Families should be together … forever… no matter what. ~~Mom
Once Cale reached the stable, he grabbed two apples and a bottle of water from the fridge before heading over to the tack room for Quick Shot’s blanket and saddle. He fled to the east pasture, crunching an apple, his thoughts whirling faster than a lasso in a calf-roping tie-down.
He offered an apple to his gelding then slid the saddle blanket on Quick Shot’s back. While he adjusted the saddle straps, solid footsteps approached. His first thought went to Dad. Adrenaline pumped straight to his heart. Dad wouldn’t be okay with him just walking out on Aunt Viv.
Then Cale realized the visitor couldn’t be his dad.
Both relief and sadness flooded over him.
“Hey, Hoss. You okay?”
Cale stood and turned to Scoot. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No reason.” Scoot cocked an eyebrow, gave an ‘are-you-kidding-me?’ shake of his head, and handed over a breakfast burrito. “‘Cept last I heard, you were heading in to eat and this is the exact opposite direction. What’s on your mind? And don’t tell me ‘nothing.’”
Needing to talk, Cale gave a quick replay of the scene in the kitchen with Aunt Viv and Brandi and ended up unloading all the fears and worries he’d held in for the last day-and-a-half.
Scoot offered only the occasional “Yep” or “How do you want to handle that?” as needed.
“I just want them to come back, even though I know …” Cale’s voice broke as he stroked the sorrel patch on Quick Shot’s neck. He glanced at Scoot. “It’s not fair.”
“Yep,” Scoot agreed, nodding slowly. “It’s not a bit fair, and yet it happened.” Scoot hung a thumb off his jean pocket. “And we need to deal with it.” He sighed. “You still have a life to lead. But let me ask you this—how do you want to live it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The sun’s gonna set and then it’s gonna rise again and time’s gonna pass. You can’t control that any more than you can go back in time and hold up that plane to keep it from falling out of the sky.” He blew out a breath. “But you do get to control how you spend the time between sunup and sundown. You’ve got some choices to make that only you can make. Just know I’m here for you to lean on.”
“What choices? Dad left me in charge. I promised him an intact family and ranch. Ryders keep their word.” Cale gave a bitter sweep of his hand to include the five hundred acres of grazing land and their cattle feed lot operation. “That’s kind of a done deal.”
Scoot nodded. “Hoss, the other hands agree. If you want to keep us on, we’d all like to stay and help.”
“If I want?” That didn’t make sense. Scoot was as much a part of the Triple R as Cale.
“You’re the new boss man.” Scoot stroked Quick Shot’s sorrel and white neck. “After his heart attack, your daddy asked Gramps and me if we’d help you and your mom if he had another. We told him we would.” Scoot glanced heavenward and sighed. “I thought he’d stick around a few decades, but three years was all he could manage, I s’pose.”
Thinking they could have lost Dad three years ago made Cale appreciate that they hadn’t. That knowledge comforted him some. “Too bad he took Mom with him.”
“I hear that. Bad for you, but good for them. I don’t believe I’ve ever met two souls so opposite as them that were also so good for each other.”
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Ryding Through Troubled Waters
General Fiction19 year-old Cale Ryder is forced onto the fast track to fatherhood when his parents come home from their second honeymoon in caskets. Along with the family ranch, Cale inherits his 3 teenage brothers and his kid sister, Brandi, AKA "the princess."...
