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It makes me smile to know that he appreciates that part of me. A lot of guys might be intimidated by a woman who’s as driven as I am. I study his profile while the flames light up the contours of his face. It makes me squirm in my seat seeing how handsome he is.
It hits me that we’re in the middle of a pasture sitting around a campfire just talking in the comfortable peace of the countryside. It feels natural. The subtle breeze is clean and crisp. The crackle of the fire is like a soothing white noise to my normally overstimulated mind. I inhale the air around me and let it out slowly.
“I grew up here you know.”
“I know. Warren talks about it all the time. He’s missed you I think.”
A pang of guilt hits me in the stomach. I’m well aware of how excited my family is to have me here and how much they’ve missed me while I’ve been gone. They’re supportive of my decisions. I know deep down they wish I was here though. Family was everything to us growing up. It was all we really had.
“I missed him too. I’ve missed everything about this place actually.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely. You can take the girl out of the prairie but you can’t take the prairie out of the girl,” I laugh.
“Country girl at heart huh?” He beams and crosses his arms over his chest like he likes the idea of that.
I laugh harder and rest my head on the back of the chair that I’m snuggled up on.
“I’m not waking up at five in the morning to help you feed cows if that’s what you mean,” I tease.
“That’s fine. We don’t get up til 6 on Sundays,” he says with a smirk. “So you’ve graduated. What now? You’re probably moving soon for a job?”
I look up at the night sky dusted with bright stars.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I have a lot of work to do where that’s concerned. But after getting lectured by my doctor and Kee a few days ago about taking care of myself, I decided to come here. Forget about all of that stress for a while.”
I swivel my head towards him again. His head is leaning back on his chair like mine, but he turns it to look at me too. Our smiles match. Soft and comfortable. Curious and perceptive.
We soak up the easy silence for a few minutes. I’m content to just sit here all night even if it meant I’d fall asleep and need to be carried to the house again.Especiallyif I fell asleep and need to be carried to the house again.
I can just barely hear the music and laughter coming from the bunkhouse. A yawn escapes me and I start to wonder what time it is. That’s when I realize I don’t even have my phone on me. That’s a first. I haven’t given a second thought to my emails or notifications all evening.
I don’t know whether to be worried or elated about that fact. This place has reminded me of my love for simpler things. Genuine conversation and down-to-earth people.
The one thing I wanted to do over winter break was to stay focused on my career. But I’m beginning to think it wasn’t so that I could get into the best residency program. It was because I knew that if I let my heart open back up to the idea of coming home someday, I’d never want to leave again.
Chapter 15
Gage
Heston leans back against a stack of hay looking down at his phone when I drag my ass out of bed and to the barn. Tripp and Warren show up on time, but Hes and I are always early and up before the sun.
“Food bank today?” He asks.
“Yeah, I got the truck loaded up. Probably head that way first thing. Think you can handle hauling hay with one rig for the day?”
He nods and takes off toward his truck. The drought this year has been one of the worst in decades. We usually have plenty of pasture to get us through the winter, but with so little grass this season, we’ve had to feed more hay. Having so many cows to feed usually takes more than one truck, but I have some errands to run.
I check the bed of my truck to make sure everything is secure. The door to the bunkhouse opens, and who comes striding out toward the barn but Blythe. She’s got a hat and a big coat on that makes it hard to tell, but I’d know that walk anywhere.
“Morning!” she beams.
“Morning. You sleep good?” I ask her.
“Honestly? Not really. Those mattresses up in the loft feel ancient.”
I cross my ankles and lean back against the tailgate.
