Page 75 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

“When?”

“When Angel’s ready.”

She didn’t give further details, and Bard didn’t ask. Justine said grace, and Henry lifted his chocolate croissant to his mouth, moaning when he got the flaky pastry and the chocolatey goodness all in one bite.

“I wish you could come with me,” Henry said almost a week later. His packed bag sat in the backseat of his truck, solo. Angel had met him on the side of his house, and since he lived on the end, they’d taken a risk that no one would see them. He’d attended roll call as usual, but he needed to get on the road in the next ten minutes to satisfy his momma’s timeline.

“Me too,” Angel said as she rested her cheek against his pulse. He held her, brushed his fingers through her hair, and gently tipped her face up to kiss her.

“I’ll miss you while I’m gone,” he said.

“It’s only a few days,” she said.

“I’ll call you tonight. We’ll be down in Waco, and I’ll find a way to sneak away.”

“You aren’t going to tell your parents about us?”

His eyebrows went up. “You think I should?”

“Well, my parents know now,” she said. “And who are your mom and dad going to tell? Someone here on the ranch?”

He grinned at her. “No,” he said. “They don’t know anyone here on the ranch.”

She smiled back. “Exactly,” she said, and then Angel matched her mouth to his again.

Henry could kiss her for a long time, but he pulled away, resettled his hat on his head, and said, “I’ll call you tonight.”

He got behind the wheel of his truck and drove away from Angel, which happened to be one of the hardest things he’d done in the past couple of years. It felt odd to think that, to know it, to feel it deep down inside his chest. And he wondered once again what it would feel like to be in love.

Maybe this weekend, he could ask Paul about it.

He could talk to his momma and daddy about Angel.

Maybe when he visited Three Rivers, everything would once again be reset, and he’d know exactly what to do and when to do it when he came back to Lone Star next week.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The pinch in Henry’s lungs loosened as he went around the corner and his childhood home, the big Courage Reins building, and the beauty of Three Rivers Ranch spread before him. He did love this place, and the longer he stayed away and worked somewhere else, the more fond he became of it when he returned.

He turned down the long driveway and pulled out of the way so he didn’t block Paul or Daddy. Paul had decided that he would drive himself and Brielle to Waco. He had invited Henry to ride with him, but Henry wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

He needed to have a serious conversation with his momma and daddy, but he didn’t want to do it with Rich in the truck. Perhaps he could find a way to get his youngest brother to go with Paul and Brielle, and he would go with Momma and Daddy.

He’d barely dropped from his truck when his family streamed from the farmhouse. “There you are,” Momma said, and while she surely didn’t mean to make him feel like he was late, that was exactly what she accomplished.

“I’m not late,” he said. “We’re not leaving for ten more minutes.”

“We’re loading up now,” Daddy said, and he handed Momma her canvas bag full of who-knew-what. She brought it on every trip they took, and Henry had seen her pull books from it, crochet yarn and needles, and even puzzle books. She liked to have her hands busy in the car, and it took seven hours to get to Waco.

“All right,” Henry said, and he turned to get his bag out of the back seat. Rich helped Daddy load the cooler into the back of his truck while Paul put his bag in his vehicle.

“Who you ridin’ with?” Henry asked Rich, and his youngest brother shot a look over to their momma.

“I’m gonna go with Paul,” he muttered. “Don’t feel like riding with them.”

Henry shouldn’t have felt relieved that someone else in the family didn’t always get along with Momma and Daddy exactly right, but he did. He grinned and said, “Great. I’ll go with Momma and Daddy, so they don’t have to go alone.”

“It’s fine,” Momma said. “You boys do whatever you want.” She was used to being the only female in their family, and she lifted her chin high. “I can handle myself.” She pinned Rich with a steely glare. “And Rich, if you can’t handle an adult conversation, then you need to figure out how to do that. Maybe going with Paul and Brielle will help you.”

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