Page 59 of Cabins Cows Critics
“Do you want to leave?”
What?
He stares at me, one eyebrow cocked as he waits for my reply. “Well, do you?” he asks.
“No.”
He slaps a hand down on the table.
“Good. Then that’s it. We should get back. We left Denver and Preston holding down the fort, and this storm is headed that way. I’ll give Pres a call to start sending everyone home, don’t want them stuck on the roads in a blizzard.”
Nial pushes up from the table just as the waitress arrives with my burger and fries in a takeaway bag. Nial grabs the bag and opens it, pulling out a fry.
“Seems like you’re all set here,” she says, handing me my change. “Get home safe.”
Sally-May nods.
“We will, Dolly, and thanks again for the call.”
“What call?” I ask, and Dolly winks at me in reply and leaves.
“You don’t worry about that. Come on, time to get you home.”
Skye grabs my jeans from the chair.
“I’ve got this stuff. Come on, let’s go.”
I climb from the booth still completely in awe of the fact that they all came after me. Like all of them. They have a ranch full of guests, and they all drove through a literal snowstorm to find me and bring me home.
“Hey, Con,” Dean says as I follow Atlas and Nial to the door.
“Yeah?”
“You don’t owe us anything. We’re a family, all of us.”
“I’m starting to see what that really means,” I reply, and he loops his arm over my shoulder as we walk out together.
“Now, how about we see if we can get you back in time to salvage this date?”
“I reckon I’ve probably messed that all up, too,” I say, but Perry shakes his head, holding the door open for us as the cold air whips past. He’s wearing the same smile he gave me the first night I showed up here, lost in so many ways. But these people helped me find where I belong. They took me in, made me family, and I shouldn’t have been so worried about what they would say if they knew where I came from. They knew who I was all along. It’s the man I was that doesn’t exist anymore.
“He’s a good kid. He’ll understand,” Perry says as we pass, and as we drive back slowly through the snow, all piled into Preston’s van, I wonder, how the hell did I get so lucky to find a family as great as this?
I guess if I really am the only heir to my former family’s business, I could use the money to keep the Beaker Brothers going. To help more animals, expand the cuddle cove. Maybe this doesn’t have to be the scary thing I’ve been imagining. But if I am going to come out to the world, I should probably reveal who I really am to Hayden first. He deserves to know the truth, and I want him to hear it from me. That is, if he even lets me try to explain after standing him up.
***
We basically followed the storm all the way back, and the snow had reduced to an average sprinkling by the time I finished filling in the family about everything. Who I was, why I ran in the first place, and why I felt I had to run again. When I told them that if I were the heir, I wanted to do what I could forthis place, both Dean and Nial protested at first, saying it was their job to make this place run, and they’d figure something out. Perry reminded them that it was all of our jobs to keep our home going, and they agreed we’d discuss it more when or if it becomes a thing. The only thing they all agreed on was that I was not allowed to run again. I can honestly say, I never want to leave this place ever again.
I knock on Hayden’s cabin door and wait. Preston sent all the guests back to their cabins, and the visitors all headed home, with a promise of a make-up session as soon as we got a clearer night.
“You’re about two hours late,” he says, answering the door in fluffy cow pajamas.
“Umm, where did you get those?” I ask, and he blushes and hides half his body behind the door.
“Wen’s early Christmas present. She thought I might like cheering up after…”
“Yeah. So, look, I know I have a lot of explaining to do, and you can totally tell me to fuck off, and I’ll go. I’ll leave and—“
