AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I still had to assist all them city folk, teach ‘em how to work with the horses.” I thought of Eryn jumping off the rocks. “Make sure they didn’t kill themselves in the process. It wasn’t an easy day.”
She rolled her eyes and I felt about ten years old again, trying to pull a fast one on her.
“Of course you were doing some work. But it wasn’t anything like working the ranch. So I’ll take it.”
She chuckled, a sound that reminded me of rain pattering softly against the barn roof, and followed me into the kitchen. There, she busied herself with making coffee, moving with the ease of someone who'd spent years here. It was her home. It was still her home. I just lived here.
“Well I’m glad you’re thrilled. But you've got that look—the one that says you're about to meddle.”
“I sure am, if this is what you call dinner,” she said, looking at my sad plate of white bread with ham and mustard. “There’s not even cheese on this.”
“I haven’t had time to get groceries.”
“Why don’t you ever join me for dinner at my place? Or ask me to come cook?”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Ma, I’m thirty-seven years old, I’m not asking you to come over and make me dinner.”
“I don’t mind. Not like I’ve got a full schedule these days.” Her face grew wistful as she looked around the kitchen.
This was always the main room in the house when I was growing up. Where she spent most of her time. The place where people gathered. Where we welcomed family, friends, workers, strangers. It felt odd that it was so quiet now. Unused except for morning coffee and subpar sandwich making.
“Maybe you should move back here. I never wanted this place.”
She immediately shook her head. “Oh no, I did my time as the ranch owner’s wife. I hosted the dinners and planned the picnics and tended the wounds and calmed the arguments. I’m done with all that.”
“Still, it’s your house.”
“It’s not. You own the ranch now, it should be yours. I’m happy with my cabin on the lake.”
Her cabin was actually a two-thousand square foot new build we had customized for her. It was beautiful and perfect and just the right size. But I still felt weird about taking over the main house. It didn’t feel right.
“I was hoping, of course, that you’d fill this place with a woman and babies. Bring it to life again.”
I laughed. “And how’s that hope workin’ out for you?”
“Dismally. But I refuse to give up.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“Gray Anderson,” she started, her voice taking on a softer edge as she poured herself a cup of the freshly brewed decaf, “when’s the last time you did something that wasn't about this ranch?”
“Today,” I shot back defensively, though we both knew I had argued the trek was work, and I couldn’t have it both ways.
“Uh-huh.” She arched an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“Alright, it was kinda fun. I even went swimming.”
Thoughts of Eryn swarmed my mind again. Her long, wet hair. The goosebumps on her skin. Her smile . . . her damn smile that got me every time. And the way her body brushed up against mine behind the waterfall. I felt like I was reliving a damn movie.
Mama was watching me with a curious expression and I realized I must have looked like an idiot, daydreaming with a ham sandwich in my hand.
“Well I’m delighted to hear that. Life's short, too short to work it away.”
“Ranching is what I do. You of all people know that it’s not just a job, it’s a whole life,” I replied, feeling the old defensiveness rise like a tide within me. But her gaze didn't waver; it was filled with a love that could move mountains—and stubborn sons.
“Oh don’t I know it. But you need to find a way to make room in your life for other things. Work can wait now and then,” she pressed gently. “You need balance. Happiness outside of these four walls and endless fields.”
She reached across the counter and took my hand. “Your dad had his heart set on seeing the Northern Lights,” she said suddenly, her voice taking on a wistful edge. “Wanted to take me to Alaska. But he was always 'too busy', right up until his heart gave out.”
