17. Mags
17
MAGS
While Red drives, I check my emails, grinning when I see one from Aster.
The women at the ranch, myself, and the Sunday School Sallys have all formed a book club and one of the authors we read every new book by is Aster Hollingsworth. Not only are her books amazing, but she has also become a close friend to all of us.
She got her biggest break writing small-town romance with big, gruff, and tough Alaskan men who protect the land and get rewarded for doing so by a matchmaking mountain spirit.
Romance readers around the world fell in love with her stories with book retreats, signing tours, and many more stories written about these men and their Ones being called to them. What a lot of people don’t know is that they're all based on true mountain lore stemming from the Cooper family at Moose Mountain, one of those men being Aster's now-husband.
Right now, she’s almost finished writing a series about ranchers. Those books just happen to be based on how Colt, Rhett, Landry, Toby, and Austin all met and fell in love with their soulmates—Lee, Cora, Starchild, Dee, and Charlie.
We’re all curious about this latest book of hers though because none of us know who the couple is going to be. All of the ladies have been placing bets and their money is on Red or Wyatt.
All I know is that the next Call will be someone to the ranch. I can’t imagine Red falling in love with anyone else though. He was and always will be a one-woman guy, and that lucky girl was Anna. The sun rose and set with her, and as far as I know, he’s never looked at another woman since.
I used to be worried about him being alone all the time, raising Wy on the road and then on the ranch when they left the tour. But he's assured me many times that he’s OK with his lot, so I've always just left it alone.
“Did the book come through?” Red asks, glancing my way before focusing back on the road.
“I’ve got an email from Aster so yep,” I say, a smile tugging at my lips as I bounce in my seat. “I can’t wait to dive in.”
“I’ve always been curious about her books. Did you know that men at the ranch have all read them?”
“Oh yeah,” I reply. “Tobes even gets Dee to read them to him.”
He arches his brow. “Even their story?”
“Oh yeah. But that is where I should stop this conversation because I don’t think you’ll want to know the details…”
Red’s eyes sparkle with understanding. “Maybe I should start readin’ them one of these days.”
I eye him curiously. “You sure you can handle all of the sweet, swoony romance?”
His responding laugh warms my insides. “I’m sure I’ll manage. I already know about the Call from the others.”
“And what do you think about it?” I ask.
"It’s sounds a lot like a fairytale."
“They kind of are in a way,” I reply. “then again, I think we’ve all believed in fairytales at least once in our lives–or wished they were real.”
“Only once?”
I grin. “Okay, maybe more than once. I have been married a few times, after all. But we’ll just keep that to ourselves.”
He chuckles and uses his hand to gesture locking his lips. “Your secret’s safe with me, Mags. I’ve gotta tell ya though, almost everyone in town knows you’re a hopeless romantic.”
Sighing, I roll my eyes. “Back to the Call. Do you know that the mountain spirit is activated on one mountain at a time?”
"Yep. And the prophecy started with the Cooper family on Moose Mountain and has followed the bloodline in one way or another ever since. Bull Mountain came after Eagle, and that was only because Lee moved to the ranch with Colt,” he says.
“That’s right. Do you know anythin’ else about it?” I ask, fully invested in the conversation now. Red has never shown that much of an interest in the Call or the prophesy, but I’m not about to question why he’s so intrigued now.
“I know that there’s a Seer for every mountain and they are chosen by the spirit to be the person she communicates with in order to those hearin’ the Call navigate the journey toward each other.”
“Wow. I’m impressed,” I say. “For someone who hasn’t read the books, you sure do pay attention.”
“I do think I should start readin’ them though,” he adds.
Suddenly I’m confused. “Why? Do you think you’re next in line to hear the Call, Red?” I tease half-heartedly because just saying those words has my heart leaping into my throat. I push that feeling away though. “Cause if you are, give your best friend a head’s up so that I can put in a bet and win me some money.”
Red shoots me a wink. “I’ll always have your back, darlin’.” He nods toward the e-book reader in my lap. “Just so I know what to look out for, how does someone know they’re hearin’ the Call?”
My brows knit together. “Wait. Are you tellin’ me that after years of sayin’ you weren’t ever goin’ to hear it, now you’re suddenly open to it?”
His soft warm eyes meet mine. “Humor me, darlin’. Just this once…”
My spider senses and women’s intuition are pinging now. Does Red think he’s heard the Call? And if so, who’s his One?
Why does the idea of that not sit well with me? I want my best friend to be happy. I want him to live his best life and fall in love again. Out of everyone I know, Red Grayson deserves that more than anyone. A man like him—a good, honest, hardworking man—should not live the rest of his life alone.
“It’s different for everyone but a lot of the time, there are physical signs like a thumpin’ heart, feelin’ like you want to crawl out of your skin, and that flutterin’ feelin’ in your stomach, like there’s a thousand butterflies in there.”
Red tilts his head so that his eyes are on the road and on me. “So, it’s a bit like a crush then?”
I shrug. “That’s how I understand it from the books I’ve read and from what the women have told me.”
“Did Char tell you what it felt like?”
