Page 11 of Heart of the West

“It is. Can you fly in on the twenty-first and stay until the twenty-sixth or the twenty-seventh?”

“Where am I flying to?”

“Either White Plains or La Guardia. White Plains is closest to Darien, where his parents live.”

“Am I staying in a hotel?”

“Mr. and Mrs. King would like you to stay in their home. Kai is an only child. He says they have tons of room. Their house is on ten acres. Nothing compared to your thirteen hundred, but the neighbors won’t be up our butts.”

“Do you want to make the flight reservations, or do you want me to?”

“I can, Dad. Thank you. I’m so excited. Don’t worry about Christmas presents. You just gave me the best gift. I love you.”

“I love you too, peaches. Text me the info on the flight.”

“I’ll send you a link to the tickets.”

I look at Dee. I know she heard at least my side of the conversation.

“Looks like you and Clay have two weeks off this year. Why don’t you take a vacation from me? As a bonus. Neither of you have left this ranch for over four days for over a decade.”

Dee straightened her spine, pinning me with a look. “You needed me.”

I nod. “I did. I do, but I’m leaving the state. Clay can choose who he wants to put in charge. They’ll get additional pay for pulling holiday duty, as always.”

“I’ll talk to Clayton. I won’t make any promises. We’ll pay for our own vacation.”

I don’t argue with her. I’ll pay. Not only that, I’ll book it for them and send them off before either of them can come up with a reason. I finish breakfast and head to my office. I have a few things to do before I plan on saddling Duke, my trusty gelding, and taking a ride up to the ridge. First thing I do is power the laptop on. Once that’s done, I head to Dee’s Facebook and Pinterest pages. I know she’ll have a dream vacation listed somewhere.

A little less than an hour later, I have a two-week all-inclusive cruise with airfare booked. I’ll get a Christmas card later and put the plans inside. Dee might turn me down, but I’m betting she won’t turn down the cruise. Satisfied I’ve taken care of my best employment and long-time friends, I move on to calling my two sons and letting them know I’m spending Christmas in Connecticut.

I’m shaking my head by the time I’m finished with the last call to my youngest son, Clyde. Jessi already had their flights to La Guardia booked. Personally, I’d rather fly into White Plains. It’s closer. Finished with my office chores, I grab my hat and jacket and head to the greenhouse.

Evie loved flowers and wanted them all year long. For our tenth anniversary, I had a small greenhouse built for her. She got her year round flowers. A pang hits my heart when I walk through the doors. I hired someone to take care of it these days. The smell of the flowers always reminds me of her. Along the back wall is a large patch of wildflowers. I make my way to them and cut a large bouquet, securing it with bailing twine. I head to the barn.

I saddle up Duke, my 16HH dappled Appy. He’s been on this trip so many times the last dozen years he can do it without my guidance. Swinging a leg up over, I settle on the saddle, bouquet in my hand. I ride him out of the barn and into the nearest field.

“To the ridge, Duke,” I say, steering him in that direction.

Snow blankets still blankets the ground. Looks like early winter is staying. The kids would love snow at Christmas time. Too bad none of them will be home this year. The place is getting lonely with all the kids gone. Two in college and one already living his life. He’s thirty-three and still hasn’t settled down. I’m beginning to wonder if he ever will.

Evie and I married the day after she graduated high-school. She was seventeen and I was eighteen. We waited to have our first child until she was twenty-one. We were married twenty-one beautiful years before the accident.

The ride takes twenty minutes. I enjoy the scenic view as we move through the pasture and into the tree line.

Wolf Creek is uncommonly hilly for Oklahoma. We have a mountain range nearby that rivals the Glass Mountains. The surrounding areas have more hills and valleys than most of the state. Duke doesn’t seem to notice the gradual incline as we make our way to the ridge.

I hop off, tie him off to a tree and walk over to Evie’s grave. I dust off the snow before laying the flowers on top of the gravesite. I hunker down in front of her stone, tracing my fingers over the edge, pondering my next words.

“I’m sorry it’s been a few weeks, Ev. Things are crazy in town. We’ve had an unusual uptick of crimes, keeping me on my toes. I had to shoot a man on Monday, Ev. I’d like to say it was hard, but it wasn’t. He was going to kill his wife. He’d already stabbed her before I got there.

“I’ve been trying to get Bitsy to leave him for years. She made excuses and stayed. I’m not blaming her. Having never beenin her shoes, I don’t understand. I’ll never understand a man’s desire to put his hands on a woman. To me, you’re not a man if you raise your hand to a woman, child or animal. There are so many ways to take care of things without resorting to that. I’d often hoped he would put up a fight when I took him in. I wanted nothing more than to land a few good punches in that asshat’s face. While the world is a better place without him in it. I still hate when a life is taken.

“Ev, I don’t know how to say this, but our little girl is growing up.”

Tears prick at my eyes as my emotions swell, thinking about doing this without the love of my life.

“She wants me to meet a boy. Not only a boy, but his parents, too. Swears it’s not forever, at least not until she’s done with school.”

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