Page 24 of Carry Me Home
JACK
Seb
Killed anyone today yet?
Jack
Nah, but it’s only 10 a.m. Got the whole day ahead of me to rectify that.
Seb
You know you’re always welcome at Mercy River. Plenty of work for you to do here.
I was living the dream.
A horse beneath me and nothing but wide-open blue sky above me. The sweet smell of the Colorado mountains inspringtime. Birds chirping, bees buzzing, cows lowing. Men I respected by my side.
This had always been my plan. Join the military, have the adventure and purpose I craved, and—when the time was right—return home to Aspen Springs, settle down with a family, do cowboy shit at Lodestar Ranch. Now here I was, doing exactly that. Living the dream.Mydream.
I was bored out of my fucking mind.
I stared out at the valley. Hundreds of cows, doing cow shit. Eating, mostly. Occasionally wandering to another part of the pasture to eat some more.
Spring was calving season at Lodestar Ranch, which meant all hands on deck. Even Brax, who was employed by Lodestar as an attorney rather than a ranch hand, was here helping. Lodestar’s main business was breeding and training quarter horses, both for ranch work and showing, but they kept a small herd of cattle to train the horses and for beef, if there was a surplus. I also suspected there was more than a little nostalgia in the decision, as well. Lodestar Ranch had been in the Hale family for generations as a cattle operation before Ted Hale, who had been like a surrogate father to me, switched to horses.
Horses. Cattle. I wasn’t sure there was much of a difference in the mind-numbing sameness of it all, to be honest. I almost wished I was a cow. I’d still be in this damn field, but at least I’d be happy about it.
“Jack!” Adam’s voice cut through my thoughts with thinly veiled exasperation. “Did you hear me?”
Normally he reserved that tone for when his son, Ben, was testing his patience. He’d been even worse before James came along, but he was still a grumpy bastard. If Adam were a cow, he’d be the kind with horns. Ornery, like Maya said.
That tone would have had Ben hustling, but I—not being a twelve-year-old boy—took my time giving him my attention. It wasn’t like the cows were going anywhere.
“What’s your favorite dinosaur?” I asked him.
He stared at me like I really had turned into a cow. His jaw ticked, like he was physically clamping down his irritation at dealing with me. I wished he’d let it out. He’d never held back before. Now everyone tiptoed around me like I was one minor inconvenience away from a total mental breakdown, even the Hale brothers. I fucking hated it.
“Why the fuck are you asking me about dinosaurs?” he asked with strained patience.
“It’s a T-rex, isn’t it.”
“Brontosaurus, as a matter of fact.”
I was taken aback by how quickly he had an answer. “What’s that? Do they have horns?” I asked.
“Nah. They’re the long-necked ones. Traveled in herds.” Adam leaned on his pommel. “They remind me of horses.”
“Velociraptors are my favorite,” Brax said, steering his gelding over to join the conversation. “Clever girl.”
I knew what dinosaur he was talking about, thanks to the movie reference. All through middle school and high school—when Brax, Essie, and I had been an inseparable trio—we watched a movie together ever Friday night, and one of those nights had been a fullJurassic Parkmarathon. We still communicated through movie quotes to this day. It was like our own private language.
“Why are you smirking like that?” I asked. “It’s creepy.”
“Because I know you’re not going to like what I say next.”
“Then don’t say it.”
“Oh, but I’m going to.” His smirk widened into a shit-eating grin. “I like velociraptors because I’ve always had a thing for brats. Taming them is a particular hobby of mine.”
