by Sable Hunter
After dressing, he picked up Lobo, and went down for breakfast. As he approached the kitchen, a sense of dread filled him. How sad was that? Breaking bread with your family should be a joyous occasion. Not so much these days. Pausing at the door, he gave a quick listen. Maybe everyone was already through and gone on about their business.
“Who are you hiding from?” Jessie asked from around the corner.
“No one.” Nathan came into the room, his cheeks slightly red from getting caught. “Just didn’t want to disturb anybody.”
“Bull manure,” she said succinctly. “I know something is going on with you and the guys. I’m no dummy.”
“No, you’re not.”
Jessie reached out for Lobo. “Come on, boy. I saved you some ham.” Pointing at the table, she snapped her fingers. “Sit. I’ll feed you.”
“Okay.” He’d skipped more than a few meals trying to avoid confrontation. “I am hungry.” While he waited patiently, Jessie piled a plate high with ham, eggs, biscuits, and gravy.
“Now, tell me what’s going on. Every time I ask Jacob, he tells me to ask you. And you’re more elusive than the tooth fairy.”
“I’ve disappointed my family by not taking the Tebow manager job.”
Jessie looked stunned as she placed the plate in front of him. “Is that all? Why, that sounds like an old man’s job to me. You’re not the type to be tied at a desk – even I know that.”
“Thank you.” Nathan felt vindicated. “It’s not that I wouldn’t want the job…someday. I’m just not ready for it yet. I don’t feel prepared. Worthy.” He felt somewhat surprised at his own admission. “Tebow is a massive operation. I’d let them down.”
“Well, I don’t about that…” Jessie poured herself a cup of coffee and joined Nathan at the table. “From what I’ve witnessed, there isn’t anything you can’t do. Not concerning this ranch, anyway.”
“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence.” He began to eat hungrily, casting a glance toward Lobo who was licking his plate clean. “I still don’t feel led to accept their generous offer.”
“Well, don’t.”
Jessie made it sound so simple – but it wasn’t. “Aron gave me three choices. The job. Go off to school. Or be an official ranch hand.”
“Oh, my Lord. You’re almost twenty-one. I’d like to see how they’d act if someone had laid the law down to them like that.” She patted his hand quickly, then rose to her feet. “What do you want to do?” she asked as she moved to pick up the coywolf to hold in her lap.
“Good question.” He breathed out heavily, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I wish I knew.”
“Well, what’s the hurry? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.” She picked up his plate. “Want some more?”
“No, I’ve got to get to work.” He rose, holding out his hands for the pup.
Jessie turned sideways, holding the coywolf. “Could I keep him today? Bowie Travis would be over the moon.”
“Absolutely. Shall I come down to your house after him this afternoon?”
“Sure.” She gave Nathan a big smile. “We’ll have a blast together.”
“Great.” He tipped his hat at Jacob’s wife. “You’re a good friend, Jess.”
“Aw. I’m family. Remember that.”
“Oh, I will.” He gave her one last grateful look, then left to start his day.
…Several hours later, he was up to his ears in alligators. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. The tractor he was using broke down. Buck threw a shoe. And someone left the gate open so fourteen of their best heifers wandered off Tebow property to stroll down the highway dodging traffic. After some finagling, he managed to get most of it under control. Jonah was called to repair the tractor and Canyon was shoeing his horse. Together with Denver and Cruz, he’d managed to round the cattle up before any became roadkill.
“How’d these little darlings get out, anyway?” Cruz asked as he slammed shut the cattle trailer door.
“Somebody…” Denver drawled the word, then finished his sentence with a grin. “Left the gate open.”
Nathan frowned. “I’m pretty sure I closed it when I went through there earlier.”
“I’m pretty sure you did too.” Denver slapped the side of the truck. “The last person I saw go through there was Aron. He was in a hurry. I wasn’t paying much attention, so I can’t swear – but the next thing I knew the heifers were nowhere to be found.”
“Well, everyone makes mistakes.”
“True.” Denver didn’t argue with Nathan. “And…I’m not the person who’s going to tell His Grace he made one either.”
“No one needs to know.” Nathan waved them on. “You two go on ahead. I think I’ll walk home.”
“You sure?” Denver hesitated to make sure the youngest McCoy wouldn’t change his mind.
“Yea, I need the time to think.”
“Suit yourself.” The two men drove away with the trailer full of heifers, leaving Nathan to make his way home on foot.
The walk up the long drive to the Tebow gate was a pretty one. Seldom did he get to see this view at such a slow pace. The grass was green, the lake was sparkling, and the big house in the distance looked grand and homey at the same time. Cattle and horses frolicked in the crisp air and the clouds looked like pieces of white cotton candy – all fluffy and wispy. Yes, he loved his home – which made the matter at hand that much more difficult to deal with.
Along the way, Nathan threw his head back to take a deep breath. He still hadn’t made up his mind as to what he was going to do. As of right now, he was leaning toward accepting the ranch hand job. Working with Denver and Cruz wouldn’t be a hardship. No, what was concerning him right now was the dream he kept having. The longer the day dragged on, the more he thought about it. The frustrating thing was no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember more than snatches.
