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CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Lee grunted as he lifted the hay bale from the field to the trailer, immediately moving to get to the next one. He followed behind Mack and Gary, who both worked on his side of the tractor towing the trailer. Will and Trav and Chris worked the other side. Lee rarely worked the agricultural side of the farm, but when the hay needed to be brought in, they pulled over everyone they could find, including him.
He’d worked the farm for the past thirty-five years, and most days, he thought he was completely immune to the heat and humidity in the Coastal Bend of Texas. Today, he’d been wrong about that. Today, he felt like his skin had turned to wax and was slowly melting off his bones.
He told himself to keep moving. Pick up a bale, throw it up on the trailer. Two more cowboys worked up there, arranging the bales into neat stacks they’d then have to unload and put on the conveyor up to the hay loft.
Lee would have to get back to the administration office before that happened, but he knew the rest of his men would keep working until this field was cleared and put away. He didn’t dare look up and around to estimate how many hours that would take. He’d done every job there was to do at Sweet Water Falls Farm, something Daddy had made sure all of the boys had done. That way, they could appreciate what they were asking their cowboys and cowgirls to do.
They didn’t currently employ any cowgirls, which made housing a lot easier for Lee. They’d reached their maximum of clients for their milk and cream too, and Lee, Clarissa, and Will worked the morning shift to get their daily orders satisfied. Travis oversaw the entire milking operation, and Lee had missed his brother’s presence and administration help while he’d been on his honeymoon.
Trav and Shay had certainly entertained the family for the past two Sunday afternoons with stories of all their fun in the Canadian Rockies. Lee could admit he’d like to travel more, especially to a climate with mountains and snow. He’d only seen such things once, when he’d gone to Salt Lake City for their new milking system training.
“Ho, there,” someone yelled, and the steady growling of the tractor waned. Everyone looked up and toward the sound of the voice, and Lee found Floyd riding a horse toward them. Lee needed more time in the saddle, out under the evening sky, nothing but stars and constellations between him and the Lord.
That was where he did his best thinking, and that was where he’d remembered who he was and what he wanted out of life. Years ago, it was where he’d felt strongly that he needed to cut Martha loose from this life she hadn’t liked, and Lee had always found solutions to his parenting troubles while on the back of his horse.
Rosalie wasn’t really a trouble, nor a problem. Lee drove to town more often now than he had in six years, even when he’d been dating other women. He sure liked seeing her, and the way he’d jogged over to her in the grocery parking lot a couple of nights ago, swept her off her feet while she giggled, and then kissed her in broad daylight spoke of that.
He tossed his bale of hay onto the wagon and started to go around it. The difference in motion—he was now walking against its movement instead of with it—made a powerful wave of vertigo hit him, and Lee threw his hand out to catch himself. On what, he had no idea.
Lee knew he was going to fall before it happened, but he couldn’t stop himself. His gloved fingers scrambled along the edge of the trailer, but they couldn’t catch it. He stumbled to his knees, and then went all the way to the ground as the world spun and spun and spun.
Voices called out, and he wasn’t sure if one of them was his or not. He pressed his eyes closed, the strangest feelings zipping through him. The way Ford’s rice crispy cereal popped and crackled in his milk in the morning was how bright spots of light seemed on the backs of his eyelids.
Everything twirled, and Lee felt the astronomically fast rotation of the Earth as he lay on it, unable to move. Someone touched his arm, and he jerked away from the pressure. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his name came through in Will’s voice, but he couldn’t answer.
More shouting, and Lee just wanted them to all be quiet. He was fine. He just needed a minute to breathe.
He tried to pull in the air he needed, and slowly the spinning stopped. So had the tractor and all the yelling. He opened his eyes and found boots nearby. Several pairs, almost like everyone had lined up to protect him from something.
He groaned as he tried to sit up, and Travis appeared in his vision. “Stay down,” he said firmly, even pushing Lee back with his palm against his shoulder.
“Don’t push me,” Lee growled as he tried to resist Trav’s force. He couldn’t, and he fell back onto the ground. His chest heaved, and he looked up into the cloudless sky, wondering how he’d come to be in this position.
“He’s awake,” Trav yelled, and boots came crunching through the dry hayfield. Will crouched down, and Lee tilted his head to look at his other brother. He held a phone to his ear.
“Yes, he’s awake,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Lee said. “Just a little dizzy.”
“He says he’s dizzy.” Will pulled the phone away from his ear. “When did you eat last?”
“I…don’t know.”
Will frowned at him, stood, and walked a couple of paces away. Lee couldn’t change the fact that his brain wasn’t working all the way at the moment, and he did feel better down on the ground. His mouth felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton and bandages, all chemically and dry and gross. He gagged, and Trav hurried to roll him onto his side.
“Will!” he yelled, and Will came trotting back. “He’s gonna throw up.”
“Did he hit his head?”
“No,” Lee groaned, trying to curl into himself. “I didn’t hit my head.”
“He didn’t,” another cowboy confirmed.
“Then why is he nauseous?” Will demanded.
“It could be the heat,” Trav said. “A head injury isn’t the only reason someone throws up out here.”
