Page 4 of Dependable Cowboy

The word punched him in the gut like the fist of a prize fighter. It was a reminder that ten years had passed, that she had a life that no longer included him in any way. Not that he hadn’t already known that. But coming face to face with the evidence of her having moved on was hard. Even if it should’ve been nothing but ancient history at this point.

“Nice to meet you,” he stated, fiddling with the slender box in his hand as he glanced at Kara then back to Joy. “So, you back for a visit?”

“More of a longer stay. We’re moving here.”

“How awesome.”

He wanted to mean it, but he couldn’t tell if he did or not. He felt too astounded to decide one way or the other. His system hadn’t quite caught up to the fact that the girl he’d grown up with, his best friend since kindergarten, the one who’d up and abandoned him after tearing out his heart and stomping on it was here. Right here.

With her kid. The one she’d had with another man.

He kept messing with the box in his hand temporarily forgetting what it was or where it’d come from. Aaron forced a smile hoping it came across as genuine. Based on Joy’s grimace, he doubted that it did.

“Well, we’d better get going. Lots to do and a short time to do it in.”

Relief swept over him at her announcement. He’d rarely felt this uncomfortable.

“Sure, sure. And uh, welcome back.”

“Thanks.”

Then she was gone.

Aaron watched as she plunked herself in one of the ugliest and most rusted out little vehicles he’d ever seen, her daughter following suit in the back. He couldn’t help but stare as the car burped out a cloud of sooty smoke and squealed as if a belt was loose as it ground its way down the street.

He wouldn’t be surprised if the orangish thing, or maybe that was all the rust, simply broke down and breathed its lastabout a hundred feet from where he stood. Somehow, though, miraculously, it kept going until Joy was out of sight.

Unconsciously, he played with the box in his hands, nearly dropping it. Glancing down, he remembered what he was holding and why. His mother’s fifty-fifth birthday would be in a month, and they were celebrating it with what should be a pretty sizable party.

The box contained her present from him, a bracelet specially made with the four birthstones from their family, a ruby, an emerald, an aquamarine, and a yellow citrine. It made for a lovely rainbow, a weather phenomenon Angie Hunter dearly loved if her tendency to take pictures of every single one she saw and post it to Facebook meant anything.

He thought his gift would be a hit. He hoped it would.

But before the pleasant concept of the look on his mother’s face could bring him a sense of contentment and satisfaction, Joy’s expression popped back into his mind. Her kid—daughter—resembled her so much she could be her mini-me. Same dark hair and gray green eye color. Same nose. Same chin. He figured everyone probably told her that, though. Toldthemthat.

Why he couldn’t quit thinking about it he had no idea.

Determined to get his feet back under him, he stowed his mom’s bracelet in his breast pocket and hopped up into the cab of his raised Chevy Silverado. He hadn’t had the truck altered for looks but for practicality. The road to his house was way out in the sticks and made of dirt that washed out with every single storm. Any vehicle with a more normal suspension often couldn’t make it.

But his always could.

Once onboard, he dragged his hat off his head and wiped his forehead with a hand. It’d been hot as blazes this year, the summer heat downright unpleasant. He hoped it would break soon. Aaron couldn’t even remember the last time the temperatures were this crazy. So crazy he bet he could fry an egg there on the sidewalk.

No traipsing barefoot for him.

Backing out of his parking spot, he motored out onto the lane, glancing over his shoulder for pedestrians. Rocky Ridge might be a small town with relatively minor traffic, but in a vehicle as tall as his, he couldn’t afford to not be careful.

Pulling around the back of Mountaintop Java, he ordered a sandwich, chips, and iced coffee to go. This might be his lunchbreak, but he spent most of it with this errand for his mom. One that had been extended by running into Joy. Yet time and ranch work stopped for nothing and no one, so once out of the city limits, he accelerated, munching as he went.

Those at the Duncan Ranch would be expecting him.

As he pulled up by the barn, Sam Duncan, the brother who supervised half the ranch hands, approached. His wife Whitney normally supervised the other half, but due to being heavily pregnant with twins and prescribed by her doctor to be on light duty, she was staying mostly inside due to the heat.

“Still on lunch?” Sam asked him.

Aaron glanced at his watch. “Back as of now.”

He didn’t leave the property most of the time, but with the jewelry shop closing before he’d get off work, he’d wanted to get this taken care of sooner rather than later. Aaron half worriedSam would say something about him being away from the property, but he didn’t. Aaron knew his lunch was his time, but he preferred to be as dependable to these people as he could. The Duncans were the best employers he’d ever had.

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