Page 28 of Ace of Spades
“At the Utah rodeo in March, when all of the bad snow storms were coming through and I was sleeping in my truck because Chance got hurt and stayed home, she invited me to come sleep in her trailer, even though she claimed to hate me at the time. Scratch that—she didn’t invite me to stay in her trailer, she didn’teven give me a choice. And when I refused, she got in my truck and twisted my arm until I agreed.”
“I think I like her already,” my mom laughs, bringing her tea to her lips.
“It’s almost like she wants people to think she’s tough and mean, as if she wears her attitude around like a suit of armor, but underneath all of that, she’s actually very sweet. Her friend, Ava, told us about how they went dress shopping for the dance tonight, and they both saw the same dress at the same time and fell in love with it. When Hailey didn’t think that Ava was looking, she found the dress in her size and hid it, before telling Ava that they were out of stock in her size and insisting that Ava buy it. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s little things like that that I notice, even when she doesn’t want people to.”
“It’s little things like that that show a person’s character,” my mom says, a twinkle in her eye.
“And another thing I like about her is her drive, her ambition and work ethic. You should see her when she’s running, Mom. When she’s in the saddle, flying through the arena, she looks like that’s where she belongs. The look in her eyes, the fire and determination–it’s impossible to look away. It’s… mesmerizing.”
Mom gives me a soft smile, a knowing look on her face.
“You really like her, don’t you,” she asks, though it comes as more of a statement rather than a question.
“I don’t know anymore,” I admit, leaning back in my seat. “I don’t know what’s real with her anymore.”
She gives me a pitying look just as a knock sounds at the door.
“Must be the pizza,” she says. “Hang tight, I’ll be right back.”
She excuses herself to answer the door, and I walk over to the fridge to help myself to more tea. As I’m filling the glass, I spot a pile of opened mail on the counter, the bold red lettering catching my attention.
I set the glass down, sifting through the unpaid bills.
“I got pepperoni, I hope that’s okay–” my mom stops in her tracks as she comes in the doorway, spotting what I was looking at.
“Honey—”
“What are these, mom? Did they find a way to raise the rent even more?” I ask.
She lets out a sigh, setting the pizza on the table and sitting back down in her seat.
“This is ridiculous,” I say, rifling through the papers. “With everything added together, the cost of living here has almost tripled from last year. That’s insane, they can’t do this,” I seethe.
“And yet, they are,” she responds, the sound of defeat lacing her tone. “The Barlowes—you know, the ones that live next door? They’re two months behind, and Wendy just got laid off from the bakery. It turns out that the fancy new grocery store that just opened has a bakery built into it, so the foot traffic at the downtown bakery has died down like crazy. They just can’t compete with the prices that this new place is offering. They just couldn’t afford to keep her anymore.”
I toss the papers down, setting my hat on the counter and running a hand through my hair.
“I’ll do the best that I can to help. Can you please just consider moving to the ranch? You wouldn’t have to pay rent or bills, and you would have everything taken care of. There’s only so much I can do to help while you’re living here, the rodeo entry fees are getting steeper and the ranch is just breaking even until we get the guest ranch up and running. It’s going to be a few years before I have the money to buy this place, and then you could move back here if you still wanted to.”
“Honey,” Mom says, getting up and walking over to me. “I don’t want you to keep worrying about me.”
“I always worry about you. You and Kota both.”
“And who worries about you?”
I’m taken aback, not quite sure how to answer that.
“That’s right. Now for once in your life, stop worrying about taking care of everybody, and take care of yourself. You’ve already helped so much, let me handle the rest.”
I give her a nod, bringing her into a hug and resting my chin on her head and I let myself enjoy her warmth, feeling her love embrace me.
“Good. Now, eat and get some rest. You have fresh sheets waiting for you, and I’ll have pancakes ready in the morning.”
Mom held up on her promise, the smell of bacon and pancakes waking me up first thing in the morning. We make small talk over breakfast before I leave to head back to the ranch, my phone buzzing as I pull out of the trailer park.
RAFE:Hey man, I think you should probably head over here. There’s something you should see.
My brows furrow at his message.
