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"No boyfriend?" I asked.
Cody shook her head. "No."
"That's Shelby," J.D. realized. "Holy shit. She was a dork back then. You, Cody? You were smokin'."
"Hey, now," Dean warned.
"What?" J.D. asked. "Your daughter doesn't look anything like you."
Dean laughed, flipping back to the front of the book. "Well, she got my hair and eyes. Pretty sure she got my chin." Then he stabbed at another picture.
This one looked just like Cody, except her hair was dark. It matched the horse she was sitting on. A very dark shade of brown that looked like fresh coffee. The pink saddle pad matched the woman's shirt, but her smile was just a bit different. Otherwise, she could've been Cody's twin.
"Woah," I breathed. "That's uncanny."
"I know," Dean said. "And she looks more and more like her momma every year. I mean, 'cept her hair's blonde and all, but still. Her momma would've been so proud, too. Cody didn't chase cans, but she is winning, and that was what Vickie loved most. Her and that stupid horse never knew when to quit."
"Cocoa," Cody said, clearly knowing the horse's name. "My mom got him from an auction, outbidding the meat guy."
"And he won her a lot of money," Dean said. "Also got her me. I met her when that stupid Houdini horse untied himself and decided to make a run for it. Lemme tell ya, catching a lady's horse is a damned good way to get a date."
"Dad..." Cody groaned.
Dean just snapped the album closed. "Well, I figure Tanner caught a bull for you instead, and J.D.? I'm not sure what you see in him yet." He looked over at J.D. and grinned. "But I figure you got a pretty good pair of boys here. I'm also going to leave you to it, because no one wants their daddy around after the day's done."
"You have a room?" I asked.
Dean pointed at J.D. "That one made sure of it. I told him Cody could pay, but no. He got me one a couple floors down. Don't worry, I'll be so far away I won't hear anything."
Then he patted my shoulder, grabbed a bag off the table and headed for the door.
"Night, Daddy," Cody called after him.
"Night, kids," Dean called back. "Tanner, make sure she takes her pill in an hour. J.D.'s is in two. And don't let them hurt anything while I'm gone."
"Yes, sir," I agreed.
The man just nodded his head like he approved and marched to the door, letting himself out. I lifted my burger and took another bite. This wasn't at all what I'd expected for a shitty weekend. If I was honest, I'd been braced for a lot more whining about not riding.
Instead, Cody had this way of making even the bad parts feel like they were pretty good. It was like she took whatever life threw at her and just handled it. Like she was made of titanium - unbreakable in all the best ways.
I just had to make sure it stayed that way.
Chapter41
After Dean left,I hit my vape a few more times. I didn't want to admit it, but I fucking hurt. Not a little ache. Nope, I kinda felt like I'd been run over by a bull - imagine that. But whining wasn't my thing. Looking like a pussy in front of my partners? No way was I gonna do that.
I was also counting down the minutes until I could take my next damned pill. Those things helped more than I wanted to admit. My fucked-up ribs? Damn, breathing sucked. Moving sucked. Sitting up, lying down, and everything else sucked. In other words, I needed a fucking distraction, because I just flat out hurt all over.
So when Tanner got Cody her pills and helped her into the shower, I took the chance to make my way to the bed. It was a few steps. I could take my time with it. Our little suite wasn't that big, but fuck me. Those steps were complete torture. Every swing of my leg made my knee complain. Moving my legs twisted my ribs somehow. My broken body was a goddamn mess, and it was making sure I knew it. By the time I made it to the bed, I was panting, struggling to keep the tears from my eyes.
This sucked.All of it!I fucking hated that I wasn't riding this weekend. It was killing me, knowing Cody was behind those chutes on her own. I was supposed to be lookin' out for her, but I was too weak to do shit. I wasn't about to make Cody feel bad about it, though. Nope, this was all my fault.
I'd decided to ride that bull. I'd made the call to go for eight on a man-killer. I'd slipped and took the horns to the grill of my helmet. I could've scratched. I could've bailed and run. Instead, I'd tried to be tough, and now I was a gimping demonstration of why that was a bad idea.
In other words, it was a good lesson for Cody to learn from, so I was gonna suck up my pride and show my girl that pushing through was dumber than healing up. It may have had something to do with the hours I'd spent beside Dean today. The man had offered some real words of wisdom I was gonna take to heart.
He'd told me the thing about Cody was she didn't know how to quit. The way to work with her was to direct her to the best option - which usually was through example. Sadly, he'd fucked that up a few times, he'd told me. Trying to ignore the pain to ride, a cold to go to work, or anything else? All Cody saw was that she was weak if she couldn't do it too.
