Page 15 of Road to a Cowboy

Besides, doing nothing didn’t accomplish anything.

The kitchen door opened with a squeak of hinges and Austin stepped out. His smile for his dad was open and loving, as uninhibited as it ever was.

The smile he turned on Cal was the same... yet not.

There was something a little... more... to it. It was a touch wider, a tad more delighted. He was clearly pleasantly surprised to see Cal, yet behind the obvious joy was a flare of longing that was so quickly banked, Cal could’ve sworn he was seeing things.

But he wasn’t. He knew Austin’s expressions as well as he knew every acre of Windsor Ranch.

Was Austin longing to... take Cal’s place and sit next to his dad and birdwatch? That didn’t feel right. Austin wasn’t a jealous individual, and besides, if he wanted to birdwatch with his dad, he could do so anytime.

That meant the longing was aimed at... Cal?

Cal almost snorted in disbelief. Sure. Austin was pining for him.

Austin didn’t pine. Austin wanted, and he went and got. He was a go-getter. Always had been.

He sat on his dad’s other side and looked at Cal around his dad’s back. “I didn’t realize you’d be here.”

“I came to fix the doorknob on the bathroom door.”

“I could’ve done that.”

Cal raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you even know your way around a hammer?”

Austin gasped dramatically. “That’s just mean.”

“I don’t need either of you to fix my doorknobs,” Paul grumbled. “I said I’d get to it.”

“Sure.” There was no disguising the amused doubt in Austin’s voice. “At Christmas, when one of mom’s party guests gets locked in the bathroom.”

“We should make sure it’s your Aunt Edna. That way we don’t have to listen to her complain that the turkey is dry.”

“Are you kidding? You know she’ll just find something else to complain about.” Austin bumped his dad’s shoulder. “So? Discover any new birds lately?”

“Just the Stellar’s jay. It’s over there.” Paul gestured but quickly let his arm drop. “Ah, well. It was. Looks like it’s gone. It was stunning, though, wasn’t it, Cal?”

“He did look pretty badass,” Cal confirmed. “Like the bird version of a rock star.”

Austin laughed at that, and the sound hit Cal right in the solar plexus, in that place where everything he’d ever longed for sat hidden behind layers of walls thick enough to hide even his own feelings from himself.

Usually.

Cal didn’t know what it was about Austin lately that made him notice everything about him more than he normally did, as though someone had stuck a spotlight on him. His every move was an imaginary caress along Cal’s skin, and even the freckles across the bridge of his nose seemed more pronounced than usual, taunting Cal, begging him to press a gentle kiss to each one as he counted them.

Christ. He was losing his mind over his best friend.

As if he didn’t already know that there were thirty-two freckles. He’d counted them ages ago by light of a camping lantern when he’d shared a tent with Austin on a MacIsaac family camping trip.

Paul patted Austin’s knee. “What brings you by?”

The good humor fled Austin’s face. “Have you talked to Ben lately?”

“Not in a few days. Why?”

“I spoke with him yesterday, and he’s...” Austin’s shoulders slumped, and the beseeching look he gave his dad was full of heartbreak. “Dad, I think he’s lonely. And sad.”

“Do we need to go get him?” Cal asked, remembering Ben MacIsaac as—like Las and his sister—the little brother he’d never had. Spunky and full of mischief, always ready for an adventure, whether that was scouring the backyard for four-leaf clovers to summon a leprechaun or learning to do tricks on one of the tamer Windsor Ranch horses. In a way, he was a lot like Austin—what he wanted, he went after.

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