Page 63 of A Love So Sweet
“I’ve been waiting for you to figure out what was holding your heart back all these years. For a while I wasn’t sure if it was something I did wrong when you were growing up. I did my best, but being both mother and father had its trying times. Then I thought that maybe you just hadn’t met the right woman yet. But when I looked into your eyes earlier today, I saw the fear in them. And I saw the love, too; don’t get me wrong. I knew that the other thing I’d worried about for so long was true. Son, your mama didn’t die because of our love for each other. Surely you know that.”
He nodded, unable to form a response, as his father had seen his greatest fear. As ridiculous as it was, it had lingered far too long.
“This life we’re given is short,” his father said. “It’ll be gone before you know it, and, son, you’re a good man. You’re a loving, kind, generous man with so much more to give than flashy resorts. You always have been. Just because you allow yourself to love doesn’t mean that some higher power will steal that person away from you—or steal you away from her. If you don’t allow yourself to love, to fully saturate yourself with someone else’s life, someone else’s feelings, if you don’t allow your ego to disappear and your heart to beatforanother person, so that every breath you take is takenforthat person, well then, I’m afraid you’ll be missing out on one of life’s only blessings. And besides your family and giving life to children, it’s the only blessing that really matters.”
His father reached into his bedside drawer and handed him a small velvet bag. Treat felt the circle within his fingers and knew what it contained.
He looked at his father with a tinge of disbelief.
“Your mama wanted you to have this, and somehow, today, she knew it was the right time.”
“Dad…” His voice was choked out by emotions.
“It’s yours, son, to do with as you wish. I’m just doing what I’m told.”
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Chapter Twenty-Nine
TREAT’S BEDROOM DOOR swung open at five thirty the next morning, and Rex walked in with a triumphant smile, which promptly faded when Treat stood from the chair in front of the desk where he was working, fully dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and said, “About time you got your lazy butt out of bed.” He’d woken up early, anxious to see Max when she arrived later today, and had tackled the emails he hadn’t gotten to yesterday. He picked up his flannel shirt from the back of the chair, closed his laptop, and patted Rex’s shoulder as he passed him on his way to the stairs.
Rex didn’t say a word as they filled to-go cups with coffee and headed out into the cold morning air.
“You’re going to have to get me up to speed,” Treat said.
“We’ve got the hired hands taking care of the horses. You and I are on fence repair. Something got into the back fifty and tore down a thirty-foot strip.”
Treat climbed into the passenger side of the truck. “What got to it?”
Rex shrugged as he pulled onto the grass. “It doesn’t matter, does it?”
Great, an attitude before six a.m.
The truck ambled over the fields, and Treat waited for Rex to bring up what he’d said the night before. The silence between them was not particularly uncomfortable, but as it stretched on, he tried to break the ice. “I checked on Dad. He seemed to be okay.”
“Good. Savannah’s got him covered for the day, and Josh said he’d monitor his meds.” Rex’s cowboy hat was tugged down low. He kept his eyes on the field, never once glancing at Treat.
“You mind that I’m staying on for a while?” Treat asked.
Rex shrugged. He parked the truck and they began unloading the wood, wire, and supplies.
“Put ’em over there.” Rex pointed to a grassy area on the other side of the broken fence. “We’ll set up the sawhorses here and use that area there for waste.”
Treat did as he asked, while Rex picked up long pieces of wood and threw them over his shoulder like they were toothpicks. Treat was a strong man, but even he had to admit that his brother had the bigger brawn and bulk. Beneath his Henley, Rex’s body rippled with muscles in places that Treat wasn’t even certain a body should have them.
Instead of feeling envy toward the brother who was clearly angry with him, Treat was proud of him. He’d spent his life taking care of the family ranch—and their father. That was something Treat hadn’t been strong enough to do, and now, he realized, he was able to admit that to himself without feeling shame in its wake.
“You gonna help or watch?” Rex asked.
Treat grabbed his hammer and followed his brother’s cursory instructions to a tee. He’d grown up helping his father with everything from mucking stalls to fixing the siding on the barn. He was a bit out of practice, but it was all coming back to him, including cherished memories of his mother playing nearby with any number of his siblings while he and his father worked.
Working beside Rex also brought out Treat’s competitive side. His need for instructions quickly fell away as he sawed the wood to the perfect length, secured wires into place, and pounded poles into the ground. By lunchtime, his chest and arms felt battered and bruised. He gritted his teeth against the annoying pain rather than let his brother, who was no worse for wear, see it.
“Doing all right?” Rex asked as they drove toward the house.
“Just fine.” After spending the day doing hard physical labor, Treat expected to feel a longing to return to his fast-paced, professional career, where he was surrounded by creature comforts and a hard day meant securing a purchase for another property. At the minimum, he’d expected to feel a strong amount of trepidation over changing the way he did business. But as they pulled up to the house and he mulled over the suggestions from his attorney to hire more of a front man or woman and handle negotiations via Skype, he found that his longing wasn’t to be in the thick of acquisitions at all. He wanted to help out for a while on the ranch until they got a handle on things, and he longed to be with Max. The decision he’d made to put down roots in Colorado, and the suggestion from the attorney, both felt right.
“Looks like Dane’s arrived.” Rex nodded in the direction of the forest-green Land Rover in the driveway, Dane’s go-to rental.
