Chapter Fifteen
The humidity inside the greenhouses was both familiar and a shock to Tyler, much in the same way he responded to Colorado winters.
He thought he was prepared for it every time, yet it still caught him off guard.
The hot, moist air hit him in the face and stole his breath until he had a second to adapt.
He breathed in damp soil, fertilizer, and flowering plants in his next lungful of air—all happy things he associated with his childhood.
“Remember when I used to dig in the flower beds with my Tonka trucks and excavating equipment?” Tyler asked.
“It’s one of my fondest memories.” A chuckle rumbled through his dad’s chest like distant thunder, and his big hand landed on Tyler’s shoulder with a clap.
“I eventually put a sandbox in here to protect the plants and flowers. And now my grandchildren use both the old trucks and sandbox. It’s hard to believe how quickly time passes by.
It seems like the new year started just yesterday.
I blinked and it’s Christmas Eve already, for crying out loud. ”
The wistful tone in his dad’s voice snagged Tyler’s attention.
Everything he’d expected to happen over the weekend hadn’t transpired yet.
His family had welcomed Owen with open arms, and no one had mentioned Tyler returning to Texas to work for the family nursery.
He thought that was going to change when his dad invited him to tag along for the morning inspection after breakfast. His family had spent a small fortune on upgrading the greenhouses with automated watering and temperature control systems, but his dad still checked everything twice a day during the off-season, with no exceptions for holidays.
The greenhouses provided his father with so much more than an income.
The buildings were his sanctuary where he could hide from chaos and do his best thinking.
Some guys had man caves in their garages or basements, but David Booth chose a green oasis as his escape.
It was also his favorite spot for a heart-to-heart conversation, so Tyler wasn’t surprised when his dad instructed him to grab a couple of lawn chairs from the storage room once they finished their inspections.
The refrigerator in the small room was new, and it thrilled Tyler when he recognized both the honeybee magnet and the food-and-wine article it secured to the appliance.
Tyler had mailed the magazine to his dad because it featured Ivan’s interview about his honey business.
Their foreman had credited David and his nursery for helping him choose the best flowers for happy bees and healthy honey production.
“I see you’ve added a fridge instead of hauling a cooler and ice down here every day.” Tyler opened a chair and gestured for his dad to sit, then opened his own.
Once they’d settled, his dad said, “Found that beauty at a scratch-and-dent sale and couldn’t pass it up.
Thank you for sending the article to me, by the way.
Your mother added some quotes from it to our website and linked it to our social media accounts.
You’d be surprised how much buzz that’s generated.
” He paused to laugh at his pun for a few moments.
“I emailed Ivan and thanked him for mentioning our nursery in the interview.”
“He told me,” Tyler replied. “Ivan said you’re a good man, but I already knew that.”
His father smiled and said, “I was just about to say the same thing about Ivan. Seems to me that everyone at Redemption Ridge is pretty amazing. Mom and I really enjoy watching the web series on YouTube.” His lips curved into a sheepish smile.
“As I mentioned before, the constant mentions of Owen’s name made a lot more sense after seeing the two of you together.
” He crossed his ankles and studied Tyler closely.
“Carrying around big secrets has to get heavy,” he said after a long pause.
“You seem much lighter after coming out to us, but I sense there’s more you want to say.
You can tell me anything, son. I’m really sorry you don’t know that. ”
Tyler averted his gaze from his father’s sadness.
He’d never wanted to disappoint his parents, and it seemed like he couldn’t stop doing it.
Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Tyler met his dad’s gaze once more.
“I don’t plan on moving back to Texas…ever.
” He puffed up his cheeks and exhaled a long breath.
“I know the nursery has been in our family for three generations, but it isn’t the future I see for myself.
” His siblings had never shown an interest in the business, and Tyler had felt the pressure to continue the legacy when he was younger.
His dad nodded slowly as he processed what Tyler said. “And you thought I’d be upset.”
