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Something. Anything.
“Stuff that doesn’t melt,” Tuck said. “Like what we’re gonna get this week.”
The other cowboy sighed and came to sit at the table with Tuck. Their eyes met, and they had entire conversations in that single beat of time. Then Tuck speared a sausage link and bit off half of it. “I don’t see you makin’ any moves on Hattie.”
“That’s because I’m a gentleman, not thirteen years old.” Tarr rolled his eyes.
“I’m sure that’s why,” Tuck said dryly. “And that it has nothing to do with her telling Clara and Lucy that she doesn’t date cowboys.”
“That was hearsay,” Tarr said.
“She said it in line for the luncheon last month,” Tuck said. “I even heard about it.”
“From who?” Tarr gave him a wicked look, but Tucker could handle him. He’d been managing the cowboy’s career for five years now, and he couldn’t stand the thought of working this farm forever. Or even for another month. His very skin itched to get out there and do something.
What to do had always been Tucker’s problem.
He loved his family. He did love this farm. He simply didn’t want to live here forever, work this same land forever, be trapped here forever. He disliked feeling like this and thinking like this, because it felt ungrateful to him, and Tucker really tried not to be ungrateful.
He’d even gone so far as to buy a gratitude journal, and he wrote one sentence in it every night before he went to bed. One thing he was grateful for. One thing he wanted to reflect on later, something he wanted to remember, something that meant something to him.
He glanced over to Tarr, who quirked his right eyebrow. “Fine,” Tucker said. “I heard it from Molly.”
“Molly.” Tarr scoffed, though Molly ran Pony Power, and Hattie, Clara, and Lucy all worked within that program. Hattie worked with the horses, the way Gloria did, training them and attending the therapy appointments with the children. Clara and Lucy were counselors who worked in the cabins that ran along the north side of the pasture, before the family land took over, and then the cowboy cabins.
None of the counselors lived on-site, but Hattie did. In fact, Matt and Boone had just reorganized the cabin living situations, and now Hattie shared with Bobbie Jo.
In Tucker’s over-imaginative mind, he saw himself and Tarr standing side-by-side on the porch of the cabin down the lane, waiting for their dates to answer the door. He’d hold Bobbie Jo’s hand, and she’d forget all about that dentist boyfriend of hers in Oklahoma.
The fantasy evaporated as someone knocked on their front door. It started to swing open before either of them could move, and Boone Whettstein filled the doorway. “Boys,” he said.
“What’s up, Boone?” Tucker rose to his feet and stuck out his hand. This cabin was a bit bigger than the others, but he could still take a couple of steps and reach the door from the table.
“Morning.” Boone had a big personality, with plenty of loud laughter and entertaining stories. This morning, he smiled, but it didn’t quite hold the shine it usually did. “I’m just stopping by on my way off the farm. Matt wanted you two to come see him before you head out this morning.”
“Sure.” Tuck pulled his hand back. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Boone nodded and tucked his hands in his pockets. “I’m just going to sit with Gerty’s baby while she goes to the doctor with Opal.”
“Oh, does she have an appointment today?”
“Yep,” Boone said, his smile growing in intensity. “Hopefully her last, but Gerty feels real responsible because she got hurt on her farm, and I’m not going to say no to a morning of playing Grandpa.”
Tucker grinned and then chuckled. “I can’t imagine why you would.” Gerty and Mike had the cutest baby alive, and Tuck suddenly wanted to take the ten-mile trip south to their farm just to get off this one.
Outside, the wind howled, probably because the sun hadn’t come up yet, and Boone reached up to tip his hat. “Just wanted you boys to know, and I forgot to text last night.”
“We’ll stop by,” Tucker said, and Boone backed out of the doorway. Tucker closed the door behind him, sealing out the cold and wind. He sighed and turned around. “I can’t believe this is where we’re livin’.” He hooked his thumb toward the closed door. “Did you see? It’s still dark outside.”
Tarr grinned and stood up. He collected their breakfast dishes, but Tuck was determined to be in a bad mood. He skulked over to the couch and sat down. “Now we have to meet with Matt. Boone’s off the farm for the morning. You know what that means?”
Only the kitchen sink turning on answered him, and Tuck rolled his eyes. “It means we’ll be on all the hardest jobs.”
“They’re all just jobs,” Tarr said.
“Why can’t I be mad?” Tuck asked.
“You can be.”
