Best Friends Forever

“I can’t wait to try to find a way to work that into the conversation, but in the meantime, if your visitor was to come back to look after you, maybe Mrs. Claire wouldn’t feel the need to dote on your twenty-four-seven? Hmmmmm?”

“You absolutely suck at trying to be slick about these things. I’m afraid Meredith must not have taken too big a shine to this place. She headed back to Chicago this morning.” I chugged the last of my water and dropped the bottle back into the cooler, then wiped my face with my bandana. The foreman stood staring at me, open-mouthed.

“Wait a minute… Chicago. That was Meredith Forbes? Old Daniel’s little girl?”

I nodded, confused. Remy looked around at the crewmembers then lowered his voice. “You know he’s going to beat the skin off your bones with a horsewhip if he finds out she stayed out here! What were you thinking?!”

“First off, she’s a grown woman. Her daddy doesn’t go around kicking the crap outta boys who get sweet on her,” I answered, laughing at the older man’s worry. Then I narrowed my eyes, staring Remy down and pinning him back with a warning glare. “And sadly, she won’t be back anytime soon, or at least not that she told me. The only way this would get back to Daniel was if somebody decided to make it the talk of the town.”

“Well now, you know that wouldn’t be me. And I know it wouldn’t escape outta Mrs. Claire, she only told me because we both work for you. But boss… what about you?”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at,” I stammered, looking away.

“Don’t try that with me, boy… I mean, boss!” he said, punching me lightly in the shoulder. “I’ve worked here since your grandfather ran the place, he gave me a job when I just twelve years old. I worked here all through the years your daddy ran this ranch, and I used to see how you’d follow her around, pretending to tease her or pull her hair or pull some prank on her with that brother of hers. You sure paid a whole lotta mind to that little girl all those years for someone who doesn’t know what I’m getting at.”

I didn’t respond, but his assessment of it all brought a little smile to my face. I’d always cared about Meredith, but it’s just because I always thought she’d be around. It never once crossed my mind that she’d up and leave Texas, turning her back on all this. I came home from the war and found out that she was not only gone… she’d been gone.

“Well, even if you’re right, there’s not much I can do about it now. She’s got her whole life out there, while I’m down here. It hurts some, but it can’t be helped.” I kicked at a rock with the toe of my boot, watching it roll away sadly. That’s why I never saw Remy raise his hand, draw back his arm, and swing at me with his rolled up hat.

“Hey! What the heck, old man? What was that for?” I asked, bending over to pick up my hat where he’d knocked it off my head.

“Don’t be a fool! That girl’s been gone for less than a day, and you’re pining like some guy stole your girl! Go after her, boss!”

“Look, this isn’t the movies. The dumb cowboy just doesn’t ride up and sweep the city girl off her feet. It doesn’t work that way.” I looked away, aware that a few of the guys were watching us after hearing Remy’s outburst.

“First off, you’re not a ‘dumb cowboy’ and she’s only playing at ‘city girl.’ She’s every bit as Texas as you are! Now go get her.” Remy stared back at me with the wisest expression I’d ever seen, and had me just about convinced. Could I really do such a thing? Just take off and go after her?

Why not, I thought. It’s not like I don’t have twenty different ways to get to Chicago…

“I can’t walk away at this point in the project,” I tried feebly, gesturing to the crates and exposed equipment. “If we don’t get it installed, the solar farm…”

“Boss… Colton…” he said, and I stopped dead at the sound of my real name.

Remy had stopped calling me by my name the day my dad died, and no matter how many times I’d tried to get him to stop elevating me to “boss man,” he’d refused, saying it wasn’t his place. Now, when it mattered to him most, it was like being pulled back to my childhood, to every single time the old foreman had helped me rope a calf, shoe a horse, and hoist a bale of hay onto my shoulder. It was more like coming home than anything else had felt in a long time.

“Colton, this project isn’t going anywhere. The sun’s been up there for billions of years, it’ll stay put for another few days, I promise. Now get in the house, get showered up, and go after that girl. I got things under control here.” He planted his hands on his hips and looked at me as if daring me to argue with him.

I paused, feeling almost hopeful for a second. That thought evaporated just as quickly as it had come on. “What if she doesn’t want to see me? Maybe she only remembers the boy who pulled her pigtails and put salt in her lemonade.”

“Then you’ll have your work cut out for you trying to convince her that you’ve grown up as much as she has. And who knows, maybe this is the dumbest idea we’ve ever had between us? She could slam the door in your face and send you right back to the farm you rolled off of. But that way, at least you’ll know. You won’t spend the rest of your life wondering if it could happened for you two, not the way I’ve had to do.”

I stared at him, sensing that there was more to this story. Remy looked away, then continued speaking in a soft, far away voice.

“I done made that mistake myself, boss. I’ve loved Mrs. Claire since we were both young. And I never did speak up about it. There was a time or two that I thought maybe she was waiting for me to say something, that maybe she felt the same way. But I never mustered the courage, and I gotta admit, it was always this ranch that was my excuse. I didn’t have time for young ladies, not when there was work to be done. Even in the dead of winter when there were no crops to fuss with and the bulk of the herd had already been trucked off to market for the year, I always found an excuse to be too busy. I guess one day she decided I was never gonna make time for her, because next thing I know, she’s marrying Jimmy Claire. And I’d missed my chance.”

He looked back at me and put a hand on my shoulder, another gesture that he’d done away with ever since I’d stepped in as the owner of the ranch. He looked me square in the eye.

“Don’t let this slip by. It was no accident that she showed up for an interview. She could have told that fancy magazine that she couldn’t do it, that she knew you too well. But she didn’t. She also could have hopped on a plane, flown down here, had it all said and done and wrapped up in an hour. But she didn’t do that either. I think there’s a part of her—and maybe she didn’t even know it—that just wanted to come home for a while. Help her find her way home, boss.”

Remy stepped back and turned away, then held two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.

“Break’s over!” he called, and shuffled off to get the crew back to work. I watched him go, realizing once again how this ranch was in good hands with him around, then raced back towards the house to get ready.

Chapter 12

Meredith

Rain, wine, and a trip down memory lane don’t mix, I decided, after my second glass. I’d spent the afternoon going through the pictures of Colt’s house, the barn, and the rest of the ranch. They were damn good, too good to be wasted in a magazine that only rich people and archit