Page 20 of Long Hard Fall

“Do you miss any of it?” She inched as close to him as the seat would allow. The interior of the cab was comfortable, luxurious almost, but the topic left her chilled.

He lifted a shoulder and his gaze drifted around, monitoring the combine’s progress. “Very little. I got to see some of the world, have some new experiences. I think it made me more disciplined with my ranching. I’m up at dawn and outside working. I put in long days, but it’s still on my schedule, even though the animals and the weather dictate what I do with my time.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Maybe Perry had craved the discipline. He’d been a guy who flitted from interest to interest, almost dispirited at times, but never when he talked with her. “Do you have siblings?”

“A sister. She’s almost eight years younger than me. In her second year of college.”

The flat tone of his made her wince. Was that how Perry had sounded about her in school? “She worries you?”

“She’s aimless.” He shook his head. “If I could buy her self-esteem, I would. For the life of me, I can’t understand why she lets the guys in her life treat her like shit. No, I understand why and—” He clamped his mouth shut.

She waited, but he didn’t elaborate. “I think Perry worried about the same thing, if it makes you feel any better.”

He frowned at her, his eyes filled with a stormy emotion she couldn’t identify. It drained away to be replaced with his typical good humor. “Hey, we’re almost done.”

Jovial Cash was the man he showed to the world. He was a person with deep emotions, but when he interacted with people, he was always Happy Cash.

Their conversation switched to a rundown of what they’d do when they wrapped up this field. She drove Cash’s pickup, which was like steering a ship compared to her Acura, and followed the combine and grain truck back to Aaron’s place.

The expanse of their operation was impressive. Had to be to support five employees. Cash mentioned he was one of the oldest of the cousins he ran the business with. They must all be close to getting married and starting families, which was even more incentive to keep the business strong.

She grew envious. A family with strong support. Did any of the Walkers have to change themselves to appease their relatives?

Enough of the pity party. She focused on driving her first ever Ford F250, with the seat moved a good foot forward. She didn’t have Cash’s long legs.

After all the equipment was stored for the night, Cash hopped in. She drove them back to his place.

He sat forward when she turned into his drive.

A maroon hybrid SUV sat in front of the house next to Abbi’s car.

Cash waved to his parking spot in front of the detached garage. “Just park there. Mom’s blocking my garage stall.”

Abbi squeezed the wheel. His mother. Abbi had planned to drift into Moore, find Reno Walker, talk, and mosey back out. But she was meeting more and more of the family. It was harder and harder to remember her original purpose in Moore.

Cash saw his mom’s vehicle and was tempted to direct Abbi to head to the highway and just drive, anywhere.

Despite the feels in the combine when they’d hit the topic of their siblings, he’d had an enjoyable afternoon. And introducing someone to the bliss of riding horse was always a privilege. He looked forward to the next day, both getting to jump back on Patsy Cline but also seeing how Abbi would take to Mandrell.

But his mom’s SUV was like an ominous dark cloud heralding a shit-filled night. Mom never drove down on her own unless it was to cry about Dad. Maybe she didn’t realize how much responsibility Cash took for her troubles with his dad. Maybe she did, and it was Cash’s price to pay for being born.

Having his mom in town when he went on his Monday-morning errand only fed the well of guilt. Arranging a horse outing after his Monday-morning breakfast at the Brown House Cafe had been partly selfish, something to look forward to after feeling like he’d betrayed his mom.

He got out of the pickup and walked Abbi to her car.

“I left my stuff in the house. I at least need my keys.”

Yep. Because that’s how his luck was going the last two days. “I’ll go get it. Wait here.”

She gave him a funny look but thankfully didn’t argue. She must think he didn’t want to introduce her to his mother. He didn’t, but not for the reason she might assume. His mom’s assumptions might get the best of him, and he didn’t need another lecture on how being responsible for a woman’s heart was for an honorable man and he needed to ensure he was up to the task before entering into something as serious as a relationship.

He slogged to the house, his Tony Martins as heavy as feed-sacks.

Mom sat at the table with her head buried in her hands. For a fleeting moment, he hoped he could grab Abbi’s items from the kitchen and get out before his mom noticed. But she had to have heard him pull up.

The door hinges squeaked and his boots on the hardwood couldn’t pull off stealth.

Mom’s head popped up. Her eyes were red rimmed and her nose was puffy.

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