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Cash sniffles.

My turn to stare.

“Yeah, I’m gonna miss your ass.” He lifts his shoulder and uses it to wipe his nose. “I’m also happy for you. Really fucking happy, Wy. Mom…you know she’s celebrating up in heaven, right? Just yelling at the top of her lungs,Fucking finally!”

I’m laughing and I’m crying, and so are all my brothers.Conversations about my parents have always made me feel a gut punch of grief. And the grief is still there. But I also feel…a little more at peace now than I did in the past. Like deep down, I know that while I might miss Mom like crazy, talking about her isn’t going to kill me.

The grief is not going to kill me.

“I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately.” I reach for my rope when a steer starts to stray from the herd. Drop my hand when he gets back in line on his own. “She and Dad had to make a lot of sacrifices. Not just for us, but for each other too. Dad inherited this huge ranch, and I’m not sure Mom ever pictured herself becoming a rancher too. But she did it because she loved him. He made it work because he loved her. And they were happy. At least Ithinkthey were happy, from what I remember anyway.”

Cash gets a faraway look in his eyes. “They were happy. Things weren’t perfect, obviously. But I feel like they were okay with the sacrifices they’d made.” He glances at me. “Just like you’re gonna be okay with yours.”

“You’re also not moving to the moon,” Sawyer adds.

Cash nods. “You can still be a part of things here. We’re gonna need a new foreman, but maybe we can come up with a new role for you. Strategic planning or some shit? I don’t know.”

Duke smiles. “Mollie is rubbing off on you. I like it.”

“She’s got a brain for business, that’s for damn sure.” Cash looks at me, his hat casting half his face in shadow. “And she’ll help us think of a way to keep you involved, Wyatt. Because I know you want to honor Mom and Dad’s legacy.”

I’m just shy of bawling. “I do want that, yeah.”

“We all do,” Duke says. “So it’s important we make our dreams for the ranch come true together. You being in New York won’t change that.”

“Do you promise not to call me a Yankee asshole?”

Duke thinks on this. “That is a promise I don’t feel comfortable making, no. You gotta give ussomethingto work with.”

“And you”—I glance at Sawyer—“will you fly up with Ella to visit us?”

He smiles. “Are you kidding? She’ll get a kick out of getting on an airplane to visit her uncle Wy.”

“I am her favorite.”

“No, you’re not.” Cash makes a face. “I am.”

Ryder points at us. “Wrong and very wrong. I’m the favorite.”

“If by favorite, you meanleastfavorite, then, yes, you’re correct,” Duke replies.

“Have you thought about what you’re gonna do up there?” Cash asks.

I slip my sunglasses on. “I have. I’ll figure out something. Don’t imagine they have operations like this one in upstate New York, but there’s bound to be work available for a country boy somewhere.”

Sawyer grins. “You could have some babies and raise ’em up. That’s always an option.”

“Y’all are really pushing this baby thing.”

“Ella needs cousins.” Sawyer looks at Cash. “You and Mollie makin’ any progress on that front?”

One side of Cash’s mouth kicks up. “We’re givin’ it a go.”

My heart twists. I’m gonna hate not being here for all of this. I know Sally will too.

But that just means we’ll be visiting Hartsville often. She loves my brothers as much as I do, and I know she’ll make every effort to be here for the big moments and the not-so-big ones too.

There are multiple major airports in Texas with multiple flights a day to and from New York. We’re going to make this work.