The doctor cleared Waylon to do anything that he felt like doing, including driving and lifting, so long as he took it easy on the ankle for another week. As soon as they left his office, Waylon asked Shiloh to drive him to the body shop to see about his truck.
Suddenly, Shiloh’s heart felt like someone had laid a rock on top of it. She thought she’d be relieved to go back to her routine on Malloy Ranch. Her mother used to tell her that she couldn’t have her Popsicle and eat it too. That rang more true right then than it ever had before. She wanted to go home so she and Bonnie could get used to not having Abby Joy around all the time, but she wanted to stay with Waylon too.
“Man, it feels good to get off those crutches,” Waylon said on the way out to her van. “It’s still a little tender, but I’ve had a worse sore ankle after being thrown from a bull.”
She just nodded, then got into the van and drove back toward Claude, where the body shop was located. From there he’d drive himself down into the base of the canyon and home.
“What’re you goin’ to name the kittens?” she asked.
“That’s your job, remember?” He turned on the radio. “You’re supposed to name the babies like Blake sings about.”
“But the dog came with a name and so did the mama cat,” she argued.
“I checked when we went by the house. We’ve got two girls and one boy kitten. I reckon if we’re going to keep four cats in the house, we’d better be gettin’ in touch with a vet before too long.” He kept time for a few seconds with his thumb on the console, and then he began to sing with Willie Nelson doing “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
Shiloh sang harmony with him, and agreed with the lyrics, which said he didn’t care what was right or wrong, and that the devil could take tomorrow because he didn’t want to be alone and needed help to make it through the night. That’s the way she felt too—just one more night with him beside her in that big king-size bed, and this time they’d do more than sleep.
The body shop had his truck ready, so he drove it back to his ranch, and parked in front of the house. He got out and sat on the porch steps and waited for her to get the van parked. She got the papers the lawyer had given him from the backseat and handed them off to him on her way inside.
“My suitcase is packed. I just need to get it, unless you want me to stick around to help with chores tonight,” she said.
“I think I’ve got it covered.” He stood to his feet. “Shiloh, thank you for everything. If I can ever return the favor, just give me a call. I programmed my number into your phone.”
“I surely will.” She walked past him into the house.
She wanted to say that he could ask her to stay, but why would he? With what he’d inherited that day, he could have any woman in the state of Texas. He might even have to get himself one of those number machines like they had in the fancy coffee shops just to give them all a turn.
She rolled her suitcase out onto the porch and started to carry it out to her van.
“I’ll take that for you.” He picked it up and followed her to her vehicle. “You will come back on weekends to visit the animals, won’t you?”
“Of course.” She smiled as she settled behind the wheel. “We still have to name the kittens. I’ll be thinkin’ about the two girls’ names?”
He tilted his hat back and leaned into the van, cupped her cheeks in his calloused hands, and kissed her with so much passion that the whole world disappeared. For the length of one long, hot kiss, she forgot about everything but being close to Waylon. When it ended, she leaned her head on his shoulder.
“I’ll miss you, Shiloh,” he whispered. “Don’t be a stranger. You’re welcome anytime.”
“I’ll remember that, and the same goes for you. Come on across the highway anytime you want a little company,” she told him.
“Thank you.” He took a step back and closed the door for her.
He limped back to the porch and waved until she couldn’t see him in the rearview mirror anymore. The house was empty when she got home that evening, so she rolled her suitcase into her bedroom and fell backward onto the end of the bed. With her feet dangling off the end, she stared at the ceiling. How in the hell had she fallen in love with a man in only a week’s time?
“You’re home!” Bonnie dragged herself into the room and sat down beside her. She removed her own well-worn cowboy boots and tossed them to the side and then leaned back so that she was in the same position as her sister—legs hanging off the end of the bed. “I missed you, and I’m tired of doing all the chores around here, so welcome home.”
“So you don’t want to own the ranch all by yourself?” Shiloh asked.
“Yep, I do, but if there’s a chance you ain’t never comin’ back, I’ll hire some help. I guess since you’re here that the doctor released Waylon, right?”
“He did,” Shiloh answered.
“And then Waylon released you,” Bonnie giggled. “So what did that lawyer want with y’all?”
“Seems that if Granny Denison’s relatives didn’t want her property with the stipulation that since it was family land, they couldn’t sell it, then she was giving it to Waylon. So he gained ten acres and her house today,” Shiloh answered. “You ever been in that house?”
“One time,” Bonnie said. “Remember when one of Waylon’s cows got out and came across the road? You’d gone to Claude to buy groceries, so me and Abby Joy herded the old heifer back over to Waylon’s place. Only it wasn’t his cow. We walked her over to Granny Denison’s, only to find out that it wasn’t hers either.”
Shiloh nodded. “I remember you telling me that story.” “Whose cow was it?”
“Belonged to the Dunlaps on the other side of Waylon’s place. Granny called them and they brought a cattle trailer down to get her,” Bonnie answered. “Anyway, Granny invited us in for a glass of lemonade. It’s a pretty good-size house. Maybe four or five bedrooms. She said that her folks raised a bunch of kids there.”
“Should make a fine bunkhouse then,” Shiloh said.
“Oh, yeah, but he might want to do some paintin’. Every room I saw was either painted pink or pale blue. I can’t see cowboys appreciating that kind of livin’ quarters.” Bonnie slapped her on the arm. “Enough lazin’ around. We’ve got supper to cook. Rusty will be in here in a few minutes, and he’ll be hungry as I am.”
Shiloh sat up. “You ever think that maybe we should both follow in Abby Joy’s footsteps and leave this place to Rusty? I don’t think Ezra wanted us to get along when he made his will. He wanted us to fight and be hateful to one another, and then leave the canyon so that a boy would still get the place.”
“I’m here to prove him wrong,” Bonnie said. “You havin’ second thoughts?”
“Let’s just say that I’m lookin’ at things from a different perspective,” Shiloh told her sister.
“Why’s that?” Bonnie asked.
“It all started at Granny Denison’s funeral. Sally Mae was crying, so I went back to comfort her. I realized that Ezra isn’t worth the grudge I’ve held against him, or the energy I’ve put into tryin’ to prove that I can run his ranch.” Just saying the words out loud made her feel like a load had been lifted from her shoulders.
“It’ll cost you a hundred dollars and a bottle of good whiskey.” Bonnie headed out into the hallway.
“It could be the best money I’d ever spend,” Shiloh muttered as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head.