Page 35 of Blazing Hot Nights
“I wish I knew which one we’d done,” I said, adding a mirthless laugh.
“We’ve done both, brother,” he said, gripping my shoulder now. “We met the challenge, even if we cried in bed every night for the first year. We sank as often as we swam, but the ranch is still afloat.”
I didn’t meet his eyes when I spoke. “And now I’m thirty, a widower, and know everything about raising these animals. While I still don’t like the Wisconsin winters, I sure as hell like the other three seasons a lot better than I ever liked the weather in Texas.”
“This is home now?”
I nodded once. “I’ve fought against that idea for years. Swore up and down and left and right that I’d never call it that, but the last few, hard weeks have shown me the truth I can no longer deny. Bison Ridge is my home now. I understand if you don’t feel the same way, though.”
Beau leaned back on his hands and stared into the fire. “I’ve never had a home, Blaze.”
I sat up and leveled a finger at him. “That’s not true, and you know it! You always had a home with the McAwleys.”
“Which is what I was going to say if you weren’t always interrupting me. The McAwleys have always taken care of me since my ma-momma died. What I’m saying is thatTexasisn’t my home anymore. Ranching in Texas is normal. If you can ride a horse, you have all the skills necessary.”
“Not exactly true, Beau.” I chuckled around the beer bottle at my lips. Leave it to him.
He grinned that grin that made us instant friends way back in the third grade when he was about to get me into trouble with our teacher. “You know I’m playing, but the truth is, I love my life here. It sounds crazy as a bullbat, but I can’t change the truth. I wouldn’t give up this life for anything in Texas. There are hardships everywhere, but there is nothing in Texas as beautiful as this place is when the herd is grazing, the grass is green, and the sun is shining.”
I nodded, a thoughtful smile on my face. “I agree. Going back to Texas now would be like trying to breathe underwater.”
Beau tipped the neck of his beer bottle toward me. “Exactly what I’m saying.”
“Maybe it's time you put down some roots then, Beau.”
He shook his head at me, his long hair flopping in the breeze. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Blaze. Stop looking at Heaven with puppy dog eyes and start being the man she needs in her life.”
“She’s not likely to let that happen before hell freezes over.”
“I don't know, boss. When it comes to you, the ice queen has been thawing as of late.”
He had no idea how right he was. Whenever my lips were on hers, Heaven was anything but icy. She was soft, warm, and the feeling I got was undeniably heady every time.
“Regrettably, if I become the owner of this ranch, her attitude toward me will change again.”
“Why?”
“Because the only way I'll own this ranch is by getting hers.”
Beau laughed with abandon at the mere thought of someone taking Heaven’s land. “There is only one way that will ever happen, and that’s over her dead body.”
When I made eye contact with him again, he was watching and waiting. “Unfortunately, if she keeps working herself the way she is, that's exactly what I'm afraid of.”
Ten
I glanced at Blaze in the passenger seat from the corner of my eye for a second before I looked back to the road. He was still silent, staring out the window while the sky began to lighten as dawn approached. Since we left Wisconsin in the middle of the night, he’d been quiet. I had taken over driving a few hours ago when we crossed the state line into South Dakota. He needed a break, and while he fought me about driving with my shoulder in bad shape, I refused to get back into the truck until he allowed me into the driver’s seat. We were pulling his smallest cattle trailer, which made it easier for me to navigate, and he would have to take over once we got closer to the reservation, anyway. At least if I drove through the flats of South Dakota, he’d be rested by the time we got to town. Since the red dog was short, the wood across the lower slats managed to hide her completely. As far as anyone knew, we were moving an adult bison and nothing else.
“You're quiet,” Blaze said at last. “I wasn't even sure if you'd still want to ride with me. I haven't seen you for the whole of the last week.”
He was implying that the kiss was the reason I’d been avoiding him. Wouldn't he be surprised to learn the truth? “I'm just thinking about the future of Heavenly Lane. An open highway is good for that.”
“Better the future than the past.”
“The past is mixed up in the future, Blaze. There is no way around that.”
“Kind of hard to make a decision in a couple of hours, I suppose.”
I shook my head at him. If he tried to beat around the bush any harder, he was going to trample right over it.
