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Frustration coursed through me as I ran my peeler around the potato, removing the last bit of skin from it. How could he? How could he just walk out that door like he is healthy as a horse? Did he not care about my feelings? What if he can’t get out of the way and gets injured or killed by one of those bulls?
“Argh!” I groaned in frustration. I slung the skin into the sink, where it landed on top of my growing pile. I threw the clean potato into the other side of the sink well before grabbing the next one. A large rough hand caught my hand with the peeler. “Kade...” I said before I looked over my shoulder into the dark blue eyes of Kaleb.
“Take it easy on the potatoes,” his voice was soft as he extracted the peeler from my fingers. “Everything will be alright.”
“Did you see him? Did he really leave?” I had to ask the question. The ball of pain crept up my throat and my eyes filled with tears. I swallowed, fighting down the emotions.
Kaleb nodded to my questions. All the fears I had been holding in burst out as tears tracked down my cheeks. Looking startled and a little wild-eyed, Kaleb wrapped his arms around me and held me like a big brother would.
“He looked just as broken as you when I saw him,” he said as he rubbed circles on my back.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” My voice muffled into the soft fabric of his shirt.
Kaleb chuckled and held me tighter, “I tried.”
“What if he gets hurt again? What if he doesn’t come home? He could die!” I said. I leaned away to search his face for an answer. The concern in his eyes radiated out towards me as I wiped at the tears on my cheeks.
“I hope he comes home. Kurt’s flying out to watch him.” He kissed the top of my head and headed down the hallway towards his bedroom. “And you don’t have to cook supper.” He called over his shoulder.
I went back to the potatoes. My knife chopped them into small even squares to get dropped into the stew. The rhythmic motions helped to give my hands a task to do as I stewed on Kade leaving. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and rested it on the counter. Kade’s smiling face from the ride we took a week ago flashed when I pressed the power button. The way the corner of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, and the memories of that ride pulled at my heart. Was I foolish to let him walk out the door? Should I have gone with him? He did ask me to go with him. A tear leaked out, rolled down my nose, and dripped to the counter. The phone buzzed and Melanie’s name flashed against the screen. I scrambled to answer it before it went to voicemail.
“Hey girl, how are you? I saw Kade driving through town.” She took a breath. “What’s going on?”
“He left,” I croaked out as the emotions of being left behind and everything the past couple of days welled up again. My hand shook so hard I had to set the knife down on the counter with a clatter. I ran the faucet to gulp some water to ease the knot in my throat.
“He left you?” Melanie’s voice sounded incredulous.
“No, he went to Vegas to ride at the Bull Riding Finals.” A sniffle escaped me.
“Honey, it’s not the end of the world. He’ll come home,” she said.
“But we fought today. What if he doesn’t? What if he hates me? What if he gets hurt? Or worse?” I voiced my worst fears to my best friend. A band of worry constricted around my chest as I gasped for air.
“Honey, calm down. I am sure he doesn’t hate you. Pete’s nanna once told Pete to let them go and if they come back it is meant to be. She is a wise woman.”
“She is.” I nodded in agreement.
“Why don’t Pete and I come to get you? We can be there in a few minutes. Pack your things and you can stay with us for a while,” she said. A car door slammed in the background and Pete’s voice could be heard talking to Melanie.
“Okay.” I set the lid on the stew pot. Anywhere was better than being here, where all the memories of Kade were.
#####
A LITTLE WHILE LATER, Pete’s truck rattled up the driveway and pulled up to a stop in front of the Kisment ranch house. The door slammed and Benny, Melanie’s Beagle, ran around the yard, barking and terrorizing the squirrels and songbirds.
“Pete and Melanie are here,” Kaleb called from the front porch. I’d just finished packing and grabbed my laptop and suitcase to head to the front of the house. Melanie hugged me hard when she saw me and Pete picked up my bag, carrying it to the truck.
“Come on. Let’s go to Nanna’s. She has your favorite peach cobbler ready for you.”
Melanie led me to the truck and slid in next to Pete, so I rode shotgun. I rested my face on the cool glass while he drove the short distance to his ranch. Nanna was waiting on the porch when he put the truck in park.
“Come on dearie, I have just the cure for a broken heart,” Nanna said.
