Page 2 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

Henry had enjoyed everyone’s Valentine’s Day pictures, and they’d all laughed when he’d sent one of him grinning next to a horse. He hadn’t told them it was a male, but it hardly mattered. Everyone knew he wasn’t dating anyone.

Oliver Walker had confirmed that he and his wife had a babysitter for their three kids and would be there. That made four couples, and Henry’s internal frown started to form again. He’d brought a date to game night in the past, and sometimes he’d been paired with Dawson’s brother. Sometimes Paul was his plus-one, but Paul had been dating someone for months now, and Henry expected to get a call from his brother any day now, telling him to clear his schedule for a summer wedding.

Not that Henry couldn’t get home quickly. He could, and he wouldn’t have to clear his schedule for anything. In fact, he and Finn had discovered that if Henry took a couple of backroads, he could get to the ranch Finn owned, which bordered Three Rivers Ranch, where Henry had grown up and where his family still lived alongside Finn’s.

No one else had answered, and as Henry started to text, in came Alex’s message.Nicki and I are going to the fertility clinic this weekend, so we won’t be there. Hope it’s fun.

Henry’s heartbeat jumped as if someone had thrown cold water in his face. He couldn’t imagine wanting children and not being able to have them, and he backed out of the group text and sent one to Alex privately.

Praying for you and Nicki, brother.

Thanks, Alex said back.We’re meeting with an adoption counselor on Friday too. Nicki’s not very happy about it, so any extra prayers for that would be appreciated.

Why isn’t she happy about it?Henry asked.

She wants a baby of her own, Alex said.I think we should explore all options, so she agreed to go, but she’s not too keen on adoption yet.

Henry wasn’t exactly sure of Nicki’s age, but he knew she was quite a bit older than Alex, who’d just turned twenty-seven at the beginning of the year. She might be thirty-five by now, and Henry didn’t know a whole lot about women, but he knew they couldn’t have babies forever.

Prayers and good vibes for it all, Henry said. Then he went back to his main menu and texted Brandon Rhinehart.Are you going to game night this weekend? Wanna be my date?He added a laughing emoji, smiled in real life, and sent the text.

The main group string had several messages of condolences andprayers comingwhen Henry looked at it again. Brandon had not answered him, and Henry finally got up and went inside the cabin. The scent of baking bread met his nose, and he wasn’t surprised to find Levi in the kitchen, an apron around his neck which had flour dusted down the front of it.

“You’re baking,” he said as he closed the front door behind him. “Trouble with Shad?”

Levi threw him a look made of poisonous darts and went back to cutting lines in the top of an unbaked loaf of bread. “He’s completely wrong about the growth rate on Berniece. That horse needs new shoes every three weeks, and it irritates me to the bone that he makes me wait four. For no reason.”

He bent and put the bread in the oven, then moved to the counter, where another pile of unformed dough waited. He slammed his hands into it and continued. “Today, her hooves were all overgrown around the nails, and I couldn’t get them out.I took pictures and sent them to him, and he came running right over.” He rolled his eyes and abused the poor bread dough. “It’s been twenty-four days, so he got after me for starting early. It’s unbelievable.”

Henry pulled out the barstool and sat, surveying the mess that was bread-making. “I’m sorry, Levi. For what it’s worth, I’m on your side. I’d re-shoe Berniece every two weeks if it were me. No sense in making anyone suffer. It’s not like we can’t afford it.”

Levi’s dark eyes flashed. “Right?”

Henry’s phone buzzed, and he looked at it.I’m out, Brandon said.I have a date this weekend.

He grinned at his device.Same woman as last week?

Yep, Brandon said.And I can’t ask for prayers after Alex’s thing, so I’ll just say I can’t come. Sorry, bro.

It’s fine, Henry said, though he certainly couldn’t show up stag. Most games they played at these parties were for couples, and Henry wouldn’t go alone. His heart ached to go home for the weekend, though, so he texted Paul and asked him. Then his cousin Libby. And even his brother Rich.

None of them could go—he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten Paul was going to Hondo this weekend to meet his girlfriend’s parents—and to add insult to injury, Edith messaged the group with,That just leaves Henry. Are you in? Want to bring a date?

He looked up at Levi, who’d gone quiet after his rant. “Want to go to game night with my friends this weekend?”

“When? Saturday?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes,” Levi said, and Henry confirmed that he’d be there with “a friend.” Satisfied, he set his phone aside for the evening, enjoyed the freshly baked bread with leftover chili from one of the cowboys from a couple cabins down, and kicked his feet up on the coffee table as Levi put on the Cowboy Channel and they found reruns of a rodeo out of Calgary.

He barely thought of Angel White, though the gorgeous blonde seemed to circle his mind whenever he started to get drowsy.

By Saturday, he couldn’t wait for a day off, and since he didn’t work Sundays or Mondays, he packed a bag with late afternoon sunshine shining through his window so he could stay with his parents for a couple of nights.

He heard the front door slam, and he called, “Hey, Levi, we have to leave in forty-five minutes.” They’d planned to stop and get dinner in Stinnett before continuing on to his cousin’s ranch for game night.

Levi didn’t answer, and alarms rang through Henry’s head when he heard boots running.Running.

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