Page 55 of Rough Stock
“He had a heart attack. Can I bring him home to bury him?”
“Sweetheart, of course you can! Your daddy’s got a backhoe, so he can take care of that. You be thinking about where on the farm you want to bury him and bring him on. Are you okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, barely able to speak. “I will be anyway.”
“Okay. You be careful. And ask Shyanna to call me, please?”
“Will do. Bye, Mama. Love you.”
“I love you too, Jensen. See you soon.”
He ended the call and cried again. It wasnothow he’d pictured his next trip home. Stumble-walking back to the trailers, he was about halfway there when someone stepped out from between a couple of other rigs. “Happy now, Strader?”
His voice was nothing more than a growl in his chest when he said, “Get the fuck out of my way, Barlow.”
“You can’t pin that on me. How stupid do you think I am?” the man leered.
“Do you really want me to answer that? I said get the fuck out of my way. I’m in no mood to deal with you.” Jensen brushed past the piece of shit and kept walking.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked when he opened his trailer door and found Shyanna sitting with SammyJo and Amber.
“We just came by to see if there’s anything we can do to help,” SammyJo said quietly.
“I appreciate that, but I just don’t feel?”
“We know,” Amber replied. “We’re leaving. But is there anything we can do?”
“Not unless you have a flatbed truck,” he said, his voice strained.
SammyJo gave him a tiny smile. “We don’t, but CoachPotter does, and I bet if we called and asked, he’d come down this weekend.”
“Oh, I couldn’t?”
“No, but we can. He finds out what’s happened, he’ll be down here in a heartbeat, I bet.”
“That’s up to you,” Jensen said, then pressed a hand over his eyes. “I’ve got to lie down. I feel like shit.”
“If it helps, you look like shit too,” SammyJo said, and Jensen shot her a dirty look. “I’m sorry. Not a time to try to be funny.”
“No, but it’s true. Don’t worry. I’m not mad. But I need peace and quiet,” he murmured, almost too tired to speak.
“Come on, girls. Let me get him into bed. Go on over to my trailer.” Shyanna shooed them out, then helped Jensen out of his clothes and under the covers.
Five minutes hadn’t passed before his phone rang?RogerPotter. “Hey, Roger.”
“Jensen. Man, SammyJo just called me and I’m so sorry. And I’m on my way,” the voice on the other end said.
“Look, you don’t have to?”
“I want to. I’m bringing our refrigerated three ton and a forklift. Where do you want him to go?”
“I want to take him to…” Jensen stopped as a sob tore through his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into the phone.
“Nothing to be sorry about. You’ve had that horse a long time. He was your family. It’s natural for you to grieve. I’ll be there tomorrow. Taking him to your parents’ farm?”
“Yep.”
“I think that’s a wise choice. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Roger said. “Get some rest.”