Melanie handed me off to her. The old ranch house was warm and inviting like it was giving me a big hug. The smell of chocolatey goodness wafted out as Nanna led me into the kitchen. The worn oak table had seen its fair share of happy and sad events. The chairs groaned when we sat down, and Nanna ladled something out of a huge pot on the stove. I inhaled the chocolatey goodness when she set a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of me.
“I added something special for you.” She said with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Little marshmallows?” I asked hopefully. “I love the little marshmallows, especially the colorful ones.”
She chuckled. “No, my special Bailey’s. The only cure for a broken heart. That’s what my mother made for me.” She patted my arm and sat down across from me. “Now tell me what is going on.”
Melanie dished out fresh peach cobbler for each of us and Pete excused himself to the barn. I gave Nanna a summary of what happened. More tears flowed from my eyes. Melanie scooped more peach cobbler, and Nanna made more hot chocolate.
“Now I don’t know what to do,” I dabbed at my eyes before scooping more peach cobbler in my mouth.
“You do nothing. You had that boy’s best interests at heart. Men are like indoor cats. You can’t tell them to do things. You’ve gotta let them do their own thing. They want to go outside, you let them.” She sipped her hot chocolate. “If they come back inside, they are yours. You can’t make them.”
“But it hurts so much.”
“Of course, it does. That’s how you know your feelings for him are real.” She topped off my cup with her Bailey’s. “It will work out in the end. Just wait and see.”
We finished our hot chocolate and peach cobbler in silence. Melanie sat across from me, twirling her engagement ring around her finger. Nanna picked up her latest knitting project. The needle points clacked away rhythmically. I swirled my cup of hot chocolate, watching the Bailey’s mix with the hot chocolate. It was smooth and sweet. The chocolaty goodness made my heart feel better. The kitchen door burst open. Pete walked into the kitchen and leaned against the wood frame.
“I saddled up the horses. I think you and Melanie should go for a ride.” He strode to the fridge and pulled out a can of cola.
“That sounds wonderful.” My words slurred a bit as Melanie giggled. “How much did I have?” Nanna held up the bottle. It was halfway gone.
“Good thing I saddled my old horse for you.” He held open the door to usher us out to the barn.
“Go on girls. The cool night air will sober you up.” Nanna didn’t look up from her knitting.
Pete tied his two horses up to the rail, Gaston, a big grey gelding, and Melanie’s Belle stood next to him. She was a black as night Quarter horse mare. She suited Melanie perfectly. The first time Pete took Melanie for a ride, they beat him in a race. I walked up to the grey gelding and he pushed his soft nose into my hand, blowing out gently.
“Do you want to go for a ride?” I fished a peppermint from my pocket. He gently picked it up from my palm and crunched it. Pete helped Melanie up into Belle’s saddle and then gave me a leg up onto Gaston’s saddle. I settled myself on his broad back and brushed at his mane. My feet found the stirrups. I pushed my heels down and straightened my shoulders. “Hey, old man, take it easy with me.”
I gripped the leather reins in my hand and nudged him after Melanie and Belle. We set off at a sedate walk with Gaston hanging his head low, his ears flicked around, catching all the sounds of the night. Melanie led us down a tractor path to a wide-open field. We walked to the center of the field and let our horses graze. The moon rose above and reflected a yellow light down on us. It was full and easy to see out in the darkness. Crickets chirped. An owl hooted in the distance. Coyotes howled and somewhere out in the distance, a wild pig grunted. The horses chewed contentedly on the grass. Melanie scooted Belle over next to Gaston so that she could talk to me without yelling. I leaned back in the saddle and rested my head on Gaston’s rump. It was peaceful at night. The fracture of my heart softened just a bit.
“This is perfect,” I mumbled. “I wonder where Kade is at tonight.” Melanie’s eyes flashed. She had been talking to him. “Have you heard from him?”
“Yeah, he said he was almost to El Paso when Pete talked to him.”
“Hmmm, I hope he is doing ok.” Silence met my statement. Time seemed to go by in slow motion as I watched a few wispy clouds float by the moon. “Was I in the wrong?” The clouds blocked a bit of the moon’s shine before moving on.
Melanie cleared her throat. “You are not wrong to be worried about his health.” That was all she was going to say, wasn’t it?
“O.K.” I shivered. “I think I’m ready to go back.” I sat up in the saddle and grabbed the reins. Melanie led us back to the barn.