In relation to his abilities, dreams seldom played a part. In fact, he couldn’t remember but a handful of times when they proved to be prophetic in anyway. So as far as he was concerned, the dream he’d been having was just that – something his mind conjured up in the middle of the night to amuse itself. The only reason he was curious about this dream was how it made him feel. Each time, he’d awoken with a huge smile on his face. His heart felt light and there was the strangest tugging sensation in his middle. A wistful longing. Nathan wished he knew why the dream made him feel this way. Frankly, he couldn’t even remember what the girl looked like or anything that happened between them. All he was left with was this joyful, warm feeling of rightness.
Before heading to the main house, he took the side lane to Jacob’s abode. He hoped Bowie enjoyed playing with Lobo. When he entered Jessie’s yard, he could hear the little boy giggling loudly. The sound made Nathan smile. Drawing near, he could see Jessie sitting on the doorstep watching her son and the pup playing in the grass. “Hey, guys. How’s it going?”
“Just fine. How about you?” Jessie asked with a smile. “Would you care for some lemonade?”
“No, I’m dirty and smelly as all get out.” He picked up the coywolf, bending down to speak to Bowie Travis. “How are you doing, cowboy?”
“Fine and dandy! How about yourself?”
Bowie’s grown-up comments made Nathan laugh. “Well, I’m finer than frog’s hair, thanks for asking. Did you have a fun time with Lobo?”
“Yea, he’s smart. I like him.” He reached over to pet the pup.
“He likes you too.”
“Are you feeling any better?” Jessie asked.
“Yea. I think so.” Nathan didn’t see any use burdening her with his problems. “It’ll all work out. One way or the other.”
“True.” She let the subject drop, but a look of concern still showed on her face. “If you run into Jacob, tell him dinner will be ready soon.”
“I’ll do it.” He rose with Lobo and waved goodbye.
On the walk home, he was surprised to see Aron riding toward him. “Where
have you been?”
“Picking up Lobo from Jessie’s.”
“Why weren’t you helping Denver?”
“I did help Denver. Or Denver helped me – whichever way you want to look at it.”
“What happened?”
“With what?” Nathan couldn’t understand Aron’s attitude. “Are you mad at me?”
“Mad? No. Disappointed? Oh, hell yeah.” As he spoke, Aron’s horse danced in place. “I’m asking you how those heifers got loose.”
“What? I didn’t do it.”
“Who else would’ve done it?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Nathan was pretty fed up. “Let me think…” He tapped his chin with his finger.
“Don’t get smart.” He pointed toward the house. “Get on home. You’ve wasted enough time with that damn coywolf.”
“What is wrong with you?” Nathan stared at his brother as if he was a stranger. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m feeling fine and if you want to be able to say the same thing…you’d best straighten up your act.”
Before Nathan could say more, Aron rode away. His fear and frustration left an almost visible trail behind him. “I know he’s upset – but why is he taking it out on me?”
Shaking his head, Nathan continued his walk home.
Ready to put things behind them, he marched up to the house with a smile on his face.
“About time you got here.” Aron spoke from the patio. “All you do lately is waste time.”
His olive branch was rejected before he even got a chance to offer it. “I came straight here.”
“Do you have an answer for me yet?”
Nathan was about to say that he did not – but what was he waiting for? He knew he didn’t want the manager job. Attending college in person would be next to impossible for him. If and when he got a degree, it would be online. His plan at the moment was to accept the ranch hand position, then wait and see what else might interest him along the way. “Yea, I would like to accept the position as ranch hand.”
“Sorry.” Aron shook his head. “That position has been filled. I just got off the phone with a cowboy from Montana who’s moving to Texas. A good man with experience.”
Nathan followed him into the kitchen. “You can’t do that.”
“Oh, I can do whatever the hell I want to do.”
“Oh, really?” Nathan McCoy was fed up. “Why didn’t you hold it open for me?”
“Why?” Aron scoffed. “I’ll tell you why.” He shook his finger in Nathan’s face. “Because you’re not the best man for the job.”
Reeling from his brother’s declaration, Nathan felt like he’d been dealt a physical blow. “You know what? I just don’t give a damn.” He took off his black Stetson and slammed it onto the hat rack next to the front door. “I did my best and if you don’t like it, you can just jam one of those longhorn steers up your…” Seeing Libby out of the corner of his eye, Nathan rephrased the last part of his statement. “…where the sun don’t shine.”
“Watch your mouth, bud. You may be grown, and you may out-weigh me by twenty pounds, but I can still whup your rear end.”
Nathan moved one slow step forward. “I’d like to see you try, old man.”
“Don’t tempt me, pretty-boy.” Aron squared his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. “I may be older than you, but I’m still in my prime.”
“Aron. Nathan. Stop.” This was Libby, who was fast walking around the room and moving select pieces of crystal out of harm’s way. It had been a long, long time since she’d seen a brawl between any of the brothers, but on those rare occasions – damage could ensue. “I mean it, I won’t have you two messing up my house.”
It was as if they couldn’t hear her.