There’s no stopping the smile that curves my lips. "She came back to town for Austin, so I’m not sure whether anythin' she felt was the spirit workin’ her magic or their old feelin’s sparkin’ to life again. There was an undeniable pull between them though, anyone with eyes could see it. For Austin though, he had that god-awful rash and insomnia. As soon as they were together again, all of that went away.”
“I remember that,” he replies. “We all knew somethin’ was goin’ on with him, but it wasn’t until Char came back to town that we knew it was her.”
“Now it’s like they can’t get enough of each other. Char’s told me that they just knew . That deep in their hearts, they were made for one another. Their one true love,” I tell him.
“Rhett said he knew it was happenin’ when his heart kept tryin’ to jump out of his chest just thinkin’ about Cora, and it would just get worse when he’d see her.”
"Lee always knew that if she was goin’ to be rewarded with the Call, she wanted Colt to be her soulmate. So, when he went back to Eagle for the weekend, she says it was like they were magnets and couldn’t stay away from each other,” I add. “Anna said somethin’ similar after meetin’ you.”
That gets him smiling. “True story. The minute I laid eyes on her, I knew she was meant to be mine. It was like my life before her was black and white and there she was, a lightning bolt of technicolor.”
“You want to know what she said after that first night at the bar when we all met?” I say quietly.
His mouth quirks up on the side. “I already know. She said you two went back to your motel room and you teased her about ditchin’ you for a ‘hot cowboy’.”
“Ha! I did too. You two really did tell each other everythin’, didn’t you?”
“Sure did. Now I’m curious, what else did she say that night?” he asks.
“She said that before we’d even walked into that bar, she knew her life was about to change. As soon as she saw you standin’ by the jukebox, she knew you were the reason.”
His smile turns soft. “She was one of a kind, that one.”
“Taken too soon,” I add.
“Far too soon.” We both fall silent, and I know it’s because we’re both thinking about and missing her.
“There is one thing I’m finally startin’ to believe,” he says, grabbing my attention. I turn my whole body toward him, watching his face closely.
“What’s that?”
He glances my way, meeting my eyes dead on. “She wouldn’t have wanted me to put my life on hold like I have done.”
“I think you’re right there,” I add.
“I’d say she’d be pissed as hell that I’ve been survivin’ rather than livin’.” I open my mouth to speak but no words come out. He looks over at me, a small smirk playing on his lips. “Cat got your tongue, Mags?”
“I’m just… speechless . That’s what I am, speechless.” I mull over his words. There’s one thing I can’t work out though. “What’s brought this on? Why now?”
Surprising me, Red reaches out and holds his hand palm up on the seat between us. Without thinking, I lace my fingers with his, fighting to ignore the jolts of awareness that shoot up my arm. When it gets to be too much, I go to pull away but he flexes his grip and my eyes snap up to meet his.
"Reckon it's been a long time comin', darlin’. Been walkin' around feelin' like I'm half a person since Anna passed and I’ve wasted a long time watchin’ life pass me by without realizin’. I’ve decided that it’s time to start livin’. Life’s too short to waste, if there’s anythin’ we should learn from losin’ Anna, it’s that.” He takes a big breath like he's bracing himself for something. What he says next confuses me even more. "What I’m askin’ is if you think you might be able to help me do that?”
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as he bares his soul to me. Red Grayson, the man who has always been the rock for everyone else, is finally allowing himself to be vulnerable again. He’s willing to open his heart and hear the Call—if the mountain chooses to reward him.
What I don’t get is why he’s asking for me to help. Surely when he meets his One, he'll know…
When I don’t answer–I literally can’t because my tongue feels ten times too big for my mouth–he sighs and with one last squeeze of my hand, he lets me go, putting his hand back on the steering wheel.
For a second I wonder if I missed something, my chest feeling tight like my heart is suddenly too big for my chest. It’s only when he smiles and nods down at my e-reader I’d completely forgotten about that the pressure starts to ease.
“Are you just goin’ to talk about readin’ the new book or are you actually goin’ to start it? You never know, maybe you’ll find out who’s next in line for the Call.”
I nod, my thoughts still scattered all over the inside of the truck. Something that isn’t helped by Aster’s email when I finally read it.
Mags,
I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath for my new book but this time, I’m sending you and ONLY you a copy of my work in progress instead–I mean, who would want to read about their daughter and future son-in-law falling in love. I hope you eventually understand why I’m doing this.
Hopefully soon we’ll both know how this story ends.
Much Love
Aster H.
I read the email again… and again… trying–and failing–to understand what Aster means.
If I’m reading her email correctly, she’s saying she can’t finish the book because of me. But why? What do I have to do with it? I’m not hearing the Call…
Then it hits me, and I slowly lift my eyes to Red's curious ones. "What’s wrong? Is the book not there after all?”
All of a sudden, I know exactly why I’ve been feeling so strange and looking at Red in a whole new light. I’m not losing my mind and seeing things that aren’t there. It’s not because I’ve been alone for too long–even though I have.
No, it’s because the mountain spirit has made her decision about who’s next to hear the Call.
Except now I have a new problem. What if he doesn’t know? How on earth am I supposed to tell my best friend that things between us have changed?