Page 97 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

“I’ll be in touch,” Henry said, and he started to walk away. Then he turned back and said, “Wait, wait, I gotta put Palermo away. I can’t just leave you here.”

“No. Go.” Trevor held up his phone, his smile just as sunny and bright as always. Henry marveled at his positive attitude and agreeable disposition.

“I can send one text on this phone and have twenty men here to help me in five minutes. All of them will know how to put Palermo away. Only you can go pack your bag and get to your family’s side. So just go.”

Henry’s mind whirred as if he had poured a bunch of fruit and yogurt into it, then pressed liquefy on a blender. “Okay,” he said. “Yeah, okay, I’m gonna go.”

“Yep,” Trevor said. “You go. I’ll handle everything here, and I’ll call you tonight to find out how things are going.”

“Okay.” Henry strode back to Trevor, wrapped him up in a tight hug, and said, “Thank you so much, Trevor. This really means a lot to me.”

“We’ll pray for you,” Trevor said.

And right then, Henry truly understood the culture at Lone Star. Trevorwouldpray for him, and he would tell everyone at Lone Star, and they would pray for him too. Henry suddenly also realized the power of prayer. One prayer was amazing, and God surely heard it, but with the power of many….

Henry’s chest fell and then expanded again as he jogged, trying not to panic, trying not to cry, and trying to stay above water until he could find out if he had anything to worry about.

Please, Lord, he thought.Help me. Help my momma. Help Grams. Help my family.

Henry sat in the only available chair in his grandmother’s hospital room, listening to the sounds of the machines monitoring her health. One of them wisped every so often when she breathed, and another beeped whenever the IV bag got too low.

No one had been in and out of the room for a while now. As the afternoon turned to evening, Henry shifted. His mama and daddy had plenty to do in the summer, and not all of them could sit in the narrow hospital room anyway. Someone had been sitting with Grams, either from his family or from Uncle Squire and Aunt Kelly’s, since she had been admitted over the weekend.

Henry had been gone from Lone Star for five days now, and irritation and frustration pulsed through him with all the texts coming in from Creston. “I’m not even there,” he muttered.

Yes, as captain he had a lot of responsibility, and he knew that his horses had been pushed off to other men, probably on their days off, and that everyone shouldered a burden for him not to be there. He also knew that he didn’t need it rubbed in his face with every text message that came in.

Angel had called on Saturday night to get an update on Grams, who had had a stroke. A mini one, the doctor said. It hadn’t lasted very long, and they’d been doing tests ever since. She hadn’t been able to go home yet because the doctors had seen something in her bloodwork that they didn’t like, and they were trying to get her potassium to go down before they would release her. She slept right now, and Henry, though he’d been sleeping more than ever, looked over to her and wished he could do the same. He had no idea how much longer she’d be here or how much longer he would be needed here.

Finn and Edith usually came in the evening with Theo, after Finn finished on his farm and before Edith started writing in her she-shed, and Henry had stayed to visit with them several times. Finn had started to send him some of the properties around Three Rivers that Henry might be interested in purchasing.

With the new road going in up north, Henry had started looking up there as well, almost along the Oklahoma border. A few small towns had some houses for sale, and he could still commute to Lone Star. He knew with certainty now that he didn’t want to live there. He did not see himself moving into Angel’s cabin and assuming his role there at her side as if she’d just been waiting for him.

He still saw himself with her, though they hadn’t talked about marriage or kids, or even if she’d move away from Lone Star to be with him.

I guess if she doesn’t, he thought.Then that’s your answer right there.

He didn’t like the black-and-whiteness of it. He’d learned that most things in life existed in a shade of gray.

Angel loved Lone Star. She ran the place; she definitely wouldn’t be leaving that job behind. But she didn’t have toliveon-site.

Henry still believed with a firm determination that she would be happier if she could leave every evening and go somewhere else for safety and solace and comfort. He wanted that to be with him, in a place that they’d built together.

He moved away from texting Creston, because he’d already told him to text Levi. Levi had been handling everything on Henry’s team, and he would continue to do so. He navigated over to the text thread he had with a real estate agent in Three Rivers who had helped Finn buy his one-man ranch.

Jerry Bozeman had sent him two more listings, and while Henry wasn’t looking for a ranch, he definitely wouldn’t minda pasture where he could keep a horse or two. They could have dogs and chickens and live a good country life, closer to his family while also remaining near Angel’s.

Stinnett looks like a good possibility, Jerry had said.There are two properties there right now that fit your budget.

Truth be told, Henry had never imagined himself living in Stinnett, a town about halfway between Three Rivers and Amarillo. But if he chose Stinnett and the new road went in as planned, he would be able to get to Courage Reins and Three Rivers Ranch, where the majority of his family lived, in only thirty-five minutes. And he would be able to get to Lone Star in thirty.

It seemed almost too good to be true, like God had made sure that a town had sprung up there specifically so that Henry and Angel would have a halfway point between the two places they both wanted to be.

I’ll look at them, Henry said.Thank you, Jerry.

Let me know if you want to set up a showing, Jerry said.The one’s been on the market for a long time, so no rush. The other one just came up last week, but nothing’s been selling super fast lately, so again, no rush.

Thanks, Henry said.

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