Page 92 of Longest Ride

“How is she?” Jack refilled the glasses.

Travis shook his head. “Don’t think she can do it, Jackie boy.”

“Aw, shit. I hope that’s not true, Travis. Such a beautiful person.”

“Too goddamned beautiful for me.”

“We can’t help who we love, Travis.”

“I’d better get home and make the boys some dinner, Jack. I’ve got to pull it together. I’ve got a lot of fuckin responsibilities.”

Wild Stallion Ranch.

When Travis got home a little drunk but not too bad, Savanna was in his kitchen cooking spaghetti for the boys and Billy.

Travis appreciated her kindness but wasn’t up to talking to her with Olivia dying in the hospital.

“Hey, Savanna. Thanks for cooking for the boys. They haven’t been getting decent meals since we lost Tammy.”

“I’m so sorry, Travis.” Savanna gave him a hug and he wentinto his room and locked the door.

When the garlic bread came out of the oven, Savanna wanted me to go get Dad and make him eat with us, but I vetoed that idea.

“Best to leave him alone for now,” I said. “He’s right on the edge of it.”

Billy nodded and agreed with me. “If he gets up later, he can warm up the leftovers. He ain’t good right now.”

“When we were at Mom’s ranch, she talked about the signs to watch for,” said Virge.

“He’ll be dizzy,” said Billy. “His vision will blur, and he won’t tell you, but he’ll ask one of you boys to drive. His heart will race, and we won’t know. His blood pressure will be sky-high, and we won’t know about that either.”

“What else?” asked Virge.

“He sweats,” said Billy. “That’s the one I watch for because it’s easy to spot. He’ll be soaking wet when it’s not hot. The nightmares get worse, and he has flashbacks in the daytime. He starts going off by himself and avoiding people.”

“Huh, I’m gonna watch for all that stuff.”

“Since he was in treatment in Austin and has been taking his medication, he’s been close to perfect.”

“I don’t want him to go back to the VA hospital,” said Virge.

“None of us do,” said Savanna.

Chapter Nineteen

Monday, October 7th.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

While we were in the barn doing chores, I talked to Virge about Dad. He was worried and I was too after what Billy told us.

“Do you think Dad is going to lose it if Olivia dies?” Virge leaned on his shovel and stared at me waiting to hear my answer.

“Yeah, I do. We lost Tammy and he’ll never be over that. If Olivia dies, he’ll blame himself and he won’t be able to live with it.”

“Are you watching to make sure he takes his pills?” asked Virgil.

“I watch him.”

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