The Construction of Cheer - Liz Isaacson Page 0,63
sector for a permanent residence. That’s probably what I’ll suggest to him.”
“Smart,” Bishop said. He bent down and brushed a tad more dirt from the S on Daddy’s name. Daddy had counseled Bishop to look to those around him and to emulate their best qualities.
He’d always tried to do that, starting with his father. “Love you, Daddy,” he said, stepping back to Bear’s side. “Thanks, Bear.”
“I haven’t stifled you, have I, Bishop?”
“Not even a little bit.”
Bear nodded, lost somewhere inside his own head. Bishop let his thoughts wander too, most of them lighting on Montana, Ace, and Cactus. He had a lot left to do today, and he finally stepped away from Bear, saying, “I best get out to Cactus’s before it gets too late.”
“Yep.” Bear stayed in the cemetery, and as Bishop went back over the fence, he said a prayer for Bear too. It was a good reminder for Bishop that even the mighty Bear, who seemingly had everything on the outside, struggled with things too.
Chapter Sixteen
Montana bent to do her side of the table while Bishop pulled out the legs on his. “Bishop, Bowman’s Breeds is at Three Rivers Ranch. It’s a forty-five-minute drive from the edge of town, and it takes ten just to get there from my aunt’s house.”
They righted the circular table, and their eyes met across it.
“I know,” Bishop said, turning to grab another tablecloth. The whole family would gather in True Blue for Lois Glover’s birthday party. Why they were using the barn this time when they’d used the homestead for Bishop’s birthday, Montana didn’t know. She hadn’t asked.
Bishop had said they needed to get the barn set up for the party, and then he was going to spend the afternoon at home, relaxing and resting while Holly Ann, the woman Ace had hired to do the food for the party, set up in the barn. Montana would go back to town like she always did, to be there for Aurora in the afternoon, and then she and her family were coming back to the party that evening.
“I can’t drive her to Three Rivers and then drive back here,” Montana said. “It would take me over two hours.”
Bishop tossed the cream-colored cloth across the table and Montana grabbed it to straighten it out. “I know that.”
“Can you say anything besides ‘I know’?” Montana glared at him. She’d been so excited about the prospect of Aurora getting a job at Bowman’s Breeds. Even Aurora was excited about it, and Montana did not want to have to tell her that it wasn’t going to work out. Montana already felt like a failure in so many ways when it came to parenting Aurora. She did, and always had, wanted the best for her daughter.
The truth was, as a single mom with limited resources, there were spaces she simply couldn’t fill. As Aurora got older, Montana told her appropriate things to help her daughter understand that Montana tried to fill those spaces as best she could.
But many remained, and Montana felt the weight of them every single day.
Bishop smiled, and that only aggravated her further. He didn’t understand those gaps, and he’d likely never experienced them.
Not fair, she told herself even as they went to work on another table. His father had died when he was eighteen years old. There had been gaps in his life; they were simply different than the ones in Montana’s or Aurora’s.
“I’ve arranged a ride for her,” Bishop said, his gaze steady on the underside of the table, as if he’d never seen anything like it before.
“What does that mean?” Montana pulled out the legs on her side and gripped the edges of the table. They set that one up, and Bishop retrieved another tablecloth.
He sighed as he spread it across the table and Montana pulled it flat on her side. They stayed there for a few seconds, looking at each other.
“You won’t like it.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“Because it’s a perfect solution, and it allows your daughter to work at the training facility and you to keep working here.” He smiled, and it wasn’t his cocky I-know-I’m-gorgeous smile. It wasn’t his playful smile. It wasn’t his joyful smile. And it wasn’t his flirty, coy smile.
Montana had seen all of those, and they were all wonderful. But this one was twice as amazing, because it spoke of his sensitive side. The side that cared about people and wanted them to be happy.