Page 119 of Boston
He chuckled. “All right, good to talk to you.”
“You too,” she said, and the call ended.
Bryce tucked his phone away, a tiny frown appearing between his eyes. Hehadasked Bailey when she’d be returning to Coral Canyon, but it had been more of a joke, more of a way to let her know she was welcome here. Now, Bryce had to pray that that would be true.
“Uncle Bryce!” OJ called, and Bryce turned around to face him.
“What’s up, bud?”
“Come see this praying mantis.”
Bryce smiled as he retraced his steps and stepped over the plants to get to the aisle OJ was on. He loved animals of all kinds, including insects, and Bryce didn’t want to squash his spirit in the slightest.
That was why he didn’t want Harry to invite him to the cousin nights, and Bryce wasn’t going to feel bad about it or back down. OJ had not exhibited any signs or behavior that he felt left out of the family. In fact, he was the most well-loved person in the entire Young family. He’d brought them all together, reunified them and made them stronger. The last thing Bryce wanted was for him to betoldthat he should feel left out.
“Wow,” he said, as he approached. “That thing’s huge.”
“They can turn their heads all the way around,” OJ said. “It’s how they watch for predators.”
“How do you know that?” Bryce asked.
“I did a class at the library,” he said. “Momma takes me and Ana almost every day.”
“Oh, I bet she does,” Bryce said.
“Next week I get to help her in the storeroom,” he said. “She’s getting a bunch of new books, and I’m going to help her unbox them and put them on the shelves.”
He made this chore that Bryce was sure Aunt Georgia didn’t want to do sound like a great adventure, and Bryce needed to live his life more like that. He chuckled and said, “Come on, bud, let’s go back to the farm and see if Aunt Codi will let us make frozen root beer floats.”
OJ cheered and galloped down the row yelling, “Root beer floats! Root beer floats!”
Bryce wanted his energy and his spirit, and he wanted OJ to stay as innocent for as long as possible. He followed at a slowerpace, enjoying the sunshine on his arms and the wind as it brought fresh air across his face.
He loved Wyoming and this ranch and being close to his family, and he prayed that Bailey would too, and that her move here would not cause too much of a disruption for anyone, but especially him and Codi, and Otis, Georgia, and OJ.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
No, I’ve really got to get up there in the next couple of weeks. Boston sent the text to Ernie, arguing back with his boss, something he’d literally never done before.
He hadn’t seen Cora in the three days since they’d broken up, and he’d had no need to talk to her either, but something she’d said to him had lit a fire in his belly.
You should have said something.
Boston rarely said something. He went with the flow, and that had earned him a reputation of being easy going, a good employee, and a pushover.
He didn’t reallyneedto get back up to Ramsfire Ridge and the cabin, but he reallywantedto go.
If I can’t get up there and make sure the cabin is okay for the winter,he tapped out. Then I won’t be able to get this excursion on our calendar for next year, when there might be eggs and eaglets being born.
There was no wildlife cam on the nest here in the Tetons. But if he could take people up to that cabin and they could have the up-close and personal experience with wildlife they hardly ever got to see, Silver Sage would benefit from that. The eaglets wereusually born in mid-March, and for sure by April first, and the snow had usually stopped by then.
Usually.
All right,Ernie said.Let me see what I can do.
I’m sure Cotton can do one of the hikes, Boston said. After all, the man had been at Silver Sage for a couple of decades. Heck,anyonecould do the Roundabout Trail, as it literally circled the property with an elevation gain of ten feet at one point that quickly went right back down.
