I was right earlier. Nothing would ever be the same after today.
Weeks went by without a word from the McLeods. It hurt at first, but then I remembered what that family did to mine, and I was relieved. No contact became the new normal. The expectation.
I watched from the back of my horse as Beau drove off to Texas A&M with boxes in the bed of his truck. It felt final watching him leave. The last remains of our friendship disintegrated into ash with his departure.
Looking at Circle M made me sick to my stomach after what Dad told me. And when my gaze fell on Anna, sitting on her own horse, and she waved, I turned around and rode away.
It was time to grow up and stop playing games. I just wish that I had savored that afternoon a little more now that I knew it was the last.
1
Claire
Present day…
I shot upright out of bed to a loud crash. Peeking out the window, I caught the tail end of Duke, one of our geldings, sprinting out of his pen and into the northern pasture.
“Shit!” I raced out the door after him, wondering what I’d done in a past life to deserve this obnoxious wake-up call. I barely got enough sleep as it was.
But that was how life went when you ran a ranch.
Golden Bridle was more than just a ranch to me; it was my family’s legacy. And as much as I loved my family, the burden of making sure said legacy remained intact was heavy, especially since I had been carrying it alone since I was twenty-four.
Before he died eight years ago, Dad always said the land was in our blood, but sometimes I wondered if the land was trying to bleed me dry.
This morning, it felt like it.
I let out a sharp whistle, trying to get Duke to come back, but he didn’t listen. My boots kicked up dust as I sprinted after him. I grabbed my lasso, swirling it over my head.
“Get over here, you little jerk,” I muttered, breath ragged and heart pounding as I tossed the lasso around his neck. I brushed my dark auburn curls out of my face, not having time to put them up in a braid like I usually did.
Of course, he bucked and fought because why would he come easily? Nothing in my life had come easily, nothing aside from barrel racing. But that was a dream I had to give up after Dad’s car accident because Mama was too depressed to run the ranch.
The morning chaos didn’t end once I got Duke back in his pen. I had horses to feed, a sick mare to check on, and a stallion to break, all while trying not to think about my mother’s looming medical bills.
Chemo wasn’t cheap.
In the three years Mama had been fighting lung cancer, it felt like we were counting the breaths between storms, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She handled treatment like a champ at first, but now, she was sick…bedridden kind of sick. Every breath was a battle. Every day was a miracle. She stopped treatment two months ago, and the doctors said it was only a matter of time now.
I glanced up at the crooked sign hanging over the barn door. It looked as tired and worn as I felt. Then again, the entire ranch did—Golden Bridle wasn’t looking so golden anymore, but I didn’t have any resources to spruce the poor girl up. Every dollar I could spare went towards medical bills, horse feed, or fixing something vital, like the fencing or the corrals, so the horses would stay put. Not that that stopped Duke just now.
As I wiped my hands on my jeans, the rumbling of an engine pulled my attention. Emmett rolled up in his truck he spent two summers in high school rebuilding with Dad, the faded maroon paint rusted and chipped. He’d been living and working here since he retired from the Army two years ago, after multiple combat tours that left him more tired and haunted than I’d everseen. He doesn’t talk about it, and we don’t ask. Despite the far-off, distant look in his eyes, he had been a steady help on the ranch, even if he rarely showed enthusiasm about it.
“Morning,” I called out, waving him over. He climbed out of the truck, running a tattooed hand through his shaggy blonde hair; he had let it grow out after he retired, and Mama’s curls we inherited were starting to show.
“Your horse got out this morning. Nearly gave me a heart attack.”
He huffed, something vaguely similar to a laugh. “Funny how he’s my horse when he’s causing trouble, but yours when he’s an angel.”
I smiled and ran a hand along Duke’s tan muzzle. “I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, and there was a beat of silence. Not uncommon when it came to Emmett. “How’s Mama?”
I swallowed, pushing aside the wariness I felt. It was my job as the oldest to shield him and our other two sisters from everything bad, even if he was only a year younger and more experienced with death than I ever would be. “The same.”
“How’s out front?” I asked, not wanting to think about our mother dying anymore. I couldn’t.
Emmett shrugged a shoulder, staring towards the south pasture, squinting from the sunlight. “Okay, I guess. Got a few eggs. Stopped a goat from escaping. For now.”