“Mom has mentioned the future of the business to me more than once when she’s tried to lure me back to Texas,” Tyler said. “Other times, she made it sound like Grandpa was on his last leg, and I knew that wasn’t true.”
His dad exhaled slowly, almost like he was buying time.
“I think Mom was desperately trying to connect to you on some level. She never intended to lay a guilt trip on your shoulders that would push you further away. All we want for you is to live a happy and fulfilled life, no matter what that looks like to you.” He grimaced and added, “I don’t know how things went so wrong with us before, but it’s never going to happen again.
Mom and I made some pretty big mistakes with you kids, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
We’d lived through some life-altering tragedies with our friends and extended family before having our own children, and we were determined to never experience that kind of pain.
We believed that by worshipping hard and keeping you close, we could prevent bad things from happening to us too.
” His dad sighed heavily and shook his head.
“That isn’t how life works, and we ended up pushing you away.
Even worse, you still think you can’t tell us things, and that hurts, Tyler. ”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“No, I’m sorry.” His voice broke. “No child should worry about losing their family because they love and dream differently.” Another sigh shook his broad shoulders. “Promise me we’re going to do better.”
“I promise.” The words slipped off Tyler’s tongue easily, but he knew keeping his word would take a lot of effort. A person didn’t overcome habits overnight.
His dad slapped his knees and stood up. “We better get back to the house before they come looking for us.”
Tyler stood up, too, and said, “I think I’ll head over to the stables to visit the horses first.” He didn’t have time to see them the previous night, and he’d overslept this morning and missed feeding them.
“I should’ve known you’d choose a career with horses. You’ve loved them since the first time you saw one.”
“I love rehabilitating them,” Tyler said. “I witnessed some terrible abuses during my rodeo days, and I want to save as many of the magnificent animals as I can.”
“It’s pretty cool how you don’t shy away from horses after your injury,” his dad said.
“I don’t blame Brutus,” Tyler replied. “Most of the riders hated it when they drew his name for competitions, but I felt a kinship to him. We were both misunderstood, miserable, and trapped. I’d built the rodeo circuit up in my head to be this magical environment, but it was a sleazy, cutthroat, perpetual pissing contest. Maybe not all circuits are that way, but that was the circumstance I found myself in more often than not.
I loved competing, and I was damn good at it, but the highs didn’t last long.
Someone was always out to screw you over. ”
The holiday felt like a second chance with his family.
Some would think that meant moving forward and leaving the past buried, but Tyler was smart enough to know old hurts would always resurface.
It was better to shine the light on his feelings now than let them fester and become something much larger than they needed to be.
“I got homesick so bad those first weeks. I wanted to call home so many times, but I’d made such an ass of myself.
My foolish pride wouldn’t allow me to admit I was wrong, so I kept my head down and worked harder to succeed.
To prove myself, I wanted to work with the most stubborn horses.
” Tyler smiled as he recalled Brutus’s refusal to be tamed.
“It was rumored that Brutus resulted from an unauthorized breeding at a stud farm between his very expensive Arabian mother and a super randy and extremely rare Camarillo father. The result was a very expensive lawsuit and an unwanted sleek black horse with random white markings, like a lightning bolt between his eyes.”
His dad chuckled. “Sounds like people should’ve taken that as an omen.”
Tyler laughed too. “Sensible people would think that way, but the ones bursting at the seams with testosterone viewed Brutus as a challenge.”
“Including you?”
“Not really. I felt a connection to the horse that had nothing to do with breaking him. I felt like we understood each other.”
His dad settled a firm hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “And then he dumped you on your ass?”
Tyler nodded. “During a barrel race. We were killing the course and on the way to setting a record until a rodeo clown jumped out of a barrel and spooked him.” Tyler’s heart stuttered as he recalled sailing through the air.
He rubbed his chest to remind himself it was just a memory.
“The accident was someone’s idea of a prank, but nothing about it was funny.
I ended up with a busted knee, and the circuit got rid of Brutus before I could intercede on his behalf or say goodbye.
I think about him all the time and wish I could rescue him. ”
“You think he’s still alive?”