Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
My eyes sting. Blinking, I wipe my nose.
“You all right?” Sawyer asks. “I didn’t mean—”
“Please don’t apologize. Thank you for saying that. I just—sometimes I forget how well y’all love each other. How well y’all know each other.”
Sawyer smiles. “We know you too, Sally. We love you too.”
Shit, now I’m really going to cry. One of the million reasons why I will always love Hartsville—being known the way Sawyer describes.
Outside of this small town—at least in the places I’ve lived—so few people care to even say hello, much less get to know you as a person. There’s a sense of community here I haven’t found anywhere else.
I’m sure it exists in other places. But I’ll never have the same roots—the same relationships that span decades—that I do here. Maybe that’s why I’m having such a hard time getting excited about being in New York long-term.
“I love y’all too, Sawyer.” And I’m in love with your brother, but I’m still not sure he wants what I want.
I’m still not sure there’s a way for us to be together, even if Wyatt feels the way Sawyer says he does.
“Just don’t automatically take Wyatt out of the running, is all I’m asking,” Sawyer says.
I furrow my brow. “Out of the running?”
But then we’re at the bottom of the hill, and the shouts of the cowboys who are already out here drown out any other sound. I’m grateful for the distraction, even though I’m dying to continue this conversation with Sawyer.
It’s easy to fall into cowgirl mode once we’re riding among the herd. I love using my body this way; I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight. Muscle memory comes back full force, and I’m able to help Wyatt cut a few lagging heifers from the herd. Penny has great cow sense—meaning she can recognize the cows’ movements and respond accordingly—which makes my job much easier.
I hop off my horse to examine the heifers while Wyatt and Ella stay on horseback and keep the heifers separated from the herd.
“These mamas are just carrying around a lot of baby,” I say, getting back on the saddle. “Y’all got some healthy calves coming.”
Wyatt grins at me before turning to his niece. “You ready for some baby cows, Ella?”
Ella doesn’t respond. Instead, she glances between Wyatt and me, her big blue eyes wide with curiosity. Almost like she’s picking up on the tight but happy energy between us.
An image flashes across my thoughts—another blue-eyed baby, this one with a shock of dark hair, like mine.
What the actual fuck?
I urge Penny into motion, willing myself to forget whatever the hell that was.
Wyatt and Ella stay beside me as the sun climbs in the sky. Wyatt points out several cows my dad and I recently treated. Each one appears to be thriving. We talk about the brush and the grasses growing in the pasture, and Wyatt asks which plants he should add or subtract to make the pasture more nutritious for the herd.
“You ain’t even been in Texas for the past twelve years, but of course you know the answer to that question,” Wyatt says after I gave him a list of plant species native to the area that the cows might like.
I shrug. “I told you I miss it here. Sometimes, when I’m really homesick, I research this stuff for fun.”
“Christ, you really have missed it then.”
“I do. A lot.”
“But less than you used to, right?”
“No.” I shake my head. “More.”
Wyatt narrows his eyes. He’s quiet for a beat, careful to keep Ella upright while she munches on a granola bar Sawyer gave her for snack time on the go.
“Well,” Wyatt says, “it’ll get better.”
That’s just it—I don’t think it will get better. I’ll always miss days like this, time spent with my favorite people in the world, in my favorite place in the world.
I’ll always miss Wyatt. And after what Sawyer said…
I wonder if Wyatt will miss me too.
CHAPTER 15
Wyatt
FUN WITH LASSOS
We head back to the New House, where we reheat the lunch Patsy left in the fridge. She doesn’t work on the weekends, but on Fridays, she’ll stock our fridge and pantry with enough food to tide us over until Monday.
Sally, Sawyer, Ella, Duke, and Ryder and I descend on the smoked brisket, slaw, and homemade mac ’n’ cheese like a pack of starving hyenas.
When I’m done, I sit back and watch Sally chat with my brothers about everything and nothing—her epic bluff during last night’s poker game, preparations for the upcoming calving season in January, that episode of Parks and Recreation that had us howling.
I love that she’s here.
I love what a great team we make, working cattle.
I love how sweet she is with my niece, giving Ella her piece of Patsy’s famous Texas sheet cake after Ella polished off her own in three huge bites. Then Sally helps Sawyer wipe Ella down; we laugh when it takes almost half a pack of Huggies wipes to get her clean.