Page 66 of Wrangling Hearts
20
Beau
Funerals were godawful. Every single last bit of them, from the flowers to the tearful eulogies to watching the casket drop. It all just fuckingsucked.
The sky was too blue, the sun too bright, and the breeze was too soft. There were even birds chirping. It felt wrong, like the world hadn’t caught up with the fact that Charlotte Hayes was no longer in it. Or maybe it was Charlotte herself, reminding us all, especially her children, that everything would be alright and there were better days ahead.
We all stood gathered, dressed in our finest black, as we laid Charlotte to rest next to Ben. Claire’s head was on my shoulder, her hand gripping mine so tight I couldn’t feel it anymore. She clung to me like I was a life preserver and she was lost at sea. And despite my own mixed feelings being here brought up, I had to stay afloat for her, for both of us.
I looked around, seeing all of my siblings and Claire’s. Everyone but one person.
Weston.
I had no clue where he was or what he was doing. All I knew was he better have one hell of an explanation when I saw him next.
Savannah was next to me, looking stoic, but I saw right through it. Her swollen, bloodshot eyes and the way she kept tensing her jaw gave her away; she was crumbling. Delilah was holding Savannah’s hand in one hand and Tess’s in the other, sniffling. The youngest Hayes was silently crying, while Luke clung to her leg, looking lost. Emmett stood behind the four of them like a silent wall of support, his face grim yet controlled.
After the final prayer, everyone left the gravesite one by one, until all that was left was Claire and me. “I don’t want to leave her,” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“We’ll stay however long you want, baby.”
Her chin quivered as she stared at the hole in the ground. “Then we’d just stay here forever,” she said. “And that’s not a life, not one she’d want me to live.” She let out a heavy breath, took a step back from the gravesite, and looked up at me, eyes teary. “Let’s go.”
I wiped a tear off her cheek. “You sure?”
She nodded. “I am. Let’s go,” she said again, and pulled me along with her.
I gave one last glance to Charlotte—and to Ben—and silently promised:I’ll take care of her, all of them. Always.
We went over to our siblings, who were standing together under a nearby tree, talking. They gave us tight-lipped smiles as we approached. Anna hugged Claire long and hard.
“This is the first time we’ve all been together in almost twenty years,” Colt said. “I hate it was under these circumstances, though.”
“Not all of us,” Savannah, of all people, said.
“Has anyone heard from him?” Delilah asked.
“Just that he couldn’t make it,” Emmett replied. “Told me to extend his condolences to everyone.”
“Not like Weston to do something like that,” Anna said as Joseph wrapped an arm around her. “I hope everything’s okay.”
“Bull riders don’t like to stick around when things get hard, that’s all,” Savannah snapped. I gave Claire a sideways look.
Colt cleared his throat awkwardly. “So anyway…the merger.”
“Don’t think now’s the best time for that,” I said, shooting him a glare.
“I know, but…the majority of us are all here.” He waved a hand towards Tess, who shifted towards Emmett. “Even the long-lost baby Hayes. I just thought now would be an okay time to pick a name.”
“A name for what?” Delilah asked.
“The ranch,” he replied. “The new, combined one. We can’t keep calling it Golden Bridle Circle M Ranch.”
“That is a mouthful,” Claire said. She looked at the ground, her bottom lip between her teeth. “Bridle M?”
“What about Golden M?” Emmett suggested.
“That’s a little too McLeod worshipy,” Delilah said, and then looked at my siblings and me. “No offense, guys.”
