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I miss you too
She missed him! He grinned. That was a good sign and her going to Camp Hope made it even easier for him to pull this off. How awesome was that?
He thumbed through his contacts until Cody’s number came up and hit the call button. “Hey, man.”
“Austin! Good to hear from you. You know your gal comes here almost every weekend. Josie’s getting kind of attached to her. Better be careful, you know what she does when she gets attached.” Cody laughed.
“Well, I know what she did with you,” Austin said, feeling a warmth spread through him.
“She ensnares us, I swear! Just ask Megan and Chasity and her latest catch, Angelica.” Cody sighed. “So what’s up?”
“I was wondering if I could come out there this weekend?” Austin thrummed his fingers on his suitcase.
“Of course! You’re always welcome. Does Char know you’re coming?”
“Nope, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Ahh, a surprise. Good surprise, I hope?”
“Well,” Austin gave a nervous chuckle, “I’m hoping for that, too. Things have been a little…”
“Tenuous?” Cody finished for him.
“Yeah, that works.” Austin ran a hand through his hair. “Does she talk to you much?”
“Not about that kind of stuff, but she does to Josie and she tells me everything.”
“Uh-huh, so…?”
“Hey, man, that goes against the husband-wife code. I can’t break that, or I’ll be sleeping in the barn with the horses.” Cody sighed, then sounded like he muffled the phone as he lowered his voice. “But I can tell you, it’s a good thing you’re coming out, and I’m hoping you’re coming armed with good news…you know of the, well, the commitment kind.”
Austin swallowed. He hadn’t thought about that…commitment…what did that even mean? Certainly, she wasn’t expecting a ring or proposal…he would have to work his way back to that. There was no way she’d trust him enough for that…yet. His heart thundered like a runaway horse.
“Well, let’s just say I’ve a lot of making up to do,” Austin said.
“Then, I think it will all be fine. I’ll get that extra cabin ready for you. When you coming?”
“Flight arrives late morning, and I’ll drive up as soon as I can get a rental.”
“You coming via Redding or Reno?”
“Reno.”
“Forget the rental. I’ve got to go into Nevada for some specialty supplies, anyway. I can drive an extra half hour to pick you up.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, man. Besides, if I told Josie, she’d tell me to forget the supplies and just get you here.” Cody chuckled.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Flight lands at 11:15. I’ll text you then.”
“I’ll be done shopping and waiting. It’s gonna be fun. Oops, boss lady’s calling. See you tomorrow!”
“Thanks! See you then.”
Austin looked at his phone, once again marveling at how everything kept falling into place as if God smoothed out the way for him, saying, Here you go, buddy. Now don’t mess it up this time. Austin laughed and lay back on his childhood bed. It creaked under him, and as he scanned his room, nostalgia-filled him, but something else wove around that…a longing to have a place of his own.
They were hardly ever home, and when they were, it was calving season or round-up time. It made sense just to stay here…though usually he stayed in one of the cabins sprinkled over the ranch. Thinking of Charlotte and their possible future, and with Pops was getting better, it was time for him to decide where he wanted to make a place for himself…and if he was lucky, Charly.
