Page 10 of 11 Cowboys

I flick ash over the side. “Add it to your endless to-do list?”

“Nah,” he says. “Not endless. Just... always changing.”

We sit there for a moment, watching the hills drink the last of the light.

I glance at him sideways. He’s got his hat off, fingers running through that shaggy brown hair like he forgot I could be watching. His brows are drawn into a serious V as though he has something to say, but he doesn’t know if he should.

“Dinner wasn’t what I expected,” I say.

He nods. “You thought we’d be weirder?”

“I thought you’d all be shirtless and gruff.”

He laughs, loud and warm. “Stick around. Mornings in the barn get close.”

I roll my eyes but don’t fight the smile.

He studies me for a beat. “You did good tonight.”

“Good?” I echo.

“With the chaos. With the kids. With this place.” He spreads his arms wide like he can encompass everything in the embrace of a single man.

I snort. “I panicked and asked for a group proposal.”

“Yeah,” he grins. “That was somethin’. But I liked it.”

I shake my head and stub out the cigarette. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“Maybe not now, but you will.”

He says it like a promise rather than a sales pitch.

“I should have sent someone else.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

Our eyes lock and remain glued for longer than they should with a stranger, like he’s challenging and assessing me.

“Why?”

“I think you can do our situation justice.”

It’s a compliment I wasn’t expecting.

He steps away. “Night, Grace.”

When he’s gone, I lean back and let the silence settle again.

It still feels like it’s pressing down on me, but not quite so hard.

4

GRACE

I wake to the sound of a rooster crowing.

Likean actualrooster. Not a ringtone or some ironic farm noise alarm clock. A live, feathered demon screaming outside my window at six in the morning.