The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,65
answer for her. Right now, he didn’t.
He also needed an answer from Jeremiah Walker about the horses he’d gone to see last week, and he needed Wade Rhinehart to call him back about coming to help during harvest time. The two ranches often swapped time during heavy work seasons, and Ranger had volunteered a crew of six men to go help the Rhinehart’s put up their hay, if he and his men would come to Shiloh Ridge.
Wade had said yes, but they were still working out dates. Mother Nature and God determined that, and no rancher wanted to take their hay in before it was ready.
“Ho, there,” Bear called, and Ranger turned toward his cousin. He rode up on a pretty paint horse Bear had been using for a couple of years. Bertha was a beautiful horse who never startled and seemed to know exactly what to do without instructions.
Ranger reached up and stroked her neck as Bear dismounted. He handed the reins to Ranger and said, “How many are you taking?”
“There’s four hundred and ninety-eight,” Ranger said, watching his cousin move over to the fence around the corral. Bear was everything Ranger had always wanted to be, and they got along so well. He’d been dating Sammy for five months now, and they seemed to be getting along mighty fine too.
Bishop had started asking if he should be looking to switch places with Bear, but Bear had never confirmed anything. He’d clammed right up, in fact, and Ranger had seen this tactic with the man before.
He stepped next to him and threw the reins over the top of the fence, though Bertha wouldn’t try to wander off. Horses did like grass, though, and Bertha wasn’t immune to the sweet call of a new pasture. Ranger watched the other cowboys load the trailers, one standing right on the ramp and counting the cattle as they went by to make sure they followed the proper livestock transportation guidelines.
“Eleven trucks,” Ranger said. “I’m hoping we’ll be near a quarter of a million with the weight we’ve got.”
“That would be amazing,” Bear said, glancing at him. “You don’t seem happy about it.”
“I am,” Ranger said, brightening his voice.
Bear turned fully toward him, his blue eyes too bright to look directly into.
“I’m not talking about it,” Ranger said. “I’m fine, and I’m hopeful about the cattle weight. The end.”
“Is it ranch-related?”
“No—sort of,” Ranger said, finally meeting Bear’s eye. “You and Sammy…she’s going to come live up here?”
Bear’s jaw jumped as he pressed his teeth together. “We haven’t talked about serious stuff like that,” he said.
“No?” Ranger asked, surprised by that. “I—okay.”
Several seconds passed with just the sounds of loading and cattle, the whisper of a breeze in the air, and Ranger’s own breathing going in and out. It was a good life, here on the ranch. A very good life, and he was grateful for it.
“I need to,” Bear finally said. “I just…I’m a little hesitant.”
“Why? You guys get along so great.”
“I don’t see her as much, for one,” Bear said. “And talking about kids and marriage and where we’ll live feels like an in-person conversation.” He glanced at Ranger again, his eyebrows up. “And one we have alone.”
“Yeah, school starting has put you on separate tracks again.” Ranger stepped up onto the bottom rung and leaned out to push an errant cow away from the fence. “Bear, go to town and take her lunch one day. Talk to her about it. You obviously want to.”
“Yeah,” Bear said, and that was all.
“I need her to come look at that stupid truck again, too,” Ranger said. “I can get her up here.”
“Yeah,” Bear said again.
“We need to replace that truck,” Ranger said, eyeing Bear to judge his reaction. “It’s been a lemon from the start.”
“They both have,” Bear said, sighing. He took a deep breath and stepped away. He went around Ranger and took the reins for his horse. “Start looking into, Ranger. No sense in wasting time and money on lemons.”
“Unless we’re going to get some of my mother’s lemon curd out of it,” Ranger said with a smile. In moments like this, he missed his mother’s cooking something fierce, and he stood still while Bear chuckled and let the emotion wash over him.
“That’s the truth,” Bear said. “But if you called Zona, she’d make the curd for you.”
“I want those sugary waffles and raspberries with it,” Ranger said.
“Nothing is ever enough for you, is it?” Bear teased. He swung into the saddle, a