Page 16 of Lost and Lassoed

Yet every time I think about that day, I feel like I’m the one getting the wind knocked out of me. Not because I didn’t want them to be together, but because I hated that neither of them had felt they could tell me. I prided myself on taking care of my people, and it felt like the two people I loved most in the world didn’t trust me to show up for them.

Brooks and I forgave each other pretty quickly—I was man enough to admit that I couldn’t live without the bastard. But it still took me awhile to accept the fact that my best friend and my little sister were hat over boots for each other. After a couple of months, I finally stopped flinching every time he touched her—which was a lot, by the way. Who knew he was such a touchy-feely motherfucker?

Still, when I looked at them, I felt a gut punch. Not hurt anymore, but something different. The sense that when I looked at them, I saw the type of life I’d really like to have.

Emmy looked up at me when she heard me enter the kitchen. My daughter was playing with my mom’s engagement ring, which now sat on Emmy’s left hand. “Are you running on Brooks Standard Time now?” she asked with a smile. Brooks was perpetually late.

“Sorry,” I murmured. “You guys could’ve started without us.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” my dad called from his spot at the stove. “I think we’re ready here. Everyone come grab a dish.”

Each of us filed into a line to grab the serving platters heaped with breakfast food—eggs, bacon, sausage, Frenchtoast—pancakes for Emmy because she didn’t like the texture of French toast—and fruit.

My dad never went less than all out with family meals. I got my love of cooking from him, but you wouldn’t know how much I loved to cook by looking at my cupboards right now. I really needed to hit the grocery store.

We sat down at the big oak table that hadn’t moved since before I was born. Dusty’s mom, Aggie, had made it for my parents as a wedding present. There was an inscription on the underside of it—For Amos and Stella, a love story for the ages. June 6, 1986. I had memorized it.

I’d spent a lot of time under this table staring at those words after my mom passed away. I had been diagnosed as dyslexic at the age of six, so it took me a bit to unscramble the letters, but once I did, I held the words close to me. And when I got older and started to think about the kind of life I wanted for myself, I thought of that inscription.

We all sat down at the table and started passing dishes around. I piled my plate high and made sure Riley had enough food and a good amount of fruit on hers.

Brooks talked about how everything was going at the bar—the second level was mostly cleaned out and ready for Ada. She, and Teddy apparently, were going to do some sort of cool wall art thing with some of the old Wyoming newspapers. Ada was an interior designer. She and Wes met when she came to Rebel Blue to renovate our guest ranch—Baby Blue.

“I’m so excited,” Ada said when the project was brought up. “I’ve always wanted to modpodge an entire wall. Teddy sent me some pictures of the newspapers. It’s cool that the Devil’s Boot has so much history.”

“Those newspapers caused her a lot of grief!” Brooks laughed, and I shot him a warning look. “When she went to put them downstairs, she ended up locked in a closet with Gus.”

Bastard,I thought. Everyone else laughed too. I rolled my eyes.

“Wait,” Wes said. “You and Teddy were in a small, dark, confined space with each other and both of you lived to tell the tale?”

“Barely,” I grunted.

“God, I would’ve loved to be a fly on that wall,” Wes mused. “What did you guys do in there?”

I didn’t respond. If there was one thing I didn’t want to talk about, it was being stuck with Teddy fucking Andersen in that stupid closet.

“So,” Emmy said, changing the subject, “how’s Cam? Is everything going okay in Jackson?” Her question was directed at me.

“Yeah,” I said, honestly. “She likes the law firm she’s shadowing at.” Cam was doing great. I was the one that was struggling with her being gone.I’d forgotten to pick up my kid, for Christ’s sake.

My mind flashed to Teddy—how she’d tried to rub the tension out of my back, how she’d told me I wasn’t a bad father, and I’d believed her.

I’d never seen Teddy like that before—soft, I guess. But why the hell was I still thinking about it?

“But she misses me,” Riley piped up.

Emmy smiled at her niece. “Of course she does, Sunshine. Who wouldn’t?” There were a million reasons I was happyabout my little sister moving home, but one of the big ones was that she could spend time with Riley—she worshipped Emmy, wanted to be a barrel racer just like her. “And you,” Emmy said, looking at me, “how are you doing?”

I rolled my eyes and grunted.

“Riley,” Ada said out of the blue, “I haven’t seen Sweetwater in a while. Do you want to walk down to the stables with me?” My daughter lit up and nodded excitedly.

“Can I, Dad?”

“Yeah, Sunshine. No treats, though, okay?” I said. Riley nodded and pushed back from the table. She grabbed Ada by the hand and dragged her toward the back door.

Wes stayed seated, which I thought was weird. He normally followed Ada around like a lost puppy.

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