Nate pulled the rope tight to keep the barrels in place. He needed to get them out to the new bird blind he’d finished last week. Sweat ran down the side of his face, but he ignored it. He’d been at Hope Eternal for eight weeks now, and he finally felt like he knew how things worked.
“You got that?” Spencer called, and Nate finished tying the knot around the metal pole.
“Yep,” Nate said. “Done.” He turned to the other cowboy, who drank from a bottle of water.
He finished the whole thing and said, “You can’t go out unless you drink. Ginger will kill us both.”
Spencer was right, so Nate stepped over to the cooler just inside the shed and got a bottle of water. He managed to swallow a few mouthfuls to appease Spencer, and the two of them loaded up in the ranch truck.
Nate hardly ever drove, and today was no different. Spencer took them over the bumpy roads to the far north side of the ranch, which surprisingly was pretty swampy. And water and tall reeds meant a lot of birds. People paid quite a bit to come to Hope Eternal and see the birds that lived here, as Nate had learned over the weeks.
They came to see beehives and wear bee suits to harvest the honeycomb too. Children and adults alike came to ride horses. Summer campers came to learn about butterflies and farming. The number of people who came to the ranch had alarmed Nate at first, but now he was used to seeing the dirt parking lot to the west of the homestead full of cars and trucks.
“All right.” Spencer let out a sigh that spoke of his exhaustion. “Let’s get these unloaded.”
“You stayed up too late, didn’t you?” Nate asked as they got out of the truck.
“Only a little.” Spencer wore a guilty grin as he came to the back and started on the rope on his side. “I just couldn’t quit in the middle of the level.”
“Yeah, and that’s why Nick didn’t shower before he left.” Nate chuckled and untied the rope on his side. “You know Ginger is going to be cranky about that.”
“Yeah, well, Nick can deal with that. I managed to get up when my alarm went off.” Spencer hauled the first barrel off the truck. “And anyway, if you just take a walk with Ginger, she won’t be so cranky anymore.” He shot a knowing look at Nate, who froze.
“What?”
“Oh, come on, man,” Spencer said with a laugh. “You two disappear every morning, and she comes back like she met Santa Claus out there and got a year’s supply of gifts.”
“I—” Nate cut himself off, because he didn’t know what to say. He had no defense. He honestly hadn’t known anyone knew about his and Ginger’s morning walks.
“You’re seeing her,” Spencer supplied for him, reaching for another barrel. “Right?” He cut a glance at Nate, who still couldn’t get himself to move.
“I mean, I guess?” Nate guessed.
“Oh, boy,” Spencer said, grunting as the barrel came off the truck and he had to bear the full weight of it. “Okay, I’m just going to tell you this, and then you can do what you want with it.”
“I really don’t want to hear it,” Nate said, pulling his gloves on and reaching for the nearest barrel.
“Too bad,” Spencer said. “I didn’t want you to tell me I couldn’t aim to save my life, but you said it anyway.”
“That was a video game,” Nate said. Spencer and Nick loved their video games, and Nate didn’t mind watching after Connor went to bed. He still slept with Nate at night, and Nate didn’t mind at all.
He’d asked Connor about adoption, and then Bethany when she’d come to the ranch for a few hours one weekend. Her kids played well with Connor, and she’d told him he should definitely adopt Connor.
Nate had talked to his parents, and he’d learned that his mother was starting to forget things and that his father had been diagnosed with stage one colon cancer.
He called them a few times a week, because he was the oldest now and Ward wasn’t around to do it. Sometimes the fact that Ward wasn’t around hit Nate pretty hard, and thinking about adopting Connor usually sent him into a depression.
In the end, Nate had decided to go forward with the adoption. He’d filed all the paperwork with his lawyer, and now they were just waiting.
“This is real life,” Spencer said. “And you should know Ginger’s dated a guy like you before.”
Nate’s blood pressure rose. “A guy like me?”
“A guy in the RRC program,” Spencer said. “He seemed like a nice guy. I actually liked him. Then, one day, he disappeared, and the next thing I know, Ginger is telling us she might lose the ranch and that this guy had stolen thousands of dollars from us all.” He’d stopped unloading to tell his tale.
Nate didn’t know what to make of it. “I’m not going to do that,” he said.
“Yeah, because Hyrum’s back in prison,” Spencer said.
