Page 75 of Road to a Cowboy

“Hey, Mom.” Austin kissed her cheek when she walked past him. “I was just telling Dad... why don’t you let me pick up the cones for you? I can come by on Saturdays.”

Mom waved a hand. “I go out a couple of times a day to pick them up. If I saved them for you, you’d be out there for hours. It’s a lot of bending and rising.” She chuckled. “Keeps me young.”

“You are young.”

She beamed at him. “Thank you for saying so. I think so too.” She put her hand to the side of her mouth like she was imparting a secret and tipped her head toward Dad. “Your dad on the other hand...”

“Oy!” Dad mock scowled. “I’ll have you know this old guy can still keep up with the young’uns at darts on Tuesdays.”

Austin snorted a laugh. Christ, he hoped he and Cal were still ribbing each other ten, twenty, thirty, forty years from now.

That thought sobered him quickly, because the person he’d been supposed to still be ribbing forty years from now was gone. Cal wasn’t Lindsay’s replacement and he wasn’t Austin’s second choice—that wasn’t how love worked, at least not for him. But it was a reminder that those forty years—hell, the next one year—weren’t a guarantee.

“Tell us about your trip.” Mom handed him the plates for him to set on the table. “Did you have a good time?”

He talked about Norway as they ate, laughing when they both went heart-eyed when he told them about Cal surprising him in Trondheim. Then they ooh’d and ahh’d over his photos of the midnight sun—a handful of which he’d already sold to a magazine, the rest of which would go up in his gallery and on his website.

“How was the school?” Dad moved his empty plate aside. “Did you get to meet any professors?”

“Good, and yes.” Austin helped himself to a second serving. “The school is really cool, and the professors I met seemed nice. Cal and I took one of them and his wife out for dinner. It was a lot of fun. They seemed like they could be friends.”

“Did this trip help you make a decision about the job?” Mom asked. “Or did it simply confuse things?”

Austin barked a laugh. “The latter. I do want the job. I just wish it wasn’t so far away from everything I’ve ever known. I’ve traveled for work before, but this is different.”

“Look at it as a stepping stone.” Mom poured the rest of the wine between their glasses. “There are plenty of people who work jobs they dislike or who work jobs in locations they dislike because they know it will eventually lead to something better. This could be your stepping stone into teaching at the college.”

“Yeah, and I’ve thought of that.” Austin had followed up with Central Wyoming College, going so far as to reach out to the head of the department. He’d gotten a templated thanks, but no thanks email in response. “I had the opportunity to very briefly work with one of the students at the school while I was there, and it was beyond cool. I’d love to do that for a year. But on the flip side...” He sat back, passing a hand down his face. “I love my workshops. If I move away, I won’t get to work with this community.”

“Temporarily,” Dad pointed out. “You can always pick up your workshops again when you get back.”

“It’ll be harder to pick back up. I’ll lose customers while I’m gone.”

“Maybe. But it’s only a year.”

Austin was about to point out—for what felt like the hundredth time—that a lot could happen in a year, when Dad added, “I know. A year is either too long or too short, depending on how you look at it and what you’ve been through. For you, it’s probably too damn short when you think of spending time with the people you love, and too damn long when you think about being away from those people.” Dad leaned forward, his eyes serious. “This is where you’ve got to decide if your fear is going to let you make this decision for you.”

Austin’s chest tightened, and his fork fell onto his plate with a clatter.

“Paul,” Mom whisper-shouted, poking him in the back of the hand with her fork.

His dad made a wounded noise and held up a hand. “I didn’t mean for that to sound so judgmental. What I meant is that if you decide not to take this job because you’re genuinely worried about what could happen while you’re away...” Dad grabbed his wrist. “Austin. There’s nothing wrong with that. You need to do what’s right for you. And if what’s right for you is here, then it’s here. We’ll support you no matter what.”

Austin didn’t break down in tears over that simple statement, but it was a close call. “Thanks, Dad.”

“What does Cal think about the job?” Mom asked.

“He thinks I should take it.”

Her smile went all mushy as she rose and began stacking plates. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said in a mock announcer voice, “find yourselves a man who will support your dreams even when they’re twelve million miles away.”

“Not quite that far,” Austin said, laughing. “But I agree.”

“Speaking of Cal, is he joining us for dessert?”

“He said he would if he could get away.” Austin pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I haven’t heard anything from him since this morn?—”

The front door opened, and the subject of their conversation walked in, tall and broad and bronzed and sexy as hell. Austin’s stomach tumbled over itself at the sight of him.

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