“Prime?” Nathan heaved out a huffing breath. “Nah, you’re fat. You’ve ate too much prime rib.”
“Who you calling fat, shortcake?” Aron walked in a half moon circle, like he was sizing up his chances. “You don’t have as much sense as one of those heifers you let tear out of the corral.”
“I didn’t let them out,” Nathan bristled. “You’re the one who left the damn gate half-open.”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did. You didn’t fasten the latch. All those damn heifers had to do was nose the gate and they were out. The rest of them just followed the path of least resistance.” He pointed a finger at his big brother. “But you…you made their escape possible.”
“Nope!” Aron was cocksure. “I don’t make mistakes like that.”
Nathan fumed. “Hell, you don’t. You’re getting senile.”
“Why you little…” Aron lunged at his brother about the time that Libby cried out and Jacob came barreling in from the kitchen.
“What in the hell is going on with you two lunkheads?”
Hearing the commotion seemed to stall the two brothers. One older, one younger, both hot under the collar.
“They’re being silly, that’s what’s going on,” Libby sounded frustrated. “Nothing’s really wrong. Is it?” she addressed her husband whose gaze was still pinned on his sibling.
“Nathan’s getting a little too big for his britches. He needs to be taken down a peg.”
“By who? You?” Nathan shook his head. He was tired of this. So tired. “I don’t think so.”
“All right. Settle down.” Jacob moved between the two of them. “You hotheads need to take a breath. You’re acting like idiots.”
Aron folded his arms over his massive chest. “If he’s going to be a part of this family, he needs to take his responsibilities seriously.”
“If? If I’m going to be a part of this family?” Nathan exploded. “I already work harder around Tebow than any ranch hand. I don’t have a social life. And you don’t want me to have a future apart from…” He fanned his hand around to reference his home. “This place.”
“What are you saying?” Aron stepped around Jacob. “Tebow suddenly isn’t good enough for you, is that it? It can’t be that the work isn’t challenging enough, or you’d do a better job at it. Right?”
Nathan stared at his brother with wide eyes, his mouth set in a straight line on his tense face. “Why would I want to work here? As you demonstrated today, I don’t get as much respect as the hired hands do.”
“That’s not true,” Libby protested, wringing her hands. “Please, don’t fight.”
Aron cut his eyes at his wife. “Sorry, baby.” He dry-scrubbed his face.
“Let’s just talk about this.” Jacob tried to herd his brothers into the den for a peaceful conversation. “We can work out whatever’s wrong together.”
“He has to want to work this out,” Aron added, unwilling to back down completely. “Nathan has to want to be a part of this family.”
Nathan looked from one brother to the next. He’d hero-worshiped these two men, dreaming of the day when his boots were big enough to follow in their footsteps. “I thought I was a part of this family.”
“Well, of course you are,” Jacob said quickly, throwing daggers at Aron with a sharp glance. “You’re our baby brother, Nathan. No matter how this job thing turns out - we all love you.”
“Yea, I can tell. Jessie’s holding dinner for you, Jacob. You’d best get home.” With that announcement, Nathan made his escape, taking the stairs two at a time.
After a hot shower, he threw himself on the bed. When Libby tapped on his door a few minutes later, he told her he wasn’t hungry.
“If you don’t let me in, I’m going to leave the tray right here by the door.”
“All right. Come on in.”
She sat the tray by his bed. “When I come back up here later, it’d better be empty.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I love you, bud.”
“I love you too, Libs.” His quarrel wasn’t with her, it was with her hard-headed husband.
Before she could leave, he stopped her. “Libby? Are you all right?”
His soft question seemed to
be her undoing. “Of course, I’m fine.” He watched her wipe a tear from her eye.
“I know something’s wrong. I can feel it. Sense it.”
“Oh, Nathan.” She came to sit on the foot of his bed. “Don’t say anything to anyone. I don’t know anything for sure – not yet. The first test came back positive, but the second one came back negative. Right now, they’re calling it inconclusive.”
“Will you have another test?”
She let out a long sigh. “They’re going to give me a different test. Soon. Some type of genetic thing. If the leukemia has come back, they’ll be able to tailor the treatments.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” No wonder Aron was acting like a fool. “My brother is worried, isn’t he?”
“Yea, he’s losing it. So – whatever he’s done, please don’t hold it against him.”
“Oh, I won’t. He just makes me mad, that’s all.”
“Yea, I get it.” She came close to kiss him on the cheek. “I knew you’d know about me.”
“Does Cady?”
“Yea, but I swore her to secrecy.”
“Can’t she help you?”
“I don’t want her to. Her health is as important as mine.”
“I hate this.” Nathan hugged her tight. “What can I do?”
“Pray for me?”
He felt his own eyes tearing up. “Always.”
“Good.” She leaned back to gaze at him with affection. “Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
“I know.”
With a final smile, she left the room. As soon as he heard her footsteps moving away from the door, he rose to get the tray. Quickly, he ate a few bites then gave the rest of the meat to Lobo. Afterwards, he placed the tray on the floor in the hall. Raising up, he flipped off the light and shed his clothes. All he wanted to do was shut his eyes and forget this day ever happened.