Page 34 of His Fresh Start Cowboy
“Exactly,” Rem replies, and for a split second, Hugo is confused. But Rem means the road trip for junk food. “It’s a state establishment with the best junk food. I can stock up for months with all the right stuff. Don’t tell me you don’t miss their peppered beef jerky.”
Brand grunts. “Fine, I’ll take you guys out there. But if my car’s engine dies for some reason, you’re buying your own junk food.”
“Deal.” Rem elbows Hugo in the ribs. “Junk food paradise, here we come. You are coming, right, dude?”
“Yeah, of course,” Hugo replies. He loves the idea of this trip, even though he doesn’t have much extra cash to spend on service station snacks. Hanging with Rem and Brand is reward enough for his time. Especially with Brand, who’s been back at Woods Ranch for two years since graduating college. Two long years of Hugo gradually realizing he doesn’t care that SueEllen has boobs as big as cantaloupes, or that Jenny Lou has been flirting with him for weeks. Brand fascinates Hugo more than any other person in his life.
And it terrifies him for what it means.
They plan the trip for Thursday, two days after graduation. Brand has the day off from working his father’s ranch, and Rem isn’t scheduled to start working there for the summer for a few more days, giving the recent high school graduate time to enjoy his graduation week. Hugo adores his best friend, but he’s crushing so freaking hard on Brand that nothing matters more than a long day spent in a car with the man.
They set out at seven in the morning, all three sharing the front bench seat of Brand’s used pickup, Hugo in the middle. Rose sent them along with a bag of breakfast sandwiches and a thermos of coffee to share, which they nibble and sip for the first hour of the trip. Rem needs a pit stop halfway there because coffee goes through him like crazy, and it’s a good excuse to stretch their legs. Being so close to Brand for two hours straight is fucking with Hugo’s head a lot.
Despite the slightly cramped truck cab, it’s a fun trip full of fart jokes, real farts, and basic bathroom humor between three guys. Brand and Rem, especially, have gotten closer since Brand came home from college, probably because of the way their oldest brother, Colt, disappeared eight years ago. Rem hadn’t been friendly with the Woods family yet when that happened, but he heard about it.
Sometimes Hugo wishes his stepbrother, Buck, would disappear, too.
They sing along to country songs, none of them with a great voice, and the Texas countryside passes them by as they travel southeast toward the outskirts of Dallas and their destination. The service station appears like a beacon on the side of the highway, a sprawling plaza that advertises over a hundred gas pumps, the cleanest bathrooms in the state, and every snack food you could ever want. Hugo has only been to it once before, when he was a kid, and it’s as grand as he remembers.
Brand needs gas for the trip home, so he pulls up to a pump and shoos Hugo and Rem into the massive store. “You’ve got an hour to play around in there, and then I’ll meet you at the register.”
Rem grabs Hugo by the wrist and drags him inside. Hugo picks up a shopping basket, fully aware it will be overflowing by the time Rem is finished treating himself to a bazillion goodies. It’s fun seeing his best friend so alive over something so...ordinary. The first place Rem goes to is the display of Beaver Nuggets, and he tosses four bags of them into the basket. “These are why we came, pal,” he says to Hugo. He adds a fifth. “One for you, too.”
Hugo laughs. “Gee, thanks.”
They make their way carefully around the food area, studying the wall of packaged gummies and other candies. The counter full of different kinds of dried sausages and jerky, of which Rem makes several selections. The place has all kinds of prepared foods, too, from fruit cups to sandwiches, which they’ll probably come back to for their lunch before leaving. Rows of branded merchandise fill another section of the store, everything from T-shirts to stuffed animals to shot glasses. They aren’t interested in any of it but it’s fun to goof around.
Hugo spots Brand by the jerky counter once, but for the most part, Brand gives them space to enjoy themselves. He’s just the chauffer, after all. But Hugo also wishes he could make some fun memories of this place with Brand. Try to make Brand see him as someone other than his little brother’s sixteen-year-old best friend.
Rem’s basket is loaded with junk food by the time their hour is finished. They meet up with Brand at the register line. Hugo tries to pull his few snacks out of the basket, but Brand insists he leave them in. He and Rem will split paying for the entire haul, and that sweet gesture makes Hugo’s insides tingle in a wonderful way. Brand is treating him. Well, so is Rem, technically, if they split the purchase, but it means more coming from Brand.
The total is more than Hugo’s entire allowance for two months, but Brand and Rem take turns swiping their debit cards like it’s nothing. Hugo’s family isn’t poor, exactly, but assistant manager at a farmer’s market doesn’t bring in the same cash as a cattle ranch. Frank works hard, though; Hugo just wishes he paid more attention to the actions of his own spawn. Buck is a fucking menace.
Once they get back to the truck, they divide the snacks into four bags for Rem, and one each for Brand and Hugo. Brand’s has a bunch of different beef jerky flavors and not much else, while Hugo’s has a bit more variety. Rem’s stomach gives a mighty growl, which makes Brand laugh. They go back into the store for sandwiches and fountain sodas, which they consume in the bed of the truck, with the June sun beating down on their shoulders.
It’s one of the best days of Hugo’s life, and it’s all about the camaraderie and friendship.
Rem shares one of his bags of Beaver Nuggets on the drive home, and Hugo has to admit they’re delicious. And addictive. He’ll have to ration his single bag.
They arrive back to Woods Ranch around suppertime, and Rose invites Hugo to stay. He’s more than willing. Rose is an amazing cook, and it means more time around Brand, and less time at his own house. The entire day has been spectacular, and after supper is over, he volunteers to head down to the barn with Brand for the horses’ evening feed. They’re short-staffed at the moment, so the family is stretched out over the various ranch chores, and Hugo doesn’t mind. He loves the big Woods barn. It reminds him of his earliest childhood when his mom and dad had a ranch of their own.
Before they lost everything and his parents split, leading to Mom marrying Frank and starting the worst period of Hugo’s life so far.
“You know,” Brand says as they put their work gloves away, “if you were older, I would totally hire you on as a hand. You’re good with the horses.”
Hugo tries not to smile too broadly. “I spent the first ten years of my life on a ranch. I miss it sometimes. Living in town isn’t the same.”
“I bet. I’ve only ever lived here, other than on-campus in college, and I can’t imagine being anyplace else. A lot of my family has lived on this land, and I’ve got some big shoes to fill.”
“You’ll fill them, Brand. I know it.”
Brand smiles so kindly Hugo isn’t sure how to feel about it. “I just hope my dad has the same faith in me you do. I didn’t grow up expecting to take over the ranch but life has a way of taking a random shit on your plans.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Dude, you’re sixteen. You’ve still got the world at your feet.”
Hugo’s hand goes to the fading bruise on his lower back that hasn’t bothered him all day. “I don’t have as much at my feet as you think. Can’t afford college and ain’t smart enough for scholarships, so I’ll probably never get out of this town.”