“I’m not going back there,” Nate said, fierce determination in his voice. He wasn’t. He had Connor to think about now, and he couldn’t be irresponsible to the point where he could lose the boy he was going to adopt.
He thought of the next drop he needed to make, and fear slid through his whole body. He kept his head down and kept working, his thoughts tangling about this weekend’s activities. Ginger had actually suggested they go to the mall, because she needed a day away from the ranch, and she wanted some Chinese noodles from a restaurant next to the mall.
He’d asked if she’d wait for him at the bank again, and she’d said she would. He could see the questions in her eyes, but to her credit, she hadn’t asked them. Nate figured he’d have to tell her something soon enough, but she hadn’t revealed her dating history to him, and as he pulled the last barrel off the truck, he realized his relationship with Ginger wasn’t as deep as it could be.
He told himself it was still new, and it was. But he wanted it to be deeper, so he’d have to dig down and find something to share with her.
Spencer’s phone rang, and he answered it with, “Hey, boss,” the way he always did when Ginger called. “Yeah, I can be there. I’m just out at the north bird blinds with Nate.” He looked over at Nate, who waited for Spencer to tell him what to do.
They weren’t anywhere near done here. The barrels needed to be moved to the six blinds out here, and they’d have to walk through some watery areas the truck couldn’t go to get the job done.
“He’ll have to be here alone,” Spencer said, half-turning away from Nate. A couple of seconds passed before he said, “All right, boss. See you in a minute.” He hung up and faced Nate. “Ginger needs me back at the ranch.”
“And I’m not going.” Nate wasn’t asking.
“She said it’s fine if you work out here on your own.” Spencer went around to the driver’s seat. “I’ll come back and get you, okay?” He paused before he got in the truck. “And Nate, for the record, I think you’re nothing like that other guy that was here.”
Nate nodded, though his chest squeezed too tight. “Thanks, Spencer.”
“She trusts you, and so do I.”
“I appreciate that.”
Spencer nodded and got in the truck. Nate got straight to work, even before Spencer had gone. He wanted to show everyone that they could trust him. He could work hard. He could accomplish what they wanted him to accomplish.
And in four months, he’d be on his own, achieving his own dreams. If only he knew what those were.
He used to know what he wanted from his life, but that had all changed when he’d gotten caught up in the fraud scheme. Now, he needed a new purpose, one that would take him and Connor somewhere amazing.
He didn’t really want to leave Texas, as Connor only had one set of grandparents, and Nate didn’t think it fair to go too far from them. He’d spoken to his mom and dad several times over the weeks, and Bethany picked up the phone when Nate called too. Those relationships had been damaged, and he’d been rebuilding them for years.
He felt like they were almost there, and he hoped to move to White Lake with Connor to continue the work he’d been doing to reconstruct the trust he’d ruined with just a few bad decisions.
By the time he’d moved all the barrels, his breath huffed and puffed from his mouth, and his back, shoulders, and arms burned with the exertion he’d had to use to get them where Ginger wanted them.
Spencer still hadn’t returned, and Nate’s stomach growled for lunch. He looked down the road, trying to estimate how far it was back to the homestead. Probably an hour by foot, and Nate looked up into the bright, blazing sun.
He wasn’t making that trek without water, and he’d left his bottle in the truck. He retreated to the shade of the bird blind, though it wasn’t any cooler there.
His phone rang, and Nate quickly swiped on the call from the Bureau of Prisons, expecting to hear Ted’s voice. Nate didn’t want to tell him he hadn’t followed up with Ginger about bringing him to the ranch, but he wouldn’t lie to a friend.
Instead, he heard Dallas Dreyer say, “Nathaniel Mulbury,” followed by a big belly laugh.
Nate chuckled too, because only a few people called him by his full name, and one of them was Dallas. At least the first time they talked. “What’s up, Dallas?” he asked after they’d quieted down.
“Nothing much. Wondering how ranch life is.”
“You know what? It’s not bad.” Nate could honestly say that now. “I think maybe I missed my calling in life the first time I chose a career.”
“Oh yeah? Are you a cowboy now?”
“I think I am,” Nate said. He hoped he could be a good cowboy. “It’s good work.” He rolled his aching shoulder, thinking maybe he shouldn’t have fought the mud so much.
“I’m glad,” Dallas said.
