Page 12 of Head Above Water

“I asked Dusty to bring me out. Danny told me where you’d gone, and I figured I could return with you.” Hazard hopped into the driver’s seat, and Bryce got on behind, put his arms around him, and leaned in toward his back. “I think I like this.”

“What?”

He rubbed his hands up and down Hazard’s belly. “Copping a feel.”

“Is that what this is?”

“You did it last night, so why can’t it be my turn?” Bryce held on a little tighter, as Hazard turned them around, driving back toward the main house.

“Who said you couldn’t?” he teased, and went slowly, wanting to prolong their time together. He leaned back slightly, and Bryce pressed to him more closely as they rode across the rangeland.

The sun was drawing lower in the sky as they reached the yard. Bryce got off, and Hazard put the four-wheeler and the tools away.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Bryce’s father asked as he stormed up to Bryce. He looked like he was going to fall over at any minute, with only his anger holding him up. “I’m the one who runs things here, and….”

“Stop, Lyle,” Mrs. Maverick pleaded from behind him as she took her husband’s arm. “You need to rest.”

“What I need…,” he began, and then the steam seemed to go out of him as he coughed.

“What you need is to rest and to let Bryce run things. You need to save your strength,” Mrs. Maverick said, motioning to two of the men, who approached and each took an arm to help keep Mr. Maverick upright. “Bryce can handle things.” She led the way inside, and Hazard turned to Bryce, who was as pale as a sheet.

“Everyone get back to work,” Danny called, and the guys melted away.

“He doesn’t think I can do it,” Bryce groused. “So why should I bother?”

Hazard wished he had answers for him. Mr. Maverick was a stubborn but proud man. “Maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with you. It’s possible that your dad is lashing out because he can’t do the things he used to. I mean, he needs to be the center of things, because if he’s not, then he doesn’t feel like he’s important.”

Bryce stood taller, and his eyes grew harder. “My father can think what he wants, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone has to run the ranch until he’s able to.”

“Exactly,” he agreed. “So, what do we do?” He didn’t want Bryce to feel as though he was alone in this.

“You talk to your father once he’s up to it,” Mrs. Maverick said. Hazard hadn’t even realized she had come back out. She rested her hand on Bryce’s shoulder. “He’s scared, and you know your father has never shown fear in his life. And now itseems like the ranch, the thing he’s spent his life building and nurturing, is slipping away from him.”

“I was planning to talk to him as soon as he had the energy,” Bryce explained.

“Then make that sooner rather than later,” his mother said, before going back inside the house.

“Do you think…?” Bryce asked. “I mean….” His voice trailed off, becoming rougher every time he tried to speak.

Hazard swallowed hard. “Your mom knows your father better than anyone else. They’ve been together through God knows what over decades.” He found himself worrying as he looked toward where she’d gone. “Maybe she can see what’s coming better than the doctors or anyone else. But I don’t know.”

“I don’t either,” Bryce agreed. “But there’s plenty to do, and I need to catch up with Danny to see where he’s at and what things he and my father had planned.” He sighed and then strode to where Danny had gone. Hazard figured there was nothing he could do and went to the barn to make sure the horses had enough hay and that they were bedded down for the night.

“Why areyou so distracted?” Hazard’s mother asked after they had dinner at the main house that night. It had been quiet, with Mrs. Maverick eating very little and then excusing herself. Bryce ate, but seemed drawn inward, and Hazard watched them both, wondering what he could do and realizing that everything was out of his hands.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

She shook her head. “No, you’re not.” She sat in her chair, and Hazard got up to leave the room. The last thing he wanted was for her to begin analyzing him. “You’re worried aboutsomething, and all during dinner, you kept watching Bryce. So, you might as well tell me. Did you boys finally get together?”

Hazard coughed. “Mom….”

“I’ve seen the way you’ve watched him for years. I’m your mother, and I see things. You never said or did anything, but I know something has changed, just like I’m well aware that Bryce stayed the night with you.”

“He was injured and didn’t want to worry his mother.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “He hurt his shoulder. It wasn’t like he was covered in blood. That boy stayed here because it was what he wanted to do. And I swear it had very little to do with being hurt.”

“Look, Mom. He’s overwhelmed right now. His dad is a mess and causing trouble. He needs a chance to think and to make good decisions. He doesn’t need me hanging around him like some lovesick puppy.” Shit, he should not have said that. “What’s important now is for me to let him get his feet under him.”

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