Long Past Dawn by Katie Mettner

Author:Katie Mettner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Katie Mettner
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Eight

I slid a bin of boots into the back of the truck and turned for another one when I spotted the man I was trying to avoid standing on the porch. He had his hat in his hand and his eyes taking in the scene before him.

“Going somewhere?” he drawled, that Texas accent still strong even after all these years. Not that I had a lot to say on the matter. Mine was just as strong.

Time to face the music.

I knew I would have to, but I didn’t know how to tell him I was leaving.

“I—I,” I cleared my throat and tapped my fingers on my thigh. It was an old trick I’d learned to break the stutter. If I tapped a rhythm on my leg while I spoke, it made me focus on something else. “I’m moving over to Heavenly Lane ta—to—ah—day.”

His brow went up, and he walked down the stairs and sat on the top one. “You don’t say? You don’t have to leave, Beau. We aren’t kicking you out.”

I jumped up on the tailgate and let my legs swing under me while I stared out over the ridge that was now my home. “I know you ain’t, Blaze. I never said you were. I’m not comfortable here anymore. An—and before you get all ry—riled up a—about Heaven, let me finish.”

He motioned at me to continue. “I’m listening, but, Beau?”

“Yeah?”

“Take your time. I’m not upset. You don’t have to defend yourself. Just let it come,” Blaze said, motioning with his hand the way he always did when he wanted to remind me to take my time. I think the motion was an old Native American sign for ‘it’s all good,’ loosely translated, of course.

I set my hat down on the tailgate and leaned over, curling my fingers around the edge of it. “This ain’t about Heaven.”

“I know,” he said, nodding as he leaned over his thighs with his forearms. “It’s about you, and that’s okay.”

“That’s okay?” I asked, surprised that he led with that.

“You only live once, Beau. Sometimes you have to choose yourself, and that’s okay.”

I ran my hand through my hair and blew out a breath, still avoiding eye contact with him. “See, it’s like this, Blaze. You’re my brother, and we’ve lived together a whole lot of years. Even after you married Callie, it was like nothing changed. This time, everything has changed.”

“You think so?”

“Why do you think I’ve been avoiding the house? It’s not because I’m mad or annoyed that Heaven is here. I’m not. Bison Ridge is where she belongs. There is a draw between you and her that I can feel in the air. I guess that’s the only way I can explain it.”

“I don’t understand, Beau,” he admitted, but I could tell he was trying.

“It’s like when she’s not here the ranch holds its breath until she comes back. I guess, lookin’ back now, I can see the ranch had been holding its breath for all those years she wasn’t here. Now that she is here, it doesn’t want to let her go.

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