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“Uh, hey, guys,” Garrett said, dropping his gaze to the ground. He didn’t expect they would let him saddle his horse and leave.
“We want to talk to you,” Colton said.
Garrett lifted his cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, um, I’m sorry about last night. I know I was a jerk. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”
“That’s not all there is to it,” Sawyer said. “We know how you feel about the ranch. I can relate. There was a time when I thought the responsibility of everything fell on me, and I couldn’t let anything slip. I had to learn that we all share the ranch, and I’m not in control here.” He chuckled. “Even if I wish I could be.”
Garrett stared at his oldest brother, wondering how his words could mirror Elise’s so clearly.
“The ranch is great, and we’re all glad we get to be part of it and work together as a family,” Jenson said. “That’s the thing, though, we’re a family, and that’s most important. If one day there’s no Whispering Oaks Ranch, there’s still a Macklin family.”
Garrett put his hand on his hips and took a deep breath. “It seems impossible to imagine the family without the ranch.”
“I know, and I’m not saying that will ever happen. I don’t suspect it will, and I look forward to our kids and their kids living here and running the place for generations,” Jenson said. “Garrett, you said for such a long time that you didn’t want to get married or have a family because the ranch was all that mattered. We decided it was time we tell you that you’re wrong.”
Garrett looked at each of his brothers. There was such concern and sincerity in their eyes. “So what is this? An intervention?”
“Call it what you want,” Colton said. “We care about you, and we don’t want to see you go on like this anymore. Yesterday was the final straw. We thought maybe things were changing when you married Elise, but it hasn’t been enough. Yesterday was a great family day. We all know it. Then we came back to a problem, which was less than ideal, but we can handle it and move on with our lives. You won’t let it go. When you said you wished you never went yesterday, it hurt all of us. And we can only imagine how Elise would feel if you said that to her.”
Garrett tucked his head and rubbed his forehead between his finger and thumb.
“Oh no,” Hawk said. “You didn’t say it to her, did you?”
Garrett looked up and shrugged. “I was just saying how I felt.”
“Oh, man. It’s worse than we thought,” Jenson said.
“I’ll apologize to her. I did have a good time yesterday. I was just upset.”
“Apologizing would be a good first step,” Sawyer said. “But it’s more than that. You’ve got to stop believing you alone are responsible for the ranch, and you’ve got to learn to have a life of your own.”
Garrett shoved his hands in his back pockets. “I’m not sure I know how to do that. The ranch has always been my life.”
“But remember when we were in high school? We worked here, but we still went to school and had fun with our friends. We made time for it,” Jenson said.
“We were kids then,” Garrett pointed out.
“So maybe learn to think more like a kid again. Besides, being a cowboy is the kind of job kids dream of growing up. Why not just remember the magic of being a kid growing up here? We worked, but it was fun. We never worried about it. Bring that magic into your adult life and enjoy your new role as a husband,” Jenson said.
Garrett wasn’t sure how to do that.
“Take the day,” Sawyer said.
“Haven’t I taken enough time off?” Garrett asked.
“Nope. Not when you can’t enjoy it,” Sawyer answered. “Spend the day here. Enjoy the ranch. Ride your horse for fun. Spend time with your wife. Just try to relax.”
Garrett was sure he didn’t know how to do that. “Fine. Can I saddle my horse now?”
His brothers nodded and stepped aside to let him through.
Once Garrett was on his horse and out of the barn, he was tempted to just go to work. But with all of his brothers ganged up on him, he knew it was no use trying.
He could go back to the house, but he didn’t know if Elise would want to see him, or if he was ready to see her. Maybe he did need some time to think.
Before he could decide where to go, he found himself headed to a familiar spot. It was the same trail he and his friends — including Elise —would ride when he was a teenager. That seemed like a very, very long time ago.
His thoughts ranged from frustration that his brothers just didn’t understand him, to concern that they could be right.
