Page 31 of Hello Tease

Dad gave a wry smile that deepened the wrinkles on his face. “The horses needed some attention. Figured a young guy like you wouldn’t mind.”

“Which is why you included that tidbit of information when you called?” I quipped. I reached the metal fence panels and climbed over. “At least it’s nice out.” This time of year in Texas, it could easily hit the hundreds, but it was supposed to rain overnight, so the temp was in the eighties with a cool breeze.

Dad nodded, handing me the reins to his younger horse, Acres. I walked the four-year-old out of the corral, holding the gate open for Dad, who rode by on his roan quarter horse, Blister. Gross name, I know. He’d gotten the thing as a colt ten years prior and said he got the worst blister riding in a new saddle to train him, so that was the name he settled on.

Once he was out of the corral, I latched the gate shut, gripped the saddle horn, put my foot in the stirrup, and hauled myself on to Acres’s back. He stood still, waiting patiently for me to nudge his side, and once I did, he started walking after Dad and Blister.

I rubbed his neck, ran my fingers through his rough chestnut mane. “Good boy,” I hummed. Then I sat back in the saddle and took in my surroundings.

Even though I lived in town now, I loved being back on the ranch. There was so much space, it just felt easier to breathe. And I felt closer to Mom here too. She and Dad had made a true home here, a family, a life.

Maybe someday, when I had a family of my own, we’d settle down in our own little country home.

Dad and I rode in silence, side by side on the ruts of a trail cutting through the pasture, until Dad said, “How’re things with the neighbor girl?”

When he phrased it like that, I felt like I was fifteen years old again, crushing on Liv Griffen even though I could tell my brother had the hots for her and just wouldn’t make a move. “What things?” I finally asked.

Dad snorted. “Still a terrible liar.”

I grimaced. “I wasn’t lying.”

“Just evading,” he teased.

I shook my head at him and scanned the grassy hillside dotted with black Angus cattle and Yucca plants. The herd seemed healthy so far. “What about you and Miss Agatha? Huh?”

Dad’s cheeks instantly went red. “Not going there.”

I had to laugh. “You know, we’re okay with you dating again, Dad.”

His hands rested on his denim-clad thighs, leather reins gripped loosely in his fingers. “I know that. I’m just not sure I’m okay with it.”

My lips pressed together. “You know Mom wouldn’t hold it against you.”

“I know.”

“Then why hold back?” I asked.

He huffed out a laugh. “If I told you, it’d sound stupid.”

“Stupider than me calling everyone in my family for a last-minute supper so I could hang out with my hot new neighbor, who just so happens to be going on a date with Bennett Gardner tomorrow night?”

Dad winced.

“Uh huh.”

After a beat or two, Dad said, “You know, one of the things that got me through losing your mom was knowing I’d see her again in heaven. But how does that work when you fall in love with another woman? The three of us gonna be standing around awkwardly in heaven with Jesus mediating the whole thing? Your mother would have my head before she shared custody of me.”

I let out a laugh, more out of surprise than anything. “Maybe Mom’s a freak now. Could have some fun.”

Dad’s face went redder than I’ve ever seen it. He nudged his horse into a trot.

“What are you doing?” I called after him, getting my horse to speed up.

“Getting away from you before your mom gets God to strike you with lightning.”

Now I was really laughing. Coming out to the ranch had been a great idea.

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