Page 18 of Long Past Dawn
“I would say absolutely, but those fingers don’t look up to fun,” she said, taking my hand from the table.
I slid it away from her and hid it on my lap. “Don't be silly. It's fine.”
“I don’t think it is, Dawn. Why is your eye beet red? Did you hurt it?”
“Did Beau find you guys to talk before he showed you the saddle?” I asked, completely ignoring her questions the same way I had ignored Beau’s this morning.
She shook her head, her eyes roving over me in a way that said she knew I was lying to her. “No, Blaze and I waited in the house after you texted, but he never showed. Finally, we walked out to the barn and found him there working on the saddle. We never did get around to talking because he already had Grover saddled up.” She checked the clock. “I've been gone long enough now that I suppose they have gotten down to business. It’s okay that I’m not there. Blaze had some things to say to him that should stay between them. I wasn’t offended by what Beau said to us. He was right in everything he said that day. After he left, I punched Blaze in the gut and told him to get his head out of his Wranglers before he lost his best friend.”
I chuckled, but I was nodding. “Beau will never leave Bison Ridge, but he will carry hostility if this isn’t cleared up, and that’s not good for anyone.”
Heaven took a sip of coffee before she answered. “I don’t know about that. After Beau showed us the saddle, he explained he wanted to ensure I was safe after he left. Said he was going to find a different job in a different place because he couldn’t keep doing this here.”
I stood before I realized it, my hands shaking. “No! Beau can’t leave Bison Ridge. What is going on? I have to stop him!”
I ran to the door and grabbed my coat then tried to stuff my feet into my boots. I tipped, falling and landing on the hard floor, clutching my sore hand and holding it to my chest. “Oh, God,” I moaned, rolling back and forth in pain a few times while I sucked in air. When I opened my eyes, Heaven was kneeling next to me, her hand on my shoulder.
“Dawn, stay down,” she ordered, taking my boot off again and hanging up my coat. Once I could breathe again, I sat up and dropped my hand, wishing like hell she hadn’t just witnessed that. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I promised, pushing myself up to standing again.
“Take it slow,” she insisted, grabbing my elbow and helping me to sit in the kitchen chair again. I wrapped my sore hand around the mug while she rubbed my shoulder. “Would an ice pack help that, or would heat be better?”
I shook my head mutely, and she sighed heavily, sitting down in the chair opposite me and grabbing her mug. “If you had let me finish, I would have said that he promised not to leave without hearing Blaze out. I know Beau is upset right now, but he and Blaze will work it out. They always do.”
I took a sip of coffee and willed my heart to stop pounding in my chest. “That better be true. If you get home and things aren’t better, I want to know immediately.”
Heaven made the sign of the cross followed by the girl scout pledge. I laughed and shook my head at her antics. I wished everything didn’t hurt like hell, but I was going to smile if it killed me. “I have to tell you that Cece is an amazing cook. She does some prep here but, for the most part, does all the cooking at the bunkhouse. I wanted to run some changes by you, though. I have one of the applicants we didn't hire for Cece's job, who is still interested in working here. Landry would make a great housekeeper, which would help me get the bunks turned over faster on check-out day. She's neat, meticulous, and fast. I also thought we could use her as a substitute cook for when Cece needs time off. She loves working with small animals, too. We might be able to utilize her in several different areas as a floater.”
Heaven was nodding along. “Hire her for part-time until summer, and then hopefully, we can advance that.”
I pointed at her. “Right, that's what I was thinking, too. I also thought I should order another full set of bedding for the bunkhouse. It means we can turn the bunks over without worrying about washing the laundry to complete the task.”
“That also makes sense. Do it.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. I was trying to make things move smoothly since this was new to all of us. “I'll get on it today. Cece is moving in this weekend once Tex is free to help her load the truck. She'll be in one of the upstairs bedrooms temporarily. Then she’ll move into mine down here after you’re married. I’m going to take your room.” I didn’t want to tell her it was so I could use her accessible bathroom. I was already using it when she wasn’t here, and it did make a difference in how safe I felt in the shower.
Heaven finished her coffee and leaned back in her chair. “I'm glad. I want to move over to Bison Ridge full-time, but I don't like leaving you here alone.”
“Soon?” I asked, surprised. “I thought you were waiting for the wedding.”
“The wedding isn’t that far away. I’d like to be moved over there completely beforehand because, after the wedding, everything is going to get super busy with bison calving season and the grand opening here.”
“True,” I agreed. “I don’t like the idea of living here alone, either. Tex is way out at the back of the property and wouldn’t know if there was a problem before it was too late. I inadvertently invited Beau to move in the other day, though.”
“What?” she asked in shock, leaning forward and staring me down.“How do you inadvertently invite a guy to move in with you?”
I refused to make eye contact because I already knew what look would be in hers. “Beau told me he didn't want to be at Bison Ridge once you got married. I had been thinking about it a lot because I suspected that was part of the reason he was sleeping up on the ridge or in the barn. Without really thinking about it, I just said that maybe he should move into this house since we have plenty of empty rooms.”
“What did he say?”
I fidgeted with my coffee cup without answering, knowing she'd see right through me. I wasn't surprised when she gasped.
“That's what he got mad about at the café the other day.”
“It seems so. I don't understand it, either. Beau had just finished telling me he didn't want to stay at Bison Ridge. I thought it was a good solution.”
She nodded, biting her lip to hide a smile. “It would be if the boy didn't have a crush on you the same size Caleb has on Texas.”
