Page 14 of Rancher's Return

The boys loaded into the truck, and they started toward town.

The carnival was right off the main street with booths lining the sidewalk and string lights woven overhead. There were balloons and streamers and all manner of jaunty decor strung up about the place. It was a Fall Festival, early September so not Halloween as much as apples, gingham and myriad other things he’d never much associated with.

It was... It was like a small-town TV show. Or a Hallmark movie.

The Historic Main Street was looking brighter and more vibrant since he’d left twenty years before, with many of the buildings restored, including an old bed-and-breakfast at the very end of the street that belonged to his brother and his new wife. His sister-in-law also owned the saloon in town. The whole main street was practically a Carson parade.

He parked his truck up against the curb, and they all got out. He took out his wallet, and some cash, and handed it to the boys. “You can go meet school friends. And this is your money to spend.”

“Gee thanks, Dad,” said Reggie.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

It didn’t bother him that they only called him dad when they were being sarcastic.

“Colton, you’re on notice.”

“What did he do?” Marcus asked.

Buck hadn’t made a big song and dance about what Colton had gotten caught doing, because he didn’t want to expose Lily to any kind of gossip, and on top of that, he hadn’t wanted them to think Colton was cool.

“None of your business,” he said, planting his hand flat on top of Reggie’s head and giving it a scrub. “Just go about your business.”

“Are you going to babysit me?” Colton asked, once his younger siblings had cantered off.

“I don’t intend to. But I imagine I ought to be there when we meet up with Lily and her mother. Since you made a very bad first impression.”

“So you realistically think teenagers are just not going to have sex?”

“It’s not about what I think or don’t think,” he said. “But what I expect is that you will treat this place we’ve moved to with some kind of respect. That you’ll consider Lily, her feelings, her future. Because you know what? I was the kind of ass who didn’t. When you make consequences for somebody else, Colton, that’s not something a good person can just walk away from. And you’re a good person.”

“You really think so?” Colton was looking at him with skepticism.

“Yes. I do. And you know...about my past. You know about the damage I caused here.”

“Yeah. But it’s not really the same thing.”

“Maybe not. But you know what it’s about, it’s about prioritizing having fun in the moment over thinking about what that fun could cost. And I want you to be better than that. I want you to be different than that. I know you can be. I want you to be better than me. Because when I was your age, I did sleep around, and I didn’t care if girls got their feelings hurt. I didn’t care that my dad was busy. He was traveling around with the rodeo. My mom was...dealing with things. She had lost one of her kids. And then had another baby kind of late... It just... Nobody was really paying attention to what I was doing. There were too many kids and too many other things going on... At the very least, I want you to put her mom at ease. Show some damned respect.”

“Yes, sir,” Colton said, mumbling. But Buck counted that as a win.

They started walking toward the festivities, and he saw Marigold and Lily standing right there.

“Hi there,” he said. “Good to see you again.”

Marigold looked...beautiful, her red curly hair spilling down her shoulders in loose waves, her amber eyes glistening. She didn’t exactly look thrilled to see him. But she had shown up. She had done that for her daughter, he was confident.

Her daughter looked a lot like her. Red hair, freckles. She reminded Buck a lot of her mother when she had been young. She reminded Buck a lot of the Marigold who had stood in front of him yelling and hollering and basically telling him he was a murderer.

A stark contrast to the woman who stood in front of him now.

“Go have a wholesome date,” Marigold said.

“All right,” Lily said, taking Colton’s hand and leading him into the carnival.

“They seem unhappy with us,” Buck said.

“Well. Too bad for her. I guess I’m not totally used to being in opposition to my daughter, but there’s a first time for everything.”

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