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“We could try for Monday,” she said. “I have a half-day camp that starts that morning, and then in the afternoon, I’ll be in the stables. But I can definitely take a lunch.”
Slate nodded, though he had no idea what Monday held for him. “Ginger just has me doing all kinds of different things,” he said. “So I’m not sure what I’ll be doing Monday. I’ll see if I can pin it down this weekend, though.”
“Okay.” With that, Jill opened her door and slipped from the truck. Slate followed her, and she smiled up at him as they walked toward the house. “I’d love to know more about your family,” she said. “Are your grandparents still alive?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “My father’s parents actually don’t live too far from here.”
“Maybe you could go see them after church on Sunday,” Jill suggested, and Slate nearly stumbled.
“You know what?” he asked. “That’s a great idea.” Part of him felt frozen at the very idea of it, but the other part warmed instantly. He needed to reconnect with his family, and it wasn’t going to happen if he didn’t make an effort.
“Where do they live?” she asked.
“Short Tail?” He phrased it as a question, asking her if she knew it.
“You’re kidding.” She paused in the shade of the garage before going up the steps. “You know that’s maybe ten minutes from Sugar Hill, right?”
“I didn’t know that,” he said. “We didn’t visit super often. My dad—uh—he’s not the easiest person to get along with.”
Jill sobered, but the brightness in those blue eyes didn’t go out. “Short Tail is about ten minutes due west of Sugar Hill,” she said. “You wouldn’t have made it to Sugar Hill if you went to visit them.”
Slate nodded, his throat suddenly too tight. Everything about Jill was soshiny, and he wasn’t sure how to handle her. He was dull, and rough, and he’d seen and done things she couldn’t even imagine. Once she knew, she wouldn’t want anything to do with him.
He shouldn’t go to lunch with her. He shouldn’t tell her anything about his life, his family, or his past. He didn’t want to relive a lot of what he’d done and who he’d been in Austin, and he felt like he had when he’d graduated from high school—scared and worried about what he should do with his life.
At the same time, he recognized that he’d been given a second chance. He wasn’t going to waste that.I’m not, he promised to himself and to the Lord. He’d made the same promise to his Unit Manager, and to Nate, Dallas, Ted, and Luke.
Some people who’d used substances the way he had didn’t get a second chance. He did, and he wasn’t going to blow it.
“Are you coming?” Jill asked, and he realized she’d moved up the steps.
“Yes,” he said, following her. He didn’t have to decide right then about a relationship with Jill. Perhaps he could just see how things went between them, and he could make a decision with more information later.
* * *
Sunday morning,Slate woke up when the shower that connected his room to Luke’s turned on. He wasn’t used to sleeping in such absolute darkness, nor was he accustomed to sleeping in a room all by himself quite yet, so both he and Luke left their bedroom doors open. They had to get up and get going at the same time every day anyway, and it was usually Slate calling into Luke’s bedroom after he’d showered with a, “Get up, Luke, or we’ll be late.”
The only good thing Slate had going for him was his friendships with Luke, Nate, Ted, and Dallas. If he didn’t have them, he knew where he’d be right now—and it wasn’t lying in a comfortable, queen-sized bed, with clean sheets and the sound of a hot shower running nearby.
He opened his eyes and looked up to the ceiling. He’d mentioned church to Luke yesterday morning, and after they’d finished working on the roof of one of the new cabins going in at the ranch, they’d stolen Ted and Nate from their wives and gone to town for dinner and a quick trip to get Slate a white shirt and tie. Luke had gotten one too, and he’d said he go with Slate, if that was okay.
It was more than okay with Slate, as he now didn’t have to walk into the Sabbath-day meeting alone. He’d gotten Jill’s number after the administration meeting on Friday afternoon, but he hadn’t used it yet. She hadn’t texted him either, and Slate found himself completely blank as to what to tell her. So much of his past was covered in wax paper, and he could barely see the shapes and remember the things that had happened.
“Your turn,” Luke called into Slate, and he pushed his blanket down and swung his feet over the side of the bed. Everything would be better in that moment if he had a dog to greet him in the morning. A big dog, with a wet nose, who would lay on his feet at night, and then jump down, stretch, and come wagging his tail so Slate would let him outside once morning came.
He hadn’t mentioned getting a dog to anyone, and he really only needed to clear it with Ginger. She owned the house where he and a lot of the other cowboys who worked full-time on the ranch lived. Ursula, her German shepherd, came in and out of the Annex at will, so Slate didn’t think there were any allergies he needed to be aware of.
With a towel wrapped around his waist, Luke stood in front of the mirror, most of which had defogged. He held a razor in his hand, and Slate paused to meet his eyes. “You’re shaving?”
“I think it’s time,” Luke said. “I mean, my beard’s not growing in great anyway, and it definitely needs to be trimmed on the sides.” He tilted his head up to see along his lower jaw and neck.
“Maybe just trim it then.” Slate reached up and ran his hand along his jawline. “I’m not shaving.”
“There’s going to be little old ladies at church judging you,” Luke said with a grin.
Slate shook his head and smiled. “Let ‘em,” he said. He already felt like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs thinking he could even go to church. But the chaplain at River Bay had said good things, and he’d spoken of redemption, and making a better life, and taking time to listen to the Lord before big decisions—or any decisions at all—were made.
Twenty minutes later, he and Luke wore their slacks, white shirts, and ties when Connor came running into the kitchen. “Hey, Uncle Luke,” he said to Luke, who’d already sat down at the dining room table with his cup of coffee.
