Page 37 of Head Room

Shadow gave mea dirty look as I closed the front door with him inside — not a dirty look for leaving him, since we both knew the Undlins would have him back over there before I was off the block, but because my leaving without waiting for Tom to come to the door meant Shadow didn’t get to say hello to him.

“Sorry, bud.I’m keeping him all to myself for these few minutes.”

We would pick up Tamantha next from the library, where she was attending a program, and then go for dinner at Hamburger Heaven.It was the best we could do for together time.

Tom usually worked sunrise to sunset on the Circle B, including these long days of June.With the wedding rolling toward us, he was adding in dawn and dusk hours.Both to leave the least amount to be done and to pre-pay favors.

Neighbors and friends would fill in the daily tasks for our multi-day wedding gathering, plus a few days after for our mini-honeymoon.The real thing would wait until the lull between taking cattle to market and calving season.

Tamantha’s dance card stayed packed all the time, even before her involvement with my mom and the wedding.

She was going to play an unusual double role in the wedding.

We’d asked her if she’d rather be Tom’s best man or my maid of honor.

She said both.

We looked at each other and decided in that moment to make it work.

We asked Mike and Diana to join the wedding party and were touched by how touched they were.

My assigned wedding tasks took the form of a lengthy checklist with boldfaced deadlines.Most involved preparing myself, my clothing, and my house to look our best.

I slid into the passenger seat of Tom’s truck and leaned across to kiss him.“Hi.”

He cooperated with the kiss, but we kept it short.Didn’t want to delay the Undlins getting Shadow while they waited for us to leave.

As Tom backed the truck out of the drive, he said, “Hear you got something going.”

He didn’t mean wedding plans.

Should have guessed word would have reached him already.“Let me guess.You know Colonel Crawford.”

“Never met him.Know Sergeant Frank Jardos.”

That caught my attention on a few levels.“Know, not knew?”

“Don’t read anything into that more than not wanting to let a good man go too soon.”

I considered that for a beat.“Tom, what do you know about the vets Frank Jardos helped, the ones living off the grid?”

“Know they’re not hurting anybody.Rarely see them.Never a problem.Respect the land, don’t bother the livestock, stick to the hunting laws.”

“Are they on your land?”

“Our land,” he said with a slight smile.

We’d agreed months ago that the ranch and highway construction business would remain in his name and go to Tamantha if something happened to him, with me as guardian if needed.My house and investments would remain in my name and go to him or Tamantha, depending on if and when something happened to me.

James Longbaugh, a lawyer in town and Tom’s friend, drew up the papers for us, so that was all set.

But short of those unwanted eventualities, the houses, the ranch, the life would beours.

“They were for a while.Wouldn’t have bothered me if they wanted to stay.But they’re looking for a patch of land to be theirs permanent.”

In the pause that followed, I saw his slight grimace, a habitual combination of acceptance and acknowledgment that things could’ve been easier if not for...People, mostly.Nature, sometimes.