Page 11 of Live for Me

My father let out a weathered chuckle, one this Earth had the pleasure of hearing time and time again over the last six decades. The sound was a comfort to me. As long as my pop was still laughing, all was right in the world—even when mine was ripping apart at the seams. “I’m alright, son,” he promised me.

My boots carried me to the back of the barn where Spirit was resting, chomping on some apples Valerie had so graciously dropped off to all the horses this morning. I shook my head at the golden-haired beast as he flipped his black mane over his eye, greeting me with a whinny. He was the spitting image of the horse that inspired the animated movie--Spirit,thus earning him the name.

“How’s Hallow Ranch?” Pop asked.

I lifted the saddle over the stall door. “Things are good. The herd is doing well, and the calves are healthy.”

“I’m sensing a but in there somewhere.”

I snatched a green apple from Spirit’s bag, ignoring his stare as I filled Pop in on the grizzly sighting.

“Sounds like he’s looking for a female,” he noted quietly.

“There’s something else I need to ask you about, Pop.”

“What is it?”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell him about Denver’s weird behavior in the field a few days ago, but before I could, Lance and Lawson came into the barn then, bickering about the poker game I’d beaten them in last night.

“Tell you in a second,” I muttered as I lifted the apple to Spirit. Like the hungry boy he was, he took it in a flash.

“Sup, pretty boy?” Lawson greeted, pushing his hair back before dropping his hat on his head.

I lifted my chin to the twins. “Talking to Pop.”

Lance grinned. “What’s up, old man? How’s the trip?” he asked loudly.

Fucking idiot.

I put the phone on speaker so the twins could catch up with Pop while I saddled my horse.

“You boys are always getting into trouble,” Pop muttered as Lawson chuckled.

“How else are we going to keep you entertained?” Lance asked, moving to his horse’s stall.

It took a few minutes, but once I had the barn to myself again, I put the phone back to my ear.

“I take it your alone now?” Pop guessed.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to say this in front of them. You know how they get when things seem off,” I said, walking Spirit out of his stall, his hooves clicking against the floorboards of the barn.

“Off?” Suddenly, his casual relaxed tone disappeared. “What are you talking about, Son?”

I walked out of the barn, the early morning sun shining down on me, the sky bright blue, the grass in the pastures a vibrant green. Up by the main house, Denver sat atop Ranger, looking down at Valerie and their baby girl. I didn’t have to see his face to know he was smiling. That was the only time he ever fully smiled—at his wife and children.

“It’s about Denver. He said something the other day when we were moving the herd,” I began. “He said something was coming. He could feel it.”

Pop was quiet for a few moments as I mounted Spirit, holding the reins in one hand, the other holding my phone to my ear. I looked back up to the main house, studying my boss more closely as I added, “Denver looked spooked, Pop. I hadn’t seen him like that since—”

“—since the day Valerie was kidnapped,” he finished for me.

“Did he tell you anything before you left? Or Mason?”

Mason was currently bull riding for the PBR, and his wife, Harmony, was traveling with him. They wouldn’t be back until next month. He and my father were close. Then again, Pop wasmore of a father to the Langston brothers than John Langston ever was. I was practically raised on this ranch. Pop was John’s best friend until something snapped in John the night his wife, Denver and Mason’s mother, was murdered by poachers.

John turned vile—mean. When I was boy, I was honestly scared of him. He was part of the reason my mother didn’t want me coming to the ranch with Pop on the weekends.

“No, he hasn’t said anything to me,” Pop answered.

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