your saddle?"
"I've got it."
"I know you've got it."
"Then why are you asking?"
He grins. "Birthday manners."
Cricket stands quiet for the saddle. She knows the east fork. She's done it enough times now that her ears come up the second we head through the back gate, and she walks out with that forward energy she has when she knows she's going somewhere worth going.
***
The trail closes in through the timber corridor, the light going from open to filtered through pines. The ground is soft under the horses' feet. Cricket settles into it, her walk loosening as the trees close around us, and I give her the reins and let her find her pace.
Levi starts talking before we're a hundred yards in.
"So Sutton did an assessment," he says.
"Of what?"
"Bingo. Full assessment. Categories and everything."
I look over at him. "He's five."
"He's very organized for five." Levi shifts in the saddle. "Categories were: smartness, speed, listening, tricks, and something called dog behavior."
"That's broad."
"He said it covered the stuff that didn't fit anywhere else."
Cricket hops the first log crossing without breaking stride. I wait.
"How'd Bingo score?"
"Nine out of ten overall."
"What cost him the point?"
"The sock incident."
"Which one?"
"Exactly," Levi says. "There have been too many to pin one down. That was the problem."
I'm laughing by the time the trail starts to climb toward the ridge, and Copper pulls up alongside Cricket at the top, both horses blowing easy in the cool air.
The trail opens into the meadow. Cricket's head comes up, ears forward, taking in the whole field at once.
I give her a loose rein, and she walks out into the grass and blows out like she's been holding it since the tree line.
The mountains sit at the far end, big and certain, and the morning light is still low enough to come in sideways across the grass.
This is home. Cricket under me, this field, these mountains. I know it the way I know things that don't need saying anymore.
Levi pulls up beside me, and we stand there for a minute. He looks good on Copper, easy and loose, one hand on the reins and one resting on his thigh. He's looking toward the far end of the meadow.
Then he looks down at Copper's front left foot.
"Hang on." He swings down before I register what's happening, lands easily, and crouches by his hoof. "Something's off."
I'm off Cricket before I finish the thought. I come around to his side. He's on one knee. Not looking at the hoof. Looking up at me. There's a ring between his thumb and forefinger, small and gold.
"I called your dad last night," he says. "I asked him first because that felt right." He pauses. "He said yes. That was the whole conversation." He holds the ring up. "Cass. I've been gone on you since before I knew what to do about it. Marry me."
Tears hit before I'm ready for them. I press my lips together.
"That's not a speech," I say.
"I know."
"Most people give a speech."
"You'd hate a speech."
He's right. I'd hate a speech.
"Yes," I say. "Obviously yes."
He slides the ring on before I finish the words. He's on his feet. He pulls me in and kisses me, and I hold on. Cricket bumps the back of my shoulder. Neither of us breaks it.
When I finally pull back, I look up at him. "What did Dad actually say?"
I feel him grin. "He said it was about time."
I pull back far enough to look at him. "That's very him."
"It really was."
***
We ride back, taking our time. The timber corridor is quiet going home. Copper and Cricket walk side by side, loose and easy, both of them done working for the morning.
Neither of us says much for a while. I just look at the ring on my hand, and every so often he reaches over and rests his palm against my knee like he's checking it's still real. It is.
"We should probably figure out the cabin situation," Levi says.
I look over at him. "Okay."
"My couch is newer."
"We can move the couch."
He's quiet for a second. "My porch is better."
"Rent likes my rail. And Mae has my rocker. Neither of them is moving."
"I could build a rail on my porch."
"You're not going to build a rail."
"I could."
"Levi."
He makes a sound like he's considering it. He's not considering it. We both know I had this before the conversation started. He nudges Copper closer to Cricket and reaches over and takes my hand.
"The couch is really new," he says.
"It'll look great on my porch."
He laughs. The trail opens up ahead, and the back gate comes into view. Cricket picks up her pace.
***
We put the horses up and head to the dining hall. Mandy's behind the counter, and Londyn's at one of the tables, filling the napkin holder, when we come through the door. I pull out a stool and reach for the sweet tea pitcher, and Mandy's eyes go straight to my left hand.
She stops moving. She points at the ring and then at Levi and then back at the ring.
"Is that?"
"It is," I say, grinning.
Levi leans on the counter. "Take your time. She's going to need a minute."
She turns and walks straight to the kitchen. "Darla."
Londyn has already walked over to us. She's looking at my hand with her head tilted, and she smiles wide and genuine. "Oh, that's a nice ring."
