the singer’s head meant that he was a spoiled little king in real life. But he also couldn’t deny how sexy the man looked. Tucking the phone back into his pocket, scanning the bus station with envy, he watched lovers or loved ones greeting and welcoming each other with sweet kisses.
Winston couldn’t help but think how lonely his life had become since Kane had found his forever one, Cole, a couple of years ago. His melancholy grew worse after Gilliam Wade, his last lover, walked away from him after finding his forever one.
Through it all, Winston was happy for his friend. Kane was not only his best friend, but his business partner as well. Winston worked hard and liked to play even harder. He had hoped to find his soul mate and settle down with a couple of kids and a dog or two. But he didn’t have any prospects at his age, he was starting to give up hope on finding his happily ever after. Winston had been in love a time or two in his lifetime, but they didn’t last for a couple of reasons that he didn’t want to think about.
Kane had asked him a few years back before he’d met Cole and after Winston had caught his last lover cheating on him.
“How do you stay so optimistic when it comes to love?” Kane asked him.
Winston smiled. “You have to keep your mind open to heartbreak, Kane. You can’t be afraid to fall in love or you might end up missing your soul mate.”
Winston scoffed at the memory. What a bunch of bullshit. He wanted to tell Kane that it was hard, and his optimism was waning the older he got. He was getting tired of one-night stands and partners who weren’t ready to commit. He wanted a life partner and children of his own. He was sick of being envious of others.
Winston couldn’t complain that he led a dull life; not only was he the foreman for the Black Meadow Ranch, but a couple of years ago he became part owner of the ranch. He had brought a few ideas to Kane, like buying Jamison’s ranch and extending Black Meadow’s property where they were able to build more cabins and add more livestock.
He’d also suggested they sponsored a few of the big events happening in the state and town. Like concerts and the rodeo happening next year, giving the participants a special rate if they wanted to rent a space in the barn for their horses.
Kane loved the ideas, and he’d offered him a partnership, but it wasn’t for free and Winston had to invest a few million dollars that he’d inherited from his grandfather, Feng Song, into the Black Meadow making him an equal partner.
Winston remembered when Kane took over running the ranch from his father, he was scared and made a few gutsy decisions that Winston wasn’t sure would have worked out, but he knew how smart his friend was and stuck with him when most walked away.
Winston couldn’t blame the ones who weren’t able to see Kane’s vision, but it also showed how little faith they had in the man’s ability to run a successful business with a net worth in the billions in just their livestock alone.
It was never about the money for Winston; it was about hard work and loyalty. He loved the kind of work he did on the Black Meadow—the ranch was where he grew up and was a part of him becoming his first love. However, it wasn’t love at first sight when he and his family arrived on Black Meadow many years ago.
Before moving to Killing Brook, Montana, Winston was known for getting into fights and cutting class whenever he felt like it. Even though he got decent grades, his parents were at their wits end on what to do with him. Ling, his mother, threatened to send him to China to live with her parents, but his father, Devon, was completely against the idea.
It was pure luck that Devon was offered a job working for Preston Cartwright, as a ranch manager even though he didn’t have a lot of ranching experience.
The first time Winston got in trouble at school, Preston Cartwright was the one to discipline him. Winston was determined to show his parents how unhappy he was about moving and would continue with the same behavior at school.
In his opinion, at the time it would have been better if they’d sent him to live with