I’m surprised when my dad and I just ride out in companionable silence.
My father has a full head of white hair now, but the man is as strong and fit as ever. He’s seventy-two, a bit weathered from his time outdoors, but for the most part, he’s still handsome.
The ranch is hundreds of acres of land, and we all have our own houses on the property, while he and our mother still live in the main house. We are a family ranch through and through, and while he has retired, he’s not the type to be idle.
I take in our surroundings. While it’s sunny and warm today, the grass is getting greener; the trees are beginning to darken. Youcan feel the season is changing. The water gleams in the river that runs along the property line. I love my home.
“Are you happy, son?” my dad asks as we dismount from our horses.
I look at him in surprise. This isn’t a typical conversation that we’ve had in the past. My dad and I are close, don’t get me wrong, but we just don’t talk about these kinds of things.
“I think so.” I don’t really know how else to answer the question. So… I frown.
I walk beside my father as we make our way down to the river that flows along our property line.
Franklin Montgomery the second, my dad, is just an inch shy of me. I’m six four and sometimes when I look at him, I can see his disappointment, and today, something in his eyes hits harder. It’s like I can see my future… when I’m his age… and I’m gonna be alone. The thought causes an ache to form in my chest.
“You’re seeing it now, aren’t you?” he asks me, walking beside me along the path.
My brothers and I leveled this trail thirty years ago. Hugh, Lance and I worked together for three weeks to get the trail perfect for our mother. We wanted her to have a nice path to walk on without having to worry about tripping. It’s held up well over the years, now a well-trodden path that she uses every morning.
“Look, son, I understand why you wanted to stay single after you divorced Janine, but it’s been close to fifteen years. I don’t want you to end up alone,” he says to me. “And frankly, I don’t think you do either. I think you’ve been ornery these last few months for that very reason.”
“Last few months?” I ask in disbelief. “I thought you said weeks?”
“I’d say years, but I’m trying to be kind here,” he replies in annoyance, raising a brow at me in challenge.
“I take this ranch seriously. Sometimes I think you coddle Pat,” I argue, trying to divert the conversation away from me.
He nods and looks out over the property. “That may be true. But I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. In fact, they have nothing to do with each other, my boy.” He sighs and looks at me again. “Look, you do a fine job on the ranch. And you have some great talent you’re training, and come February, I’m sure you’ll get them in line, especially that Weston kid. But when the sun goes down and you go home…” he trails off, looking at me. And I see sadness in his eyes.
We leave the horses out to pasture for the day but ride ours back. They’re older and can roam closer to the barn. We return in silence. I don’t know what to say. I know that he’s right in a sense.
My mind drifts to that green-eyed girl I met at Shirley’s, and I kick myself for not getting her number. That missed opportunitykeeps me up late at night. I wonder how she’s doing—if she worked things out with her mother.
Once back at my house, I call my buddy, Kyle, and ask if he wants to go out with me tonight. He’s single too. Maybe getting out will do me some good.
Chapter Nine
Caine
This is the worst night out I’ve ever had. Or maybe it’s always been this depressing, and I haven’t been paying attention.
Kyle and I meet at Porters, a local bar in the area. This place is our usual hub for picking up women, and tonight I figure the only way to get a certain brunette out of my head is to get another one in my bed. Well, get in their bed, since I don’t bring pussy home. But as I look around the joint, I just feel empty.
At what point does this just become sad? Here I sit with Kyle, a friend I’ve had since I was five, and now, we are both in our forties sitting in a bar checkingout women like we are in our twenties. Kyle has never been married. He dates; he has just never met a woman he’s ever wanted to marry before. Unlike me, the asshat who married someone because I mistook lust for love.
Kyle is also the local doctor in our little town.
I sit back in the booth with a pint in front of me. “This is just pathetic,” I grumble.
“Speak for yourself,” he says when a woman from across the bar eyes him.
“You’ve already fucked her,” I tell him.
Kyle turns brown eyes to me, brows raised. “Really? How do you know?”
“I don’t know; the chances are just high that you have,” I respond, my lips twitching as I laugh at him.
