Page 21 of Ride the Sky

I am. Because my liver can handle a lot more than my heart can.

“You ain’t rodeoin’ no more,” Ford goes on, “but I see you on those horses. A hundred miles per hour without breaking. You ain’t John Wayne, kid. It’s like you’re going through the motions.”

He’s right. I feel so hollow inside. This has been the worse year of my life. I don’t even know where to begin to piece my heart back together.

I lost her. The one woman who made me feel something real.

“You haven’t been the same, Wy,” Charlie says, pulling my attention “Not since Fallon left.”

Fallon.

Both Ford and Davis look relieved that someone’s finally said her name.

An awkward silence blankets the Bullshit Box.

My brothers know I have a history with Fallon—each of them to different extents. But no one knows the real truth.

“I miss her,” I croak. It’s the only thing I can say.

“We know,” Charlie gruffs.

Davis and Ford stare at me with sympathy.

“I see it, Wyatt,” Davis says. “You’re angry like I was when Koty left.” Rubbing his stubbled jaw, he shifts uncomfortably. “Have you and Fallon—”

“Yeah,” I say, getting ahead of it before he can ask. “We did.”

“Fuck.” Davis looks worried.

I rub my eyes. “Don’t say it, I already know.”

No daughters. Stede McGraw’s words of warning ring in my head as if he’s just said them aloud.

Stede and I stand in the pasture, baking under the hot August sun. “Son, looks like you and me oughta have a talk.”

“What about?”

“First…” His eyes follow Fallon, who smokes a cigarette on the deck of the lodge. In her other hand, she violently flicks a pocketknife back and forth. “You sure you’re ready to take that hellion on?”

No. Truth is, I only agreed to give her lessons to get close to Stede McGraw. Training a girl, let alone a sixteen-year-old hellraiser, cramped my style. But if it meant I could learn from the King of Cowboys, hell, sign me up.

I shrug. “Ain’t any wilder than a mustang.”

He chuckles. Then his weathered face grows serious, solemn. “Second…” He lifts a finger. “No daughters. I got two girls. One’s the sun and one’s the moon, and I don’t want you to collide with either of them.”

I keep an easy face, despite the fact that his words sting. “Ain’t interested.” Too young. Too scary. Buckle bunnies were more my speed. One and done.

He grins. “Then, hell, son, we’ll get along just fine.”

Then, because I’m a curious bastard, I ask, “You tell any of my other brothers that?”

Stede lifts a hand. “No insult. Just a talk. Cowboy to cowboy.”

I hear him loud and clear.

Not good enough. Not for a cowboy like me.

Because cowboys don’t keep the girl.

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