Page 37 of High Velocity

From what I could piece together, the girl’s parents weren’t too keen on their fourteen-year-old daughter hooking up with a seventeen-year-old boy. The two had devised a plan to hike across the Canadian border to start a life together. Unfortunately, they got caught up in a rare May snowstorm in the mountains for which they weren’t equipped.

The kids were lucky they found that shack, or the outcome could’ve been a lot worse than the trouble they met when they found their parents waiting for them at the hospital in Eureka. I’m sure they’ll recover quickly from their adventures and the mild hypothermia they suffered, but I imagine other consequences will be longer lasting.

“Where have you been? Missed you around, kid.”

Thomas is sitting in his regular spot on the porch when I walk past from the barn to my cabin.

My plan had been a shower and then to Stephanie’s to pick up my dog…at least that’s the excuse I’m sticking with. It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact I can’t seem to get the woman from my mind, especially after hearing her soft sighs of pleasure while making her come on my fingers. But I can’t walk past the old man after hearing the plea in his voice.

“Sorry, Gramps. Things have been busy; I know I haven’t been around much.”

What starts as a hoarse chuckle from him quickly turns into a rattling cough. Concern has me climb the porch steps, but when I get close to him, I see the sparkle of humor in his eyes.

“The FBI agent got your attention?” he manages after clearing his throat.

As I’ve heard from the other guys, there is no escaping Thomas when he’s ready to dole out his romantic advice. Besides, he’s right, I haven’t been around much. Being the only two single guys left on the ranch, the two of us would often spend time chatting after dinner. Not long, since Thomas generally starts getting ready for bed by eight. Still, having become more of a spectator than a participant in life, even just those ten or twenty minutes of human interaction would be a big deal to him.

Resigned, I climb up the porch steps. There’s no way to know how many more of these chats the old man has left in him.

“You could say that,” I confess, taking a seat in the other wooden rocker.

“Pretty girl. Didn’t know she was from around here.”

“She’s not, but she’s staying at JD’s trailer while she’s on break.”

“Break?”

I shouldn’t be surprised the old man won’t let that one slide.

“She’s had a health scare she’s recovering from, but she’ll be fine.”

That’s about as much as I’m willing to give him.

“I bet she will, kid. I know you’ll make sure of it.”

I glance over to find Thomas’s rheumy eyes looking at me sternly.

“Don’t make more of it than it is,” I caution him.

My words are easily dismissed with an impatient wave of his hand and a pointed, “Harrumph.”

“Been waiting long enough, Jackson. Thought I’d never see the damn day, so don’t go denying me the peace of mind my only grandson is finally settling down with a good woman. You’re sweet on the filly, and that’s all there’s to it.”

I bark out a laugh.

“If only things were that simple.”

“They are,” he insists. “You young’uns just like to complicate things when love is all that matters.”

Love.

That’s a big-ass word, and something I’m not sure I’m cut out for. At the very least, it’s premature.

“Don’t give me that look,” he adds, narrowing his eyes. “Trust me when I say, there will come a time you’ll regret wasting even one single day. I’d give anything to have just one more day with your grandma Mary. The love of my life, that woman, and I took way too long opening myself up to the possibility I might be the one for her too.”

Even though I never knew his wife, Mary—who died long before I first met Thomas—I’ve become very familiar with her through his stories over the years. From what I understand, she was a force to be reckoned with, which isn’t all that surprising, considering the two of them produced someone like Jonas.

Of course Thomas had been a catch in his own right back then, as he’s told me before; he already owned his own ranch outside Amarillo, Texas.

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