Cathy leaves me to serve the new customers, and when I realize I didn’t give her my order, I turn and catch her attention. She mouths,the usual?And I nod with a smile before turning back to my coffee.
Colt won’t be the only one missing this place. Finding diners with staff as friendly as the Laughing Fork is a challenge. Although they aren’t really staff to me. They’re friends. Cathy has shared many conversations with me as I’ve worked over breakfast or supper.
She knows what I do for work and even followed all the accounts I’ve established for businesses to see how good I am. Support for a friend; she called it.
Opening my laptop to work for the day, it really hits me how much Colt would leave behind here, but it’s not like we’d never be back. Hell, we aren’t even that far away. We could come here for breakfast on the weekends if I drag my ass out of bed early enough.
If our positions were swapped and I had to leave the only place I called home to follow someone like Colt, I’d do it. I know I would. But I also have the support of my parents and friends to make it seem less scary.
As the diner fills and more conversation fills the place, I look around and recognize several faces. They all wave or nod, and I realize Colt has more support here than he might think.
Now I just need to wait for Colt’s answer and hope he knows this town will never leave him behind.
Chapter 19
Colt
It’s a rare day on the ranch that we’re done before 5 PM.
The ranch slows down a lot after Labor Day, and even though we’re still booked on weekends up to the end of October, thanks to Ethan’s hard work, the rest of the weekdays are a patchwork of small things. All the things you put aside until you have time.
“Do you have time for a beer?” Gunner asks, and I was hoping he would be available for just such a thing.
“Absolutely.”
“Sounds serious.” He laughs as I follow him to his bunkhouse.
“It sort of is.” Gunner hums as we walk along, but I don’t want to talk about it until we’re sitting. Maybe that’s just me being a coward, but it’s a big deal.
Once inside, he motions to the sofa while opening the fridge. “Have a seat. I’m gonna assume you don’t want others in on this, and we should stay inside?”
After popping the caps, he hands me a cold bottle while he settles on the other end of the couch.
“I’m thinking of leaving. Not just the ranch, but Chance.”
His eyebrows raise so high they should push off his hat.
“Whoa.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s a big deal, but it’s also a huge opportunity.”
“I told you to always take a chance, Colt. I’m not gonna change my advice there.”
Gunner relaxes into the cushions, and if I were looking for an argument to make me stay, I won’t be getting one.
“I want to do it, but Ethan also said I could make my schedule work to be back here in the summers if I wanted. The one thing I won’t have with this job is riding a horse in the mountains every day of the week. It has good points, but…do you think Jesse would let me be seasonal? Or, would you?”
“You’re not just a close friend. You’re one of the best guides here, Colt. You’re also the only one who gives a damn about fly-fishing.” Gunner laughs and sips his beer. “Jesse would be a fool not to keep you for whatever you can give.”
Gunner has always supported me, and it’s good to hear, but one thing has been bugging me.
“Do you think it’s dumb for me to do this for a man? If I’d never met Ethan, this wouldn’t be a possibility, and I guess I feel a little…I don’t know, maybe silly?”
“You feel silly to follow a man you love to a dream job?”
“Well, a little. I’m 40 years old and thinking of uprooting my entire life for this.”
“True, but let me ask you this.” Gunner shifts to fully face me. “If you were younger, would you have jumped at this without a second thought?”
