Page 5 of Rough
Donny was diagnosed with lung cancer last year when they found a tumor in his right lung after doing x-rays. His chemoand radiation took care of it pretty quickly, to the point where they were comfortable saying he would most likely go into remission. He’s been doing so well, so I don’t understand what happened.
“What—” My voice cuts off, needing to clear my throat before trying again. “What now? Do we just start over?”
“I don’t know. Donny, he’s… he’s so tired, Betsy.” I blink away my sorrow at the sound of her sniffling through the phone.Fuck fuck fuck.“What am I supposed to do? I can’t survive without him, but I think he wants to give up!”
“He’snotgonna give up. That man is more stubborn than your son. Who, by the way, youneedto tell.” I bounce my knee nervously and spin my pen on my desk. “He’s gonna be pissed as hell when he finds out his daddy has been fightin’ cancer this entire time and he didn’t know.”
Renee sighs brokenly into the phone. “I know. Donny didn’t want to say anythin’ when the news was still good. Those boys are doing so well out there, and we hated the idea of disruptin’ this opportunity for them.”
My heart lurches at the reminder that they left me behind to pursueourdreams without me. I wasn’t good enough in their eyes, no matter the plans we spent years building together. It’s so hard not to become bitter as each year goes by without hearing from them, aside from a random text from Clyde. I get more updates from the Landry family than I do from any ofthem. I fucking miss them, which only pisses me off more.
“I know why you didn’t tell him, but it’s time. What are the doctors sayin’?”
Her hesitation screams her answer louder than the whispered words that follow. “We don’t have a lot of time with him.”
Swallowing hard, I nod once, even though she can’t see me. “How much time?”
“They can’t say for sure. It could be a month or a week.”
“Jesus, Renee,” I choke out, failing to hide my emotions from her. “You… Youhaveto call him.”
“I will. I promise I will. We just need to figure out what to say.” A commotion at my front door pulls my attention from the phone, and I watch as two boys from the high school come running into the house.
“Renee. I’m so sorry, can you hold on a minute?” Covering the phone with my hand, I look at Jeff and Emmett, both pale and nervous looking. “What’s going on, guys?”
Emmett shuffles his feet and looks at his friend before taking a deep breath. “There’s a break in one of the fences back on the east side. Some of the cattle got out and are holdin’ up traffic on the road headin’ into town. Mr. Meyers is pissed as all hell ‘cuz he’s got a load hooked up to his truck.”
“Shit,” I mutter, then bring the phone back up to my ear. “Renee, I gotta go. Damn cows got out.”
“Go. It’s okay. We’ll be okay. Call me later tonight?” I can hear rustling on her end, most likely she’s wiping away some tears caused by our talk.
Nodding at the boys, I stand up and shove my feet back into my boots. “I will. Love you, Momma. Want me to bring supper over?”
“No. I’ve got leftovers I’m gonna warm up.I’ll give Remy a call, too.” I blow out a breath and wish her luck before saying a quick goodbye.
Grabbing my keys from the hook by the door, I pocket my phone and run out to my truck; the boys following closely. Jeff gets in the front while Emmett jumps into the bed. Lucy starts barking as she runs over and I sigh, then yell at Emmett. “Drop the bed for her, would ya?” He nods once and lets my yellow lab, Lucy, jump up next to him. Once he’s standing at my window,one hand on the roof of the truck, the other holding Lucy’s collar, I start the truck.
I shove it in drive and peel out of my dirt driveway, heading around the outside of the farm on the road instead of cutting across the field. The last thing we need is to scare the rest of the cattle into bolting out into the road.
It only takes us about five minutes to see the stopped vehicles blocking the road and about a dozen and a half of my piss poor excuses for cows meandering between them like they haven’t a care in the world.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter, throwing the truck into park before turning it off. Mr. Meyers is out of his idling truck, arms wide in an attempt to keep my cattle from wandering further from the edge of the fence. “Jeff, I want you to run back to the farm. In the big barn, up in the rafters are some spare posts and boards. Grab half a dozen posts and a dozen boards for me so we can fix this up.”
I turn the truck back on and jump out so he can slide into the driver’s seat. Jogging to the back, I drop the tailgate to let Lucy and Emmett out. “Shit, Betsy. How the hell did the fence bust like that?”
I follow his line of sight to the demolished wood and frown.What the hell? It’s all torn to pieces!“I dunno, Em, but we’ll get it sorted.Lucy!” I snap out, calling her to my side.
She follows me as we make our way through the vehicles idling after I grab a line of rope from the bed. Keeping an eye on them, I notice that most are relaxed and don’t seem spooked. But one of the younger ones, a one-year-old I birthed last spring, is jumping away from some of the pedestrians attempting to herd them back into my field.
“Guys!” I call out, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “If you’ll all just hop back into your vehicles, I’ll get them sorted.”
“I swear to all that is holy Betsy Harper, I don’t have time for this bullshit. I got a load I need droppin’ off.” Mr. Meyers is pissed, and I don’t blame him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I give it a squeeze and flash a smile.
“Real sorry about this. Don’t know what happened to the fence. I’ll get ‘em moved for ya.” Using my hand to guide him back to his truck, I give him a gentle shove, then face the cow I know is going to give me some issues.
Clicking my tongue at him, I gain his attention quickly as he jerks his head up to stare at me. His muscles are flexing like he’s getting ready to bolt, so I hold out a hand slowly and click my tongue at him again. “Hey baby boy. Don’t mind any of them. I got you, sweetheart.” My words are soft and gentle as I slowly inch my way toward him. When I see he isn’t planning to run, I let my hand fall and quickly tie a Honda knot to create a lasso, and stretch the loop out wide, then let it hang at my side as I come to stand next to him.
Dropping my palm on his back, I stroke him and blow out a slow breath, relieved he seems to be relaxing. “There you go, baby. I’m just gonna slip this over your neck and walk you back to the field. You gonna help me show everyone else where we’re goin’?”