“What’s new there?” Nate asked, surprised he wanted to know. But he missed his boys behind bars, and Dallas had needed a strong core group to watch out for him. Nate worried about what would happen to him once Ted left, as then Dallas would be the one with the most days behind him. Slate Sanders would probably rise to the top, because he had a stronger personality than Dallas, and Luke was happy to let someone else lead.
And as far as Nate knew, they’d added more men to their ranks. The five of them, Nate included, had formed a camaraderie that Nate missed powerfully every time he thought of his friends.
He did have Spencer now, and Nick, and a few other cowboys that lived in the house with him. He had Connor, and Ginger, and Emma. And his family, though he didn’t get to see them much.
He let Dallas talk about River Bay, and how nothing much had changed. “Oh, except guess who just took over your job in the office?” he asked.
“Who?” Nate asked.
“Josiah Manuel.”
All sound ceased as Nate absorbed that information. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish. And he’s strutting around now like he’s wearing the Manager’s uniform or something. He’s headed for a big fall.”
“I didn’t realize he had so much sway.” Nate hadn’t really either, but Josiah held a ton of tickets, and he’d almost been moved up a level of security because he loved to start fights.
“He doesn’t,” Dallas said. “Greg just wants him where he can keep an eye on him, because one of our wings is going through a remodel.”
“Ah, I see.” Nate wondered if he’d been in the office for a reason like that, but he dismissed the idea quickly. A beep sounded on the line, which meant that Dallas had one minute left on his call. So they said their goodbyes, and Nate hung up.
He moved to the edge of the bird blind and looked down the road, still finding it empty. He looked up into the clear sky, the hot sun burning straight through him. Frustration built inside him at his situation, so Nate decided to make one more phone call before he went back to the more populated areas of the ranch.
Sam Wiseman picked up his personal line after only one ring with the words, “Hello, Nathaniel. What can I do for you?”
“I need another withdrawal,” Nate said. “In the same amount as last time. Same envelope too, if possible.”
“It’s possible,” Sam said crisply. “I can have that ready for you for this afternoon.”
Nate started thinking about possibilities, and he asked, “Can you deliver it to someone for me?” He couldn’t imagine detailing how to put the money in a locker at the mall, not to Sam.
“No, sir,” Sam said. “We can’t do that.”
“Can I pick it up tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. The counter is open from ten until two. I’m not in on weekends.”
“How would I get it?” Nate asked.
“I’ll put it in your safety deposit box, if that works for you?”
“That works,” Nate said. He wasn’t sure how he’d carry the briefcase around the mall, disappear, and come back without it. He needed a new bag, one that would conceal the envelope and that he could carry with him reasonably. Did men carry backpacks around the mall?
He shook his head at this situation. He hated it. He just wanted to give Oscar his money and be done with it. But Oscar refused to take more than nine thousand dollars at a time, and for the twenty-six thousand dollars Nate owed Oscar, that required three drops.
Tomorrow would only be the second, which meant Nate had to go through this again.
His phone rang, and when he looked at the screen, he found Ginger’s name on the screen. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
“Hey,” she said. “You still out at the bird blinds?”
“It’s good to hear your voice.”
Ginger gave him a light laugh, and that made him smile. He wanted to confide in her, but he didn’t know how. She probably felt the same way about telling him about her ex-boyfriend.
A guy like him.
“And yes,” he added. “I’m out at the bird blinds. Done, but I can’t bear the thought of walking back in this heat.”
“I have good news for you then,” she said. “I’m about five minutes away, and the air conditioner in this truck works really well.”
“Bless you,” he said, actually sighing in relief.
She laughed again and said she’d be there soon. Nate decided he could brave the sun for a few minutes, and he stepped out of the bird blind and headed down the road. Sure enough, Ginger rounded the bend and came toward him. She pulled to a stop beside him and said, “You lost, Mister?”
He grinned at her and sighed as he got in the passenger seat. “It’s hot.”
“That it is,” she said. “I brought you a water.” She indicated it sitting in the console between them. Nate also spied something there that made his mouth water. “And yes, I got you a hamburger.”
“You’re the best,” he said, reaching for the food and then the water. “Seriously, Ginger, thank you.”
She gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her voice was a bit too high when she said, “Thanks for being someone I can trust.”
Guilt cut through Nate, but he said nothing. Once all the drops were done, once Oscar had his money and no reason to contact Nate ever again, then he’d tell Ginger. He’d tell her everything, share his whole life with her.
But for now, he had to keep this one secret. After all, how much damage could one little secret do?