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“You’re sure he didn’t hit his head?”
“I didn’t hit my blasted head,” Lee yelled into the argument. “I just need to eat. Something to drink.”
“Here, Boss.” Gary crouched down in front of him, a dripping bottle of water in his hand. He wore a look of concern and compassion, and Lee thought Trav and Will could take a leaf from the foreman’s book.
Lee took the bottle and lifted it to Gary. The cool plastic soothed him, and he pressed the bottle to his forehead before taking a long drink. Some of the life he normally had returned, and Lee handed the empty bottle back to Gary.
“Thanks,” Travis said, and Lee realized too late that he should’ve thanked Gary for the water. He reached out, and Gary offered him his hand. He pulled Lee to his feet, and Lee met the man’s eyes. They were about the same age, but Gary had a wife and two teen boys. They all lived here on the farm, and Lee had been so consumed in his own family he hadn’t taken much time to get to know the foreman.
Gary worked the agriculture side of the ranch, so Will knew him better. Still, Lee could be gracious and kind. “Thank you,” he said, hearing how lame and late the words were as they left his mouth.
“’Course,” Gary said. “You’re probably dehydrated.” He signaled to someone, and Floyd came over. “I’m gonna have Floyd take you to your truck.” The dark-haired cowboy took off his hat and wiped his black hair back before reseating the Stetson. “All you boys best be goin’.” He looked at Travis and Will, nodding each time.
Will was still on the phone with the emergency operator, but he nodded back.
“Why?” Lee asked. “We have work to do.”
“You just fainted,” Travis said.
“I did not,” Lee shot back. “I started to go the wrong way to see what Floyd needed, and I got dizzy. That’s all.”
No one said anything in the expanse of silence after his sentence, and Lee looked around at all of them. He took one big breath after another. “Did I pass out?” he asked the closest man to him, who was Gary.
“I think so, Boss,” he said.
“You definitely did,” Mack said. “I said your name and shook your shoulder, and nothing.”
Humiliation burned through Lee. He never lost control. He never showed weakness outside the walls of his own cabin. The frown lines between his eyes deepened, and he lowered his head. “I just got a little vertigo.”
“You can’t be out here if you didn’t eat,” Gary said. “And we have strict drinking rules.”
“I’ve been drinkin’,” Lee said. “I ate breakfast.”
“Probably six or seven hours ago,” Gary said, nodding to Floyd. “He didn’t hear what you said.”
Lee switched his gaze to the man who’d arrived on horseback, and he knew instantly that the news was not good. Floyd only added to the stress and anxiety already floating in the air by swallowing and exchanging a glance with Mack, then Gary.
“It’s your mama,” he said. “She wasn’t doing well, and your daddy loaded her up and took her to the hospital.”
Panic spiked inside Lee’s chest, and he spun toward Travis. “Let’s go.” He took a couple of long strides to his brother, suddenly wanting to grab onto someone and hold them as tightly as possible. He did that to Travis, who stood still and straight, so much like a statue, and gripped him back.
Lee didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. He shouldn’t be the one breaking down right now. Everyone looked to him to be the strongest, the toughest, the very best. He shouldn’t need comfort from Travis or Will or Gary or anyone.
As Lee stood there in the near-June Texas heat, afraid to let go of his younger brother just in case he broke, he realized how very fragile he’d become.
“We’ve known she wouldn’t make it forever,” Will finally said, and Lee opened his eyes to find him standing only a pace away. He wore shutters over everything he must be feeling, and Lee found the courage to step away from his brother.
“We don’t even know what’s going on,” Travis said, his voice slightly higher than normal. “We have to go find out.”
“The emergency operator wouldn’t tell me anything,” Will said. “Said it’s a different system.”
“We’ll call the hospital on the way in,” Lee said, reaching up to brush at his eyes just in case he’d teared up. He hadn’t, and relief flowed through him. He turned back to Gary and the other cowboys. “Gary, I’m sorry.”
“Go,” Gary said. “No need to apologize. We’ve got things here.”
Lee nodded once, put on his own stone mask, and faced his brothers again. He said nothing as he started for the corner of the field where he’d parked his truck. Will had come with him, but Trav had driven himself and a couple of other cowboys out to the harvest. The jangling of keys met his ears, and Trav said, “I’ll come get it later.”
He jogged to catch up to Will and Lee, and none of them spoke. Lee had no idea what they were thinking, but he couldn’t accept the fact that he couldn’t eat lunch with Mama and Daddy every day. That he couldn’t find the relief he’d always found with the two of them.
