Page 44 of Long Past Dawn
Blaze and I sat forward at the same time. “What?” we asked in enthusiastic unison.
They both nodded as Ash took Amity’s hand and spoke. “We are all but retired from the ranch at home now that the three boys are running it. You know I would never survive the winter here, but I think I’d love the summers.”
Amity clapped her hands excitedly. “Don’t worry now. We won’t be moving in with the newlyweds. We’d buy an RV and live in that if you could find the space on the property.”
Blaze laughed, and the sound he made echoed my feelings in a nutshell. Happy. “We have hundreds of acres. I think we could spare some land for an RV, Mom.”
“Good, then we’d like to start this summer. We already bought the RV,” she said, and that drew laughter from my chest.
“Why am I not surprised? I’m happy to be able to spend time with you guys again. I’ve missed you a lot,” I said, thankful for Dawn’s tiny hand in mine when she squeezed it.
“Which is why we decided to take this step,” Ash said. “We need to spend time with our family, but we can’t expect you to leave the ranch. I don’t want to give up another minute of family time. I should never have sent you boys here all those years ago. I see that now.”
My mouth dropped open as far as Blaze’s did. We glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. “Sir,” Blaze started to say, but Ash held up his hand.
“Don’t sir me. You know this land has been hard-won, and these beasts hard-fought. I am proud of my sons at home without a doubt, but it is the two here that I have the deepest respect for now. You have had so many terrible things happen to you here, and I have so many regrets, but you soldiered on and made a life for yourselves regardless of those obstacles.”
“But so many good things, too,” Blaze whispered, holding up Heaven’s hand in his while I did the same with Dawn’s. “We’ve struggled, yes, but that is no different than it would be at home. The things we have learned, who we have loved, who we have lost, and who we still have, are all part of that story. By God, if I’m going to be a rancher, then I’d rather be here doing something unique than working a dusty patch of cattle any day.”
“I second that,” I agreed with a nod. “Perspective is a mighty thing, sir, and we all have our own. I don’t expect you to see our perspective as clearly as we do, but I don’t want you to carry the weight of guilt where there should be none. You did what a good father does. You sent us out on our own after you taught us what it meant to be a good man. I hope that we have done more than you expected over the years and that you can see we have more to do here. So much more.” I winked at Dawn, who smiled shyly.
“I can see that,” Ash agreed. “I should have said it the way you said it. When I said I shouldn’t have sent you here, it was from the selfish point of view that I’d missed so much time with you. I want to change that now. I want to be part of this. Part of Bison Ridge. Part of the legacy you’ve built here. Part of Heavenly Lane, if you’ll let me, Heaven.”
Heaven winked at the man who was suddenly older than I ever remembered him being. “I think you’d fit in perfectly at the dude ranch. I bet you have a lot of tips and tricks to teach Tex and our cowboys who come to stay.” She turned to Amity. “I know for sure Cece would love to work with you on some real Texan dishes she can learn to make for the crew.”
Amity grinned. “I will bring my cookbook!”
The laughter around the ring broke the tension, which was a relief. Tex stood up, his hands going into his belt loops like they always did when he was fixin’ to leave. “Thanks for asking me to dinner, folks. I have to go do my rounds before I turn in for the night.” He turned to Ash and Amity. “I’ll see you at Heavenly Lane tomorrow at ten for that tour?”
Ash stood and shook his hand. “We’ll be there, Tex. Thanks for the invite.”
Tex gave Amity a tender hug and nodded once. “No problem. I’m happy to show off our new dude ranch. Besides, I might just rope you into some work while you’re there.” He waved and jogged off in the direction of the barn to get his horse, leaving just the three of us couples around the fire.
“He’s a nice boy,” Amity said to Heaven. “Really wants to be Texan, doesn’t he?”
We all bit back snorts of laughter in case he was in hearing distance. “So much,” Heaven said, nodding exaggeratedly. “But I swear to God he was Texan in a different life. The boy knows more about horses and cows than Blaze and Beau combined. I’m lucky he stays on my ratty old ranch and works for peanuts.”
Blaze laughed then, tickling his soon-to-be wife. “Used to work for peanuts. He’s got the cushy gig now. Not that he would ever enjoy any of that cushiness. He likes being rustic.”
“As did I,” I said, laughter on my lips, “until I moved into a cushy house where a beautiful woman resides. Give him time. He might change his mind.”
“Where did you find Tex, Heaven? Is that his real name?”
Heaven shook her head. “No, his real name is Caleb North. He said that name isn’t fit for a cowboy and insisted we call him Tex. He answered an ad my daddy had in the paper for ranch hands. We knew we lucked out when we got Dawn and Tex from that ad. They both had opposite strengths, which is what we needed. Caleb is from North Dakota. He never talks about his past or why he’s in Wisconsin alone. I don’t ask too many questions because knowing his past isn’t necessary for us to be friends. He needed a place to call home, and we had one, so we hired him on. Best decision we ever made.”
Dawn was nodding in the light of the campfire, her lips pursed together. “You could say the same about me, I suppose,” she said to no one in particular. “I don’t talk about my past or why I rode into Wisconsin at such a young age alone. Sometimes, it’s better to leave things in the past when you know dragging them back into the light will destroy your future.”
I gripped her shoulder gently but wanted to offer her comfort. “It’s okay, Dawn Lee, you don’t have to explain.”
“He’s right,” Heaven and Amity said in unison before they chuckled. Amity was the one to continue. “Families are complicated, Dawn. Often, they are the ones who hurt us more than anyone else ever could. Trust yourself to know who has your back.”
“And all of us around this firepit do,” Blaze said pointedly.
Dawn nodded, her gaze meeting mine for a minute. “I know that because you’ve shown me over and over what a real family is supposed to be like, even if we don’t share blood. I may have been born of one family, but the family of my heart was somewhere completely different. I suspect that’s a lot how Tex feels, too. All I’m saying is, we don’t take that for granted.”
Ash clapped his hands together once. “Then you’ve got the right idea, Dawn. Families are made in a myriad of different ways. We learned that when we took in a boy who needed us, even though our parenting journey was almost complete. Little did we know what we would have missed if we hadn’t made that decision.” He patted his hands on his thighs and seemed to think better of whatever else he was going to say. “Anyway, I suppose we ought to let you turn in. You still have to work in the morning. Ma and I can sleep in.”
Blaze went to stand, but I jumped in before they could leave. “First, is it okay if I say something?” All their heads swiveled toward me, and I swallowed nervously. “Err, more like, ah—ask something,” I stuttered, falling back into that nervous habit of talking too fast.
