Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Actually, she’s going to stay with me.”
I looked at him in surprise.
“She was going to stay there,” he went on quickly, his tone slightly defensive, “but that place is a wreck. I don’t think she realizes how bad it is. We’ve got plenty of room, and she said her son is really excited about visiting a farm.”
“Well, there you go, you can finally bang her,” I joked.
He rolled his eyes. “Fuck off, asshole. I’m just doing something nice for an old friend.”
I decided to lay off him, since he was obviously under a lot of stress right now—but I remembered the way he’d looked at Maddie Blake in high school, even if he’d never admitted how he really felt about her. “She’ll be here in a few weeks, you said?”
“Yes, as soon as Elliott is out of school for the summer. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from her.”
I sipped my beer. “You do have a lot going on.”
“Tell me about it. I’m gonna wake up with white hair one of these mornings, just like my dad.”
“My advice is to get a fake wife and have lots of sex. It’s excellent stress relief.”
He laughed. “A wife is the last thing I need, fake or otherwise. I’ve got enough people to take care of right now, not to mention a herd of cattle, some goats, chickens, horses, a dog—”
“Okay, okay.” I held up one hand in surrender. “You win. No wife. How about I buy the next round?”
Beckett nodded and finished off his beer. “Sold.”
Later that night, when Bianca and I were curled up in bed after a round of target practice—I made sure to call it that—I thought about Beckett again. “Hey, if I ever lose my mind and start wandering around town babbling nonsense, don’t let our kid feel responsible. Put me in a home or something. Just make sure they have good food.”
Bianca picked her head up off my chest. “What?”
“Beckett’s dad has dementia, and Beckett has to deal with it.” I told her about Mr. Weaver’s erratic behavior, and how Beckett was struggling to keep him safe while running the ranch on his own.
“Poor Beckett,” Bianca said, laying her head down again. Her bare legs were twined with mine, and she was playing with the hair on my chest.
“Yeah, I feel bad for him.”
“When did his mom die?”
“She didn’t die—that I know of, anyway. She just took off when Beck was really young. He never talked about it.”
“Poor thing. Does he have siblings?”
“He has two older sisters, Mallory and Amy. But they don’t live close enough to help out every day.”
“Does Beckett ever date?”
“I think he had a girlfriend for a while in New York, but since he moved back here, there hasn’t been anyone serious. He’s always so busy with the ranch, and now with his dad.” I played with her hair, letting soft auburn strands slide through my fingers. “In high school, he was always hung up on this one girl—Maddie Blake. Not that he’d ever admit to it.”
“Yeah?”
“She lived across the road from the ranch and they had classes together, so she hung around his house a lot, although he claims they only did homework.”
Bianca snorted. “Which you cannot imagine doing, if you were alone with a girl in high school.”
“Precisely.” I tugged a lock of her hair. “ But actually, I believe him. She had a boyfriend, and Beckett was not the kind of guy to go after someone else’s girlfriend.”
“What was he like back then?”
“Pretty much the same as he is now. A workaholic. Crazy smart. An awesome athlete. Busy all the time. When he wasn’t at school or practice, he was working. He used to get up at fucking five a.m. and milk cows before coming to school.”
“He never had a girlfriend?”
“Not really. I think he was always hung up on that Maddie girl.”
“And he never told her?”
“Nope. Not his style.”
“What was she like?”
“She was nice. Pretty, but not in a super showy way. Kind of quiet.” I thought back. “Everyone liked her, but she only dated losers—I never understood it.”
Bianca sighed. “You never know what’s going on in someone’s head.”
“I guess. Anyway, Beckett said she eventually married a loser and had a kid with him. But she’s divorced now, and she’d coming back here in a couple weeks to sell the house she grew up in.” I told her that Beckett had asked me to give an estimate on some improvements, and I’d agreed to give her a good price.
“Aww. Of course you did.” She kissed my chest. “You’re a good friend.”
“Beckett’s a good guy.”
Bianca was silent a moment. “Hard to believe a mom could just abandon their child like his mother did, but . . . I guess it happens.”
“Yeah.”
“As intense as our parents can be, we’re lucky we grew up the way we did.”