Page 8 of The Outlaw's Code

“Right. Let’s head over to the stables.” It was the last thing I said as I turned away from him, willing myself to not spare him another damn thought.

The sun was settingas I drove the UTV back to Calder’s cabin. We’d finished the rest of my to-do list for the day, mostly in silence since the panel incident. I honestly just didn’t have anything else to say to him, embarrassment still just underneath my skin. I’d felt something between us that wasn’t there, projected my thoughts onto Calder with an uncomfortable ease.

And now, all I wanted to do was head home to my cabin and forget the whole thing.

“Do you remember your dreams, Shane?”

“What?” Calder’s question knocked me back down to Earth.

“Your dreams? Do you remember them?” He sighed. “What about having the same one, over and over? Has that ever happened to you?”

“Are you sure you’re not starting to remember things?” I pressed. “You might not be talking about dreams, at all?—”

“I can tell that they’re dreams,” he replied, shaking his head. “They have this… dreamlike quality about them. Fuzzy, correct but not in the right ways. Emotionally correct, maybe.”

“What’s happening in your dreams, Calder?”

“I’m on a horse. And there’s this trail. And it’s always the same…” His words trailed off. “There’s always someone waiting for me at the end of the trail. There’s a silhouette of a stranger, a man. But I never see who he is. I always try to ride towards him, but I can never get there. But there’s this feeling that I can’t explain, like, I’m so grateful that he’s there. I think he’s there for me.”

“You think he’s there to help you?”

“To save me, maybe.”

“Are you in danger in this dream?”

“Maybe it’s not about saving me in a literal sense.” Calder shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s good. I can tell that much.”

Calder turned to look over at me. “What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know if it’s wise to ascribe meaning to our dreams?—”

“But if you had to take a guess?”

“Maybe it’s someone you know, an old friend. But because of your memory issues, you just can’t remember right now. If you feel like they’re going to save you… maybe your brain thinks that, too. That once you remember them, you’ll be saved.”

Calder hummed, like he was thinking it over. “What do you dream about, Shane?”

“I don’t really have dreams. Not like that, anyway.”

“What kind of dreams do you have then?”

I hesitated for a moment before letting the truth spill out of me. “I… dream about other things, daydreams. About having my own piece of land someday. Something in my own name, not Joseph Stratton’s. A place where I can put down roots. The kind of land that goes on for miles, as far as the eye can see.”

“That sounds beautiful, Shane.” Calder offered me a warm smile. “I hope you’re able to get it someday. And I hope you let me visit.”

“You’d want to visit my farm?”

“Uh, of course? Why wouldn’t I?” He chuckled. “I bet you’d run a tight ship, but you’d still spend time with the horses. I can picture it now. You, calm as ever. Happy.”

“You care about me being happy?”

“Uh, of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Calder playfully repeated himself. “It’s a good thing, being happy, Shane. And I like how it looks on you.”

I didn’t know what to think. Suddenly there were images of Calder standing next to me on the farm, us overlooking the land, us feeding the horses and cattle. I’d never pictured anyone else beside me in that daydream before, no one at my side to help me build. And yet, for the first time, here I was, daydreaming about me and Calder working together to create something real from my dreams, something tangible and?—

No.

I needed to let it go. It didn’t help that having someone next to me was a terrifying prospect, a new responsibility that I’d never counted on.

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