"Thank you."
"He picked that out himself?"
I look at Levi.
"I had help," he says.
"Kade," I say.
Levi grins, which is its own answer.
Darla comes out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, and looks at my hand, then at Levi.
"You," she says, pointing at him. "About time you figured out what was standing right in front of you." Her eyes are bright, and she doesn't bother hiding it. "I'm firing up the smoker."
"Darla…"
"I didn't ask." She lets the door fall and goes back to the kitchen.
Mandy comes back out of the kitchen, crosses to me, and takes my hand.
She's looking at the ring, tilting it in the light, when Sutton comes through the door at a full run with Bingo three steps behind him and his boots on the wrong feet.
He plants himself beside Mandy and looks at her, looking at my hand.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking at her ring," Mandy says.
He looks at the ring. He looks at Levi. "Why does she have a ring?"
"Because I gave it to her."
Sutton processes this. He scrunches his whole forehead down. "What's that mean?"
"It means we're getting married," Levi says.
"Does that mean you're gonna live here forever?"
Levi looks at me. I look at Levi.
"Yeah, buddy," Levi says. "Forever and always."
Sutton looks at Bingo. Bingo looks at Sutton. Some kind of agreement passes between them. Sutton bolts out the door at a dead sprint, and I already know everyone on this ranch is going to know before we finish breakfast.
Kade comes in from the barn twenty minutes later, boots dusty, hat pushed back. He doesn't look at the ring. He already knew about the ring. He looks at me.
"Some people figure out what they've got before they lose it," he says. "Good to see he's one of them."
He goes to the coffee station and pours a mug like he didn't just say that. Levi stares at the back of his head.
"That's a compliment," I tell Levi.
"I know what it is."
Kade drinks his coffee.
Rhea comes through the door, crosses the room, and wraps her arms around me and holds on for a second. When she pulls back, she's grinning.
"I've been right about this for so long," she says.
"You've mentioned that."
"I'm going to keep mentioning it." She glances toward the door. "Sutton told me."
“Of course he did,” I say, laughing.
Logan comes through next, and he shakes Levi's hand. Not a quick shake. The kind that holds a beat, both of them knowing what it means. Logan says something low that I don't catch, and Levi nods, and that's the whole thing, and it's enough.
Sawyer finds me on the dining hall porch after breakfast. She comes up beside me and doesn't say anything at first, just looks out at the property, and then she turns and pulls me in. She holds on longer than a hug needs to.
"I'm glad you stayed," she says.
I don't trust my voice right enough to answer, so I squeeze her arm instead.
***
We eat outside. Kade and Levi bring two picnic tables to the fire pit.
Darla brings out the smoked brisket on a board and sets it in the center like she's been planning this for weeks, which, knowing Darla, she has.
Mandy brings the sides. Londyn strings the lights along the dining hall porch rail.
The whole crew fills in around the tables as the sun starts dropping behind the ridge, loud and easy, talking over each other, Sutton explaining to Bingo why the brisket is not for him, Rhea stealing cornbread off Levi's plate, Kade watching all of it from the end of the table with his coffee going warm and that dry expression that means he's exactly where he wants to be.
This is the whole thing. All of them, all at once, the mountains going purple at the edges, the fire popping, the brisket board making its second pass around the table, Levi's leg warm against mine under the table.
I look down at my ring. Then I look up at the sky.
Twenty years old. This is what it looks like.
***
We leave the fire when it burns low, just the two of us walking down the dark stretch of cabin row, the ranch gone quiet around us.
He doesn't say anything about the couch.
The cats are lined up at the bowl when we get to my porch.
Five of them, waiting with the patience of creatures who've never once considered the possibility of being forgotten.
Levi goes straight to the food bag without being asked.
He knows where it is. He's known where it is for a long time now.
He fills the bowl, and they move in around him, Tornado pushing to the front.
Steve turns up a minute later, taking his time about it, like he was never worried.
I lean against the porch rail and watch him.
He knows where the food is. He knows which cat is which. Mae in the rocker, Rent on the rail, Biscuit against your boot if you stand there long enough. He knows all of it because he's been here, morning after morning.
He straightens up, steps back, and lets them have it.
I turn toward the porch rail and look out at the property. The arena is dark. The pasture fence runs out into the black. The mountains at the far edge of everything, solid and familiar. Crickets are going in the grass below the steps. The ranch is quiet.
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me. I lean back into him.
The stars are thick overhead. His arms are around me. This is home.