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Brock followed me to the barn. I stood off to the side as he checked out the calf and praised the mama.
“How in the world did you get over here, Mama?” he asked, rubbing his hands over her gently.
“I looked the best I could with a flashlight to see if there was a hole in the fence anywhere. I couldn’t find one.”
“She isn’t one of ours. Must be from the Wickers’ ranch on the other side of you. I’ll give them a call in the morning.”
I nodded, then asked, “How do you know she’s not one of yours?”
He pointed to the tag in her ear. “Not our tag.”
I looked closer. “Well, hell, you mean those aren’t just pretty little cow earrings?”
With a chuckle, he replied, “No. They’re like identification. Tells us everything about the cow.”
“I guess I should learn more about the cattle business.”
Brock flashed me a smile and then a wink. “You should. My father would be in his glory.”
Wrapping my arms around myself, I shivered. “Is it going to be warm enough out here for them?”
“Oh, yeah, they’ll be fine. I’ll stop by in the morning to check on them.”
“Sounds good.”
I walked next to Brock as we made our way to his truck. “Brock, may I ask you something?”
“Sure, Kaylee, you can ask me anything.”
Chewing on my lip, I let out a deep breath. “Do you and your folks blame me for Ty leaving?”
His eyes widened in shock. “Blame you? Kaylee, why in the world would we blame you?”
One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I don’t know, because I’m pretty sure it was something I said to Ty that pushed him into making his decision.”
“Ty’s an adult; he makes his own choices.”
I nodded, then looked up at him. “I love him, Brock.”
A slow smile spread over his face. “I know you do, Kaylee.”
“I don’t know what to do. I know Ty is lost in a part of himself that he thinks he can’t show to anyone. A vulnerable side of him that he tries desperately to hide. He thinks for some stupid reason he’s not good enough for me. But I don’t think it’s just that; I think he’s afraid I’ll somehow hurt him, or maybe that he’ll hurt me. I know he still struggles with the fear of being lost to drugs again. But that doesn’t scare me, Brock. I would never leave him, or doubt his strength to fight for anything. What scares me is the idea of him not being in my life.”
“And you want more than friendship with him?”
“Yes.”
“Then, tell him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to push him away. He already told me he wasn’t looking for a relationship, but . . .”
Brock raised a brow. “I think we both know he cares about you, Kaylee. Maybe what he really needs is to know he’s worth the fight. That you won’t give up on him, no matter what he says.”
“He called tonight when I was in the barn with the mama cow and her calf. Channing took it upon himself to answer my phone.”
“Oh, shit,” Brock said.
“Yeah. Oh, shit. I hate saying this, but I think Channing did it on purpose. I don’t want to think he would do that, but why on earth would he answer my phone?”
Brock rubbed his chin. “I have an idea . . . if you’re willing to get on a plane for a quick ride.”
“Depends. Am I going somewhere warm with a beach?”
He laughed. “No. Billings.”
A feeling of hope and excitement built in my chest. “This better be a good plan, Brock.”
“I’ll sweeten the deal—it’ll be a private plane.”
“Jet. None of those propeller planes that will make me throw up the entire time.”
“Deal. I’ll pick you up first thing in the morning.” Brock glanced at his watch. “You better get some sleep—sun’s up at six a.m. Have a bag packed.”
Brock pulled out his phone, hit a number, then looked at me. “The calf will be fine. Get some sleep, Kaylee.”
“Okay.”
A muffled voice came through on Brock’s phone. “It’s Brock. I need a favor.”
He climbed into his truck and waved at me as I took a few steps back, then turned and headed into the house.
Once I’d tracked down my phone, I went to my call log. Ty had called thirty minutes ago. Maybe he was still up. I hit his number and quickly got to work getting a small bag and packing some clothes.
A part of me wasn’t sure I could leave him a message. Maybe I should simply show up.
What if he was with someone, though?
I sat down on the edge of the bed. I quickly hung up after his message played and I heard the beep to leave one of my own.
He’d said he was going out. Who was he going out with? I’d look pretty stupid knocking on his hotel door tomorrow and finding some girl in his bed. Then again, by the time I got there, he would most likely be up.
