Page 63 of Hello Handsome
“I never won any of those.” Hayes pouted.
“Wonder why...” I drawled sarcastically, remembering high school Hayes all too well. He was a ladies’ man even then and barely passed most of his classes. “Oh, and Maya’s on the dean’s honor roll,” I added as an afterthought. She was always winning awards like that.
“Stupid—the high school doesn’t have a dean,” Hayes muttered.
I gave him the side-eye. “Did a rattlesnake crawl up your pants?”
Hayes raised his eyebrows. “No?”
“Then why are you so full of piss and vinegar today?”
Hayes huffed out a sigh, reining his horse so we could go through a draw to the right. The grass was greener at the bottom where the rainwater always pooled before evaporating away. “Can you let it go?” Hayes begged.
Following behind him, I said, “I let it go the other day at the diner when you were acting off. This is me bringing it back up.” Even though I didn’t go to the diner as much anymore, I liked meeting with my boys there and getting to see Aggie’s face. I missed her like hell.
Hayes glowered at the ground ahead of him. “Can’t you be a deadbeat like Aggie’s ex?” He was only half joking, but it was in poor taste, and the mention of Aggie had my heart aching.
She was still seeing someone as far as I knew. And even though I still enjoyed her company at the diner, things weren’t like they used to be. Shoving the thought aside, I said to Hayes, “I’m sorry my love and care for my sons is an inconvenience to you.”
He didn’t respond as we reached the end of the valley where a pair of cattle were grazing. The mama and baby were apart from the others, which wasn’t a good sign since cattle usually grazed in groups. “Let’s get a closer look at them,” I said, the questioning paused for the moment.
Hayes and his horse fell into step behind Blister and me while I studied the animals more closely. The mama cow looked fine, no signs of mastitis. But the baby calf had a yellow streak under his tail. I frowned and twisted in my saddle to look at Hayes. “I’m gonna rope the calf. Can you watch the heifer so she doesn’t maul me?”
“Trusting me an awful lot, considering I’m full of piss and vinegar,” Hayes said lightly.
I gave him yet another exasperated look, then started unclipping the lasso from my saddle. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hayes on his horse, handily pushing back the mama cow. “Back up, babe,” he said to her in a low, steady voice.
As soon as they were a comfortable distance away, I swung my rope over my head, and when it caught the calf’s back legs, I pulled it tight. It bellered as it fell to the ground. “This’ll be over quick,” I promised.
The heifer snorted, trying to run toward the calf, but Hayes cut her off, playing defense on horseback.
Trusting Hayes to handle it, I got my medicine bag and made quick work of medicating the calf. Then I released the rope and hurried back onto Blister. As soon as I was in the saddle, I called to Hayes, “All good.”
We both backed our horses away to give the pair some space.
“Everything okay?” Hayes asked as I wound my lasso back up and clipped it to the saddle.
“Had the scours and needed some electrolytes,” I explained. “I’ll check back in on him again this evening.” My stomach squeezed with nerves. I hated to see any of my animals under the weather.
Hayes nodded, continuing to keep pace beside me. We turned toward another draw, silent for a moment. We’d covered most of the pasture and would head home soon.
Despite all the time we’d spent out here, he still hadn’t shared what was eating him. I gave him a look and said, “Don’t make me tie you up too.” I’d get answers out of my stubborn boy one way or another.
Hayes chuckled softly, then finally... “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone.”
“Want to swear on it?” I held up my pinky like we used to when he was young. Hayes was all about the pinky promise for a while.
That earned me a roll of his eyes. “Fucker,” Hayes muttered.
I chuckled, used to his language by now. “It’s just you and me out here. What’s going on?” I wondered if he’d gotten a woman pregnant. Or maybe he was sick. The familiar rush of adrenaline had my heart racing.
Hayes shook his head slowly. “I’ve been thinking things lately...”
The relief was instant. “That is new,” I teased him. “I can see why you’d be concerned.”
“Dad!” he huffed out, although I could tell he was holding back a laugh. “I’m being serious.”
“Go ahead.” I smiled over at him before looking ahead again. There weren’t any cattle in this draw, so I led Blister up a hill so we could get a better vantage point again.
