Page 10 of 11 Cowboys
I flick ash over the side. “Add it to your endless to-do list?”
“Nah,” he says. “Not endless. Just... always changing.”
We sit there for a moment, watching the hills drink the last of the light.
I glance at him sideways. He’s got his hat off, fingers running through that shaggy brown hair like he forgot I could be watching. His brows are drawn into a serious V as though he has something to say, but he doesn’t know if he should.
“Dinner wasn’t what I expected,” I say.
He nods. “You thought we’d be weirder?”
“I thought you’d all be shirtless and gruff.”
He laughs, loud and warm. “Stick around. Mornings in the barn get close.”
I roll my eyes but don’t fight the smile.
He studies me for a beat. “You did good tonight.”
“Good?” I echo.
“With the chaos. With the kids. With this place.” He spreads his arms wide like he can encompass everything in the embrace of a single man.
I snort. “I panicked and asked for a group proposal.”
“Yeah,” he grins. “That was somethin’. But I liked it.”
I shake my head and stub out the cigarette. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“Maybe not now, but you will.”
He says it like a promise rather than a sales pitch.
“I should have sent someone else.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
Our eyes lock and remain glued for longer than they should with a stranger, like he’s challenging and assessing me.
“Why?”
“I think you can do our situation justice.”
It’s a compliment I wasn’t expecting.
He steps away. “Night, Grace.”
When he’s gone, I lean back and let the silence settle again.
It still feels like it’s pressing down on me, but not quite so hard.
4
GRACE
I wake to the sound of a rooster crowing.
Likean actualrooster. Not a ringtone or some ironic farm noise alarm clock. A live, feathered demon screaming outside my window at six in the morning.
