Page 23 of Take Me Away, Cowboy

“That sounds about right. Listen, I towed my four-wheeler over if you think it’ll be easier to get out there with the wire.”

Owen hadn’t thought about that. For a man who’d done some pretty badass, scary shit and lived to tell about most of it, he had a lot to learn when it came to handling a straightforward fix. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but this farming thing was harder than he’d thought it would be.

“That’d be great, thanks. Need help getting it off the hitch?”

“I’ve got it. How’re your horses? Did they steer clear of the bear?”

“Shit. I haven’t even checked that fence since earlier this morning. I should run down there. Have you had any incidents with bears and equines before?”

“Nah. I’m sure they’re fine. Horses won’t do anything to or for them if they’re just hungry.”

That was good news, but Owen’s anxiety crept back up, starting in his chest and spreading. It was hard to breathe. Usually that’s how he woke up after nightmares, but he hadn’t had an anxiety attack in broad daylight since the few months after his injury.

“You okay?” Brad asked as they headed out of the barn with their supplies.

“I’m fine. Just a lot to take in.”

Owen stopped and put his hand to his chest, breathed in deep, closing his eyes. As soon as he did, Paige’s confused smile came to him, unbidden, from right after he’d pulled away from their kiss the night before. Her natural reaction to his lips on hers had been so organic, so happy, he wanted more of it. As he thought about her, about kissing her again, his heart rate calmed down, his breathing regulated, and his chest relaxed.

Jesus. Two days of knowing this woman and she’d just inadvertently saved him from a panic attack it normally would have taken him a week to get fully past. He’d have to remember that ace in the hole for if he needed it in the future. Hopefully he’d need it less and less.

“You were in a combat outfit, weren’t you?” Brad asked, eyeing Owen carefully.

“I was. Fifteen years, ten tours.”

Brad whistled. “Talk about over-abusing the human capital, huh?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Owen said, shaking his head, a sad smile on his face.

“I’d imagine I don’t. You handling it, though? The coming home, I mean?”

Owen thought for a minute before he answered.

Was he? Handling it?

Sure, he got up, functioned, didn’t drink or drug his days away, but what about the nightmares? The anxiety?

“I’m not sure,” Owen answered honestly.

He didn’t owe Brad anything. Telling him the truth didn’t make Owen’s own life any easier, but he felt the possibility of the closeness he shared with some of his men with Brad, too. Plus, if someone in Banberry got to know him, therealhim, he’d have someone to talk to if stuff ever got too heavy.

The two men walked up the hill in the heat, the sun shining down on them with a ferocity Owen had only known in the Middle East. There, they called the sun “Bob,” an acronym for Beast of Burden. It sorta seemed appropriate here as well, especially when there wasn’t any shade by the fields.

“I get it. You’ve probably seen shit the rest of us couldn’t dream up. Not to mention the fact that the rest of the country’s flat out forgotten we were ever at war. Doesn’t leave you with many resources, does it?”

Owen stopped at the top of the hill, his hands on his hips, looking at Brad.

“No, it doesn’t. You’re the first person in the civilian world I’ve met that understands that, though. Did you serve?”

Brad shook his head, wiped a line of sweat from his brow.

“No, but my dad did. Vietnam. Two tours.”

Owen shook his head and let out a sigh. “And he made it back in one piece? He had to have had someone looking out for him. He talk to you about it?”

“He has, if the conversation warrants it. My dad’s not like other vets in a lot of ways. He somehow kept his horrible dad humor, his light for life, sense of self. The war didn’t change him like it does most people. I’ve met some of his buddies, and man, they’re so bad off I wonder if they served in the same war. Despondent, solitary, addicted to something that’ll end up killing them.”

Brad paused at his car and four-wheeler, began untying the straps.

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