Page 8 of Memories of the Past

“Because according to the will, you now own it.”

I ran my hand through my hair and blinked hard. What on earth was this woman talking about. There was no way on God’s green earth my father would have left that ranch to me. She had to be mistaken. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. My father and I didn’t exactly see eye to eye on things – or anything for that fact.”

“Honestly, Mr. Jenkins, it’s probably best that we set up a time that you can meet with Carson once you are back in Willow Valley. Now, when are you planning to come into town?”

I hadn’t planned to ever set foot in Willow Valley again. I glanced around my messy loft and ran my hand through my disheveled hair, a million thoughts running through my mind.

“Do you think you could be in town, say Friday morning by nine?”

I had no idea what was going on this week. Actually, that wasn’t true, I knew exactly what was going on this week. I was just in denial about not being able to participate. I hadn’t mentioned anything to anyone about not being able to ride anymore. I shrugged. “I guess I could be.”

“Okay then. Carson has some availability Friday afternoon at three. That should give you plenty of time to stop into the funeral home and confirm the arrangements.”

“No one else has done that yet?” I questioned.

“No, sir. Carson figured you’d want to handle that yourself.”

I swallowed hard, unsure what to even say to this woman. I just focused on the tiny pills scattered all over the floor and focused on breathing.

“Thomas, are you there?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m here. Three on Friday. I’ll see you then.” I reached over and placed the phone down, and fell back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to accept the news about my father, and the fact that I’d have to return to what used to be home. As I lay there, a tear rolled down my cheek, followed by another as the realization hit that I’d never see my father again. It shouldn’t have bothered me. In fact, I didn’t understand why it was, so I rolled over on my bed and just lay there, thinking about him.

* * *

It was a little past eight when I finally rolled out of bed and reached for my pants. I sat up on the side of the bed and slipped my feet into the legs. I sat there for a moment before reaching for my shirt and throwing it over my head, my back and neck aching with every move. Then I carefully knelt and collected as many pills as I could find, placing them in the empty bottle and securing the lid, while picking up the other closed bottles that had fallen in my panic to silence the phone. I hadn’t told Aaron the news from the doctor yet. I’d been to upset when I got home, and I knew he’d never hear anything about my father.

I looked around at the mess of my loft. It wouldn’t take me long to pack. I owned nothing but the clothes on my back. I’d packed light since I’d left home all those years ago. Everything else that I had here was courtesy of Aaron. We’d met through the rodeo circuit and had become close. He’d been good to me over the years, and when I became the Triple Crown winner in 2017, I’d tucked away a tiny nest egg for myself and gave him and Amanda the money to purchase this ranch outright. It was the least I could do for all the support he’d given me over the years. In turn, he gave me a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and a decent paying job.

I walked up the back staircase and into the small kitchen off the main house and greeted Aaron’s wife, Amanda. She stood at the stove, cooking up scrambled eggs and bacon, the smell of fresh coffee floating in the air.

“Morning, Thomas. Eggs, bacon for you this morning?” she questioned, while pouring me a cup of coffee.

“Please. Is Aaron around?”

“He’s out in the barn feeding the horses. He should be up in about five minutes. Why don’t you sit down.” She nodded to one of the seats at the table and held out the cup for me to take. I was sure Aaron had told her about the bull bucking me off the other night.

“I’ll be a minute.” I looked out the back door in time to see Aaron step out of the barn. I set the cup on the table and headed out the back door in his direction.

“Morning. How are you feeling? Are ready for another day?” Aaron asked with a smile as I approached him.

“I need to talk to you. I’m afraid I won’t be staying. I, um, got some bad news this morning. My father passed away. I’ve got to head back to Willow Valley, take care of a few things.”

Aaron stopped in his tracks and looked at me. “Thomas, I’m sorry for the loss of your father.”

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. Aaron knew we weren’t close to one another and hadn’t been for some time.

“Thanks.”

“What about the weekend?” he questioned.

“What about it?”

“You’re supposed to be riding? Have you let them know you won’t be there?”

“Yeah, about that. It’s almost as if life has finally caught up to me.”

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, looking at me curiously. He’d asked me a couple of times on the way home from the hospital the other night what the doctor had said, but I just kept saying I didn’t want to talk about it.

---