Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“I think you might be right.”
DEV’S EPILOGUE
I’d heard about Final Night for months. It was a Majestic tradition, and so far, just being here for it had made me feel like a true local.
But as I made my way through the crowd on Poke Street, I was half-inclined to head back to the ranch and call it a night despite enjoying myself. Seeing the Fletcher family’s reaction to Sheridan’s announcement was bittersweet. There had been times in the past year when I’d envied their close family dynamic, but other times, like tonight, it had made me uncomfortable. They weren’t my family—not that I had much of one anymore—and seeing them together sometimes reminded me of my loss.
Majestic, Wyoming, had been my home now for almost a year. When I’d arrived to help with roundup, I’d never expected to stay for long, but the wide-open space, the scent of horse and hay, and the utter lack of anyone other than Silas who knew my sad story had made it a kind of unexpected sanctuary. So I’d bought some land and put down roots for the first time in years. After the last thaw, I’d broken ground on my first house, and now I rode Trigger over there nearly every day to oversee construction and bask in the natural beauty of the site.
For the most part, I had everything I’d ever wanted. A beautiful outdoor playground with never-ending trails to ride. A purpose in improving Fletcher Ranch’s horse breeding program and helping care for the herds. Good friends who reminded me to laugh and enjoy living in the present rather than stewing over the past. A billion dollars in the bank—a number that still terrified me sometimes but meant I’d never go back to my hardscrabble childhood. And soon enough, when construction was finished, I’d have a place on earth to call my very own.
As I watched Silas and Way’s happiness, though, I’d started to feel that maybe I didn’t have everything I wanted. The winter nights out here were long and cold, and I’d often wondered if they’d be better spent with a warm body and kind soul sharing my bed. While Majestic was a wonderful place to live, it wasn’t exactly brimming with what Way jokingly referred to as “casual encounters,” much less potential life partners.
Not that I had any interest in one of those anyway.
“Devon, get over here!” Way’s aunt Blake called from the nearby Love Muffin booth, where she was busy passing out her famous toffee bars and Bo’s new honey garlic chicken skewers. Big vats of lemonade weighed down a table behind her, and coolers full of ice were stacked underneath. My arms twinged at the reminder of the heavy lifting I’d helped her with earlier.
“Congratulations,” I said, offering her a smile after hearing Sheridan and Bo’s news. No one would spoil that baby more than Jolene Blake. “I just saw Sheridan and Bo.”
Her face lit up as she handed me a skewer. “Gonna have us a baby, Dev. Best be prepared, especially since Waylon is going to take a little warming up to the idea.”
That surprised me. Way seemed like the quintessential family man. “He doesn’t like kids?” I understood the aversion. Babies and I didn’t really get along, but it was mostly because I didn’t know what to do with them. As a single man mostly spending my time with other single men, I hadn’t spent much around them at all.
“It’s not that. He just doesn’t have experience. It’s okay. He’ll get over it real quick, don’t you worry.”
I nodded while thinking, Better him than me. I liked my life just the way it was. Being able to take a long trail ride whenever the mood hit, having the option of eating cereal for dinner five nights in a row, and barking out the word fuck when it was called for were all freedoms I wouldn’t have if I’d ever chosen to raise a kid.
No, thanks. Not for me. It was one of the best-known benefits of being a gay man. No one assumed kids were part of my life plan.
“I’m sure he’ll be a doting uncle,” I said politely before pulling a piece of chicken off the skewer with my teeth.
She gave me an assessing glance. “You’ll make a good father, too, one day.”
I nearly choked on the chicken. “No, thanks.”
“I can see it. Maybe now’s not the right time, but you find the right man, and it’ll happen.”
Jolene Blake was a force to be reckoned with. She’d decided early on to adopt me whether I liked it or not. Most of the time, I liked it fine. She brought me dinner, made sure I was included in family meals, and introduced me to various townsfolk. Her attention to me had started as an intense matchmaking scheme trying to connect me with her son Foster, and she was still hell-bent on getting the two of us together.