Page 2 of Wyatt

Way too fucking young to lose their parents.

We’re all too young.

My eyes burn, blurring with tears. I blink them away. “That your evil plan, to get me fatter than a pig on Sunday?”

That gets a chuckle from Ryder. The heaviness in my chest lifts before falling back onto my breastbone like a ton of bricks.

“I’m gonna go check on the front pasture. Irrigation was acting funny earlier.” I hook my thumb over my shoulder. “I won’t be gone for more than a few minutes.”

Lollie looks at me for a long beat. “Don’t go far.”

“I won’t.”

“Don’t get into trouble,” Cash calls as I make a beeline for the front door.

“I will!”

Now Ryder and Duke are laughing. Sawyer, who’s two and a half years younger than me, laughs too.

Good. They deserve a little happiness after all the terrible shit that’s gone down this week.

Stepping outside into the warm October evening, I make sure the door is closed behind me before I collapse into a crouch and gasp at the air like a man dying of thirst. Tears leak out of my eyes.

I can’t fucking breathe inside the house.

All week, I’ve been slowly suffocating as I politely greet neighbors bringing food and condolences.

All week, I’ve tried to lift my brothers’ spirits by keeping them busy and making them laugh.

All week, I’ve pretended like Mom and Dad aren’t really gone. I didn’t lose my mentor, the man who’d taught me everything I know; Dad’s just at the feed store in town, and he’ll be back any minute. Mom’s heart wasn’t pushed out of her chest cavity when she was hit by a car going thirty-plus miles per hour; she’s out watering her garden. The pumpkins are huge this year.

Reaching inside my shirt, I run my thumb along the delicate gold ring that hangs from a chain around my neck. It’s Mom’s wedding band, which I dug out of the ziplock bag filled with her things that we got from the hospital. I don’t know why I took it. I think—maybe I like having a piece of her with me, however small.

Cash is the smart one, and he got into college, no problem, when he graduated high school two years ago. Me, on the other hand? I didn’t even apply to college. I graduated last May, and I’ve been cowboying full time here on Rivers Ranch ever since. Really, I’ve been cowboying since before I could walk. Rivers Ranch has been in my family for over a hundred years, and I’m not sure I ever want to leave.

I just don’t know what my role here should be. Cash is a natural-born leader, and he’s getting his degree, so I never doubted he’d take over as foreman and owner when Dad was ready to hand over the reins. But where does that leave me? How do I put my stamp on my family’s legacy?

What happens now that my parents are gone?

Mom and Dad were smart, hardworking people who grew into incredible mentors for me. They were my guiding lights my whole life, and now I miss Mom so much that I could scream. Everyone said I take after her in looks and in personality, both of us extroverts. We shared a love of food and books about the Wild West. When she brought homeLittle House in the Big Woodsby Laura Ingalls Wilder from the library, I climbed in her lap, and together we read my first chapter book. We have so much in common.

Hadso much in common.

I look up at the sound of an engine, my hand dropping from the ring. Glancing across the front pasture, I see a truck kicking up a cloud of dust on the dirt road that connects our house to Highway 21.

My heart skips a beat when I see that the truck is a tan Ford F-150. What would John B, our veterinarian, be doing here at this hour? Far as I know, the herd doesn’t need medical attention. Was there some kind of emergency? He already came to offer his condolences earlier this week. Maybe he’s checking in on us?

Rising, I lift my arm and wipe my eyes on my shirt. That’s when I hear it—a vaguely familiar song playing on full blast. It’s coming from the truck.

My heart skips another beat when I recognize the opening notes of “Yellow” by Coldplay.

I’m down the front steps and on the driveway before I know what’s happening. Holding my hand against my forehead, I squint against the light of the fiery sunset and nearly choke on my heart when it leaps into my throat.

Sally.My Sally.

Holy shit, she came.

I watch, pulse drumming, as the truck rounds a curve and heads my way.

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