The Cowboy of the Mountain (Mountain Men of Whispering Winds) by Tessa Klein

Author:Tessa Klein [Klein, Tessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

“Uncle Reid said he’s going to build a bomb fire next weekend,” Luke says as we near the end of our fence inspection.

It’s the first time in months that there hasn’t been a broken slat or panel. Sometimes it feels like I’m playing a game of whack-a-mole. Fix one section only to have another section broken the next day from animals, weather, fallen trees, or any other sundry of reasons. It doesn’t matter as much anymore because I’ve been transitioning away from livestock over the past few years. It’s not easy on the mind or body, and ever since Luke was born, I’ve been taking steps to move in a different direction.

Speaking of Luke…

“Could you say that again?” I ask, leaning against the fence as I remove my hat and wipe the sweat building on my brow. I don’t know when the weather shifted, but the air’s no longer chilled and that sun’s getting mighty hot again.

Luke climbs onto the fence, sitting on the top board as he swings his legs. Oink circles beneath him, grunting as he tries to hop up and join him, but eventually wanders off to nose a patch of grass.

“He’s going to build a bomb fire the next time we go to his cabin.”

I smile as I replace my hat. “Do you mean bonfire?”

“What’s that?”

“A big fire. One that doesn’t include bombs.”

“So… there won’t be any explosions?”

“Afraid not. Probably not a good idea to set off a bomb in the middle of the forest.”

“I think a bomb fire sounds cooler,” he says after a few moments of gazing off at some indeterminate point in the distance.

I push off the fence and head toward him. “I think so too.”

I help him off the fence and then we head back toward the house. It’s been another great day with Luke, but there’s a small knot building in my stomach and has been for most of the day. I haven’t heard a thing from Mia, and I’m not sure when I will or if I will.

Maybe she’s come to the same conclusion I did: It’s a bad idea for numerous reasons. But I don’t care. All I care about is Mia.

After catching up with my field hands, Luke and I head inside for homemade pizza and a movie—a Sunday night ritual that I look forward to.

“What movie are we watching?” I ask, heading to the fridge to remove all the ingredients. We get everything set up before we do our inspections, so all it takes is firing up the oven, adding some sauce and toppings, and then the most important part, picking the movie.

“The Lego Movie.”

I sigh, closing my eyes as the refrigerated air cools my skin. I’ll revise my previous statement. A Sunday night ritual I usually look forward to. Right now, I have a complicated relationship with those exceptionally sharp bricks, and I still need to have that conversation with him.

“Sounds great,” I say as I grab everything out of the refrigerator “Just…” I plop the dough out on the counter, followed by the sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.