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“You got your cell phone on you?”
“Yeah,” she said, pulling it out of the pocket in her vest.
“Is it on?”
She hadn’t remembered to turn it back on since she’d gotten home. She hit the power button and set it down on the table.
It chirped. She had a new voice message, and a couple of text messages, too. Liv picked up the phone to look. Her face turned red.
“That’s what I thought. He called, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but…”
“I’m gonna excuse myself for a few minutes. You listen to those messages and when I come back, you’re gonna tell me what he said.”
Ben didn’t understand why Liv hadn’t answered his texts or returned his calls. Maybe she hadn’t charged her phone. Her flight landed a couple of hours ago. He figured she’d be home by now, although he h
ad no idea how far it was from the airport to where she lived. Monument was somewhere between Denver and Colorado Springs, and if she had a ranch, it probably wouldn’t be close to the highway.
He wished she would answer him. As it was, he couldn’t think about anything else. He was beginning to think she was avoiding him, and this was uncharted territory for him—having a woman so far under his skin.
The door of his house flew open and Luke came running toward him, followed by his brother.
“Daddy’s home!” Luke shouted. Ben lifted him and swung him around a couple of times before setting him down, grabbing Jake, and doing the same thing.
Jake gave his dad an exasperated sigh, but Ben didn’t care. You never got too old for your dad to show you he loved you. At least he hadn’t. Ben’s mom and dad walked in the door behind the boys.
“There he is,” his mom gave him a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. “We missed you around here.”
Ben’s dad hugged him too. They were a family who had never been shy about affection, and Ben loved it.
“Hey, Dad, how are you?”
“I’m good. How were the bright lights of Las Vegas? Stayed a little longer than you thought. Were you winnin’ big?”
“Nah, I never have been a gambler.”
His father looked deep into his eyes. His dad wouldn’t ask, but Ben answered anyway.
“Nothin’ to report, Dad. Life is good.”
Ben’s father put his hand on his shoulder. “Glad to hear.”
They worried whenever he went on the road, and they were right to. The truth was, during the time he spent with Liv, he hadn’t thought about drinking at all. Even at the show. Ben wanted her, but he hadn’t wanted a drink.
The boys were racing around him, each vying for his attention, telling him what they’d been doing. That morning his dad had taken them fishing, and his mom grilled up what they caught for lunch.
“There’s a rodeo in Gunnison, Dad. Can we go? This is the last year Luke can do mutton bustin’.”
Luke was Ben’s Tasmanian devil, Jake was the more cautious of his boys. The older Luke got, the more trouble he’d get into, the same way Ben had. That worried him more than a little.
“Of course we can go. Are Grandma and Grandpa coming along?”
“You bet.”
Ben pulled his cell phone out to check the time, and to see if he’d missed a call from Liv. He hadn’t. “It’s two-thirty, what time do we have to be there?”
“Check-in’s at five o’clock,” Jake answered. “Can we play video games until it’s time to go?”
