Page 87 of Lost and Lassoed

“Do it right?” I asked.

“Step back when you need to. I want you to have days when you take advantage of living in the most beautiful place on earth. Maybe spend some extra time with a beautiful woman and your favorite kid.”

When I looked back at him—my mouth agape—he was smiling a little. He definitely knew about Teddy and me. The whole town knew at this point; we had, after all, made out in the middle of the Devil’s Boot. Even if the town didn’t know, there was no way either of my siblings—or Brooks—could keep that to themselves.

“You know,” he said, pointing to a small fork in the trail that we were on—I wasn’t familiar with it, I didn’t head up the north ridge often—“if you head up that way, there’s a good amount of pink wildflowers.”

I brought Scout to a halt at his words and turned us around so we were facing my dad, whose eyes were bright. “It’s called rock jasmine, I think,” he said. “In case someone—or two someones—are looking for them.”

And then he winked at me.

I looked up the trail. I needed to get up there. I needed to get Teddy and Riley up there—today. This was what I needed—to show Teddy that I saw her, that I wanted her, and that I wanted to support her in everything. But there was no way I could check cattle and clear the trail before dark.

“Can I—” I hesitated for a few beats. I’d never asked for this before. “Can I have the day off?” The question felt foreign falling off my tongue. “This is important.”

When I looked at my dad, he was beaming, like he was proud of me, like hearing me asking for time off was the best thing that’d happened to him in recent memory.

He nodded. “Of course, August,” he said with a warm and knowing smile. “You deserve it.”

Chapter 39

Teddy

I was painting the garage again. Honestly, I’d rather have been sewing, but my sewing machine wasn’t fixed yet—I hadn’t had time to get it looked at or sent for repair, and I couldn’t sketch any more designs. I’d sketched myself out since coming back to my house from Gus’s a few days ago.

Admittedly, it was my fault that I still didn’t have my sewing machine in working condition or, if it couldn’t be fixed, bought a new one. It hadn’t been as much of a priority the past couple of weeks, my brain totally consumed by my dad and soaking up as much time with Gus and Riley as possible. But now my temporary babysitting gig was over.

And I had a plan.

Sort of.

I had the beginnings of what could potentially become a somewhat decent plan, which was good enough for me at this point. But I needed a few days before I made my next move—before I talked to Gus and told him that I wanted to give this whole thing a shot—that I wanted it all with him. And Riley.

I just hoped I’d be able to actually get words out this time.

When he’d asked me to stay for dinner, to stay and see Cam, I freaked. I felt like the foundation upon which Gus and I had gotten to know each other was crumbling, and I was in free fall. I was scared that maybe without our arrangement—part-time babysitter helping out single dad—we wouldn’t be able to stand on our own.

But first I needed to feel like I could stand onmyown.

I heard the side door open and looked around me for the first time. I’d been out here since breakfast, and it must be past lunch now. And here was Hank bearing a turkey sandwich, jalapeño cheddar Cheetos, and a Diet Coke.

“Hey, kid,” he said. “Take a break. Sit with me.”

I walked over to him and took the plate he’d carried out to me. Then I helped him get situated in one of the outdoor plastic chairs I’d put out here.

“That looks good, Ted,” he said. “Beautiful.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’m not quite sure what it is yet,” I said, looking at the landscape that had started to appear.

“Really? You can’t see it?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Never mind.” Hank was smiling—it was a knowing and mischievous smile. It made me smile too, because he only smiled like that when he was feeling good. “You could do this, you know. Paint.”

“I appreciate your faith in me, but I think this is one of those things I’d rather keep as a hobby, you know?”

“I do,” he said with a nod, and I bit into my sandwich. “So, Teddy Bear, what’s next? You’ve been awfully quiet the past few days. Focused. Aggie told me that Betty saw you at the bank.”

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