#####
THE NEXT DAY, MELANIE and I sat on a couch in the living room of Nanna’s house. She served us fresh brownies and ice cream as a treat after spending the morning riding horses. My laptop sat open to a browser page and Melanie typed furiously onto hers.
“I don’t know if Kaleb is going to pay me.” I broke the silence. My gum blew out in a large bubble before popping.
“Why do you say that?” She continued to type on her laptop.
“The agreement was if I stayed until Kade was better and released.” I popped another bubble. “Kade was never released from care. The doctor recommended not riding but couldn’t stop him if he wanted to go.” I absentmindedly scrolled through my phone. Worry knotted on the bottom of my stomach as my heart slowly bled. I slumped into the pillows.
“Kade left. There was nothing you could’ve done to prevent that. You didn’t quit.” She looked up from her screen and smiled softly at me. “Kaleb doesn’t seem the kind of guy to not pay you. Give it a little bit.”
“If he doesn’t pay me, I guess I’ll have to go beg for my job back at the hospital.” I wrinkled my nose at the thought.
“Do you want to go back?”
“Not really, I don’t miss the stress or my co-workers.” I sighed. “I’m ready for a change. It was nice to be out at the ranch and get into a routine. Maybe, Kaleb will hire me on as a cook or a stall hand?”
“It’s going to take us forever to raise the money for the stables if you do that.” She raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow at me. “Plus, if you do that, I’m not asking my parents for help. You’ll be on your own.”
“How cruel!” I clutched at my chest in mock horror. “You’re killing me, Mel.” She laughed and handed the last brownie to me.
“Will this make up for it?”
“A girl can never go wrong with chocolate.”
Pete walked into the room and plopped onto the couch between Melanie and me. “Move over, girls.” He stole the uneaten brownie from me and shoved it in his mouth. He reached for the remote to turn on the TV.
“Hey, that was my brownie!” I swatted him. He smiled a chocolaty toothed smile.
“I thought you would want to save room for Nanna’s peach cobbler. It just came out of the oven.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded.
I jumped up and ran to the kitchen where Nanna was holding a piping hot dish.
“I knew Pete would send you in here for this.” She winked at me and placed a large heap of cobbler in a bowl with peach ice cream. “Here you go. Tell Melanie to come in if she wants some.” She shooed me out of the kitchen.
Melanie and Pete snuggled together on one end of the couch when I returned. I had the other end to myself. I sat with my back against the armrest and propped my feet up on Pete’s leg.
“What are we watching?” I asked. A sports announcer was on the screen running statistics.
“The Bull Riding Finals,” Pete answered. “It is just round one.” He balanced a notebook and pen on his other knee.
“What are you doing?” I gestured to the small notebook. Melanie rolled her eyes at me like I was foolish to ask.
“I am keeping track of what bloodlines of bulls do what, so I know who to breed my cows to in the spring.”
“I forgot you had bucking bull cows.” I settled into the cushions. “How many rounds are there?”
“There are six. Five regular rounds and one championship round. That’s five days of bull riding.” He rubbed his hands together like a child at a candy store.
“That’s a lot,” I muttered. I grabbed my phone and looked at the screen. I wanted to text him, and my fingers hovered over the glass.
“Don’t you dare do it,” Melanie demanded as she yanked the phone from my fingers. “He has hurt you enough. If he wants you back, make him grovel.” Pete gave her a look that I didn’t understand. “I know you disagree, Pete, but he needs to work for her.” She pocketed my phone and crossed her arms.
We didn’t say anything else as the bull riding had started. The bulls bucked and twisted, throwing guys off. Pete explained how the bulls and riders were judged and who was in each bull’s pedigree.
“I never knew that stuff,” I said after he was explaining about the different breeding programs around the country. The announcer said Kade Kisment was getting ready to go next. “Excuse me.” I left the room. I couldn’t bear to watch. People described traumatic events like watching a train wreck in slow motion. No thank you. I will go drink sweet tea with Nanna in the other room.
I walked in and she handed me a glass of sweet tea.
“I had a feeling you would be joining me soon.” She rocked on her rocker as her knitting needles clicked away. Cheers went up in the living room a few seconds later. “I take it he stayed on.” She winked at me as I got up to rejoin my friends. Relief swept through me. Only five more rounds to go. I sent a silent prayer that he would be safe.