Page 25 of Grady

“Did something happen to him?”

“Yes, he died from SIDS when he was only four months old.”

“Damn, Savannah. I am so sorry for your loss.”

“It’s okay. There’s no way to predict or prevent SIDS. I took all the recommended precautions, like not placing him on his belly to sleep and not sleeping with him on my bed or sofa. But over two thousand children still die from it in the US every year. I did everything right, but he still died.”

Grady shook his head in sympathy. “That must have been incredibly difficult for you and your marriage.”

“What made it even harder is that my husband blamed me for our son’s death.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He said I wasn’t paying enough attention to our son. That if I had noticed something was wrong, I could have saved him.”

“That’s unfair and ridiculous. You can’t be expected to watch over your child every second of the day.”

“But that’s what Kirk thought. He believes Zach would still be alive if I had just paid more attention. He blamed me completely for his death.” Savannah wiped a tear from her cheek. “But what really hurt me was that he filed for divorce the day after the funeral.”

“That’s incredibly harsh and unforgivable. I can’t imagine going through something like that with a partner who doesn’t support you.”

“I’ve gone to therapy and accepted that it was not my fault. It was no one’s fault. Sometimes these things happen, and it’s out of our control. I still miss my son every day, but life goes on, and I’m taking it one day at a time.” She smiled sadly at him.

“I have a feeling this is why you no longer have a dollhouse. Call me crazy, but—”

“No, you’re exactly right. Kirk was so angry about Zach’s death. The day he told me it was my fault; we had a huge fight and he busted the dollhouse. I’d had it since I was a little girl.”

“What an ass,” Grady snarled.

“I agree with you.” She took a deep breath. “So, tell me aboutyourself. What’s it like running a ranch?”

“Busy.”

“I’ll need more details than that.” She chuckled.

Grady laughed too. “That’s really the best word to describe it. The Triple C Ranch has one hundred thousand acres, so there’s always something to do.”

“That sounds incredibly vast. What does Triple C stand for?”

“Coleman Cattle Company. At the end of the month, we’re going on a two-week cattle drive with forty-three thousand head to the north pasture.”

“That’s a lot of cows,” she said.

“Cattle, actually. Bulls are specifically used for breeding, steers are male cattle that have been castrated, cows are older females that have had at least one calf, and heifers are young female cows that haven’t yet had a calf. But they all fall under the category of cattle.”

“Got it.” She smiled. “Do you use horses to round up the cattle?”

“We use haulers for part of the way now, and we bring horses with us to move the herd the rest of the way. We also have ATVs and even a helicopter to keep an eye on them. With such a large number of cattle, we need all the help we can get.”

“What do you do?”

Grady grinned. “I fly the helicopter.”

Savannah’s eyes widened in surprise. “You can fly?”

“Yes, when Robert Coleman hired me, he asked if I was interested in learning how to fly. And of course, I said yes. I’m actually the only foreman who knows how to fly. Warren Coleman knows as well, but not Wes.”

“Wes is Shay’s husband, right?”

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