Page 30 of Long Time Coming

“Rollingwood Ranch steaks tonight, baked potatoes, and?—”

“Broccoli,” Beck snarks, and I’m already imagining his scrunched face. It’s not his favorite vegetable, but he won’t push it away. Even though Anna calls him picky, I’ve never seen it. He’s a good eater like his dad when he’s with me.

Rollingwood Ranch wasn’t such a name back then. It was just steaks from the Greenes. They were always the best. I step up onto the porch. “What’s the fancy occasion?”

“You and Beck being home.”

She’s about to walk inside, but I take her hand to stop her from leaving. Hugging her, I then kiss her cheek. “It’s good to be here again.” With her arms around both me and the monkey on my back, she sniffles. I release her and whisper, “Don’t cry. It won’t be so long next time.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” And a promise is something I always keep . . . except when it comes to the one I made my best friend. Fuck.Some friend I am.

We move inside, where Dad is putting the food on the table. He takes one look at me. “Shower or dinner?”

“Dinner. I’m starved.”

He sets a plate down on the table with cornbread squares and a bowl of broccoli next to it. “Sit. Eat. Looks like you’ve had a day.”

My mom sets a plate of food in front of Beck, then makes one up for me, though she doesn’t need to. I think part of her misses taking care of my brother and me. My dad is a good partner to her, but she’s a mom through and through.

“Thanks, Mom.” I dig into the steak, savoring how good it is. I’ve had the best steaks around the world, but nothing beats this one.

“You’re welcome.” She sits down with her own plate and asks, “What did Thomas have you do?”

“Not Mr. Greene. Pris had me herding with her today. Davey was out because his wife had a baby.”

“Oh, that’s great news,” she replies, clasping her hands in front of her. “I thinkI’ll deliver a meal out to them tomorrow.”

“I think they’ll appreciate that, Mary.” Dad takes a big bite, then washes it down with water. “So you were herding? How’d that go? It’s been a long time since you were driving a herd like that.”

I can feel my shoulders slump forward, the adrenaline of the day wearing off as exhaustion replaces it. “I’m sure I’ll feel it tomorrow.”

“Looks like you’re already feeling it,” my mom says with concern running through her eyes. “You might want an early night.”

“Yeah, I’ll get Beck to bed and head up after that. I promised him Beck and I would help out tomorrow again.”

Throwing his arms in the air, he says, “I want to herd cows.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“No,” he says so honestly. I miss this when we’re apart. The openness, the trust he instills in me, the love that he gives without question. I’m not the bad guy Anna calls me. To him, I’m his hero, and I intend to live up to the title like my dad did.

Speaking of . . . my dad chuckles. “It means you need a good night’s rest because tomorrow will be a busy day.”

“You sure you don’t need help around here?” I ask.

“No. You go ahead. I only have fishing on the schedule tomorrow.”

I know his code now. Fishing means a nap during the day. I’ll let him have it, especially because Beckett was probably a handful today. To my son, I say, “It also means you get to ride a horse with me.”

“Yay! Tomorrow is going to be the best day ever.”

That might be a warning before the storm, considering how Pris and I left things, but maybe it won’t be so bad. She didn’t tell her dad, so that’s a good thing. And she said good things about me, to boot. I find her utterly unpredictable, though, so who knows what I should expect.

I spend time with Beckett after ushering him through the nighttime routine and settling him in bed. One book is the plan, but he talks me into two, then falls asleep before the end. I don’t blame him. My eyes have grown heavy.

My legs feel like dead weight I’m dragging upstairs as I head to bed myself. Since I took a shower after dinner, I’m glad I can fall straight into bed. In the room, I fold up the pallet where Beck slept the first two nights. Tonight, he insisted he was a big boy and chose to sleep in the spare room downstairs all on his own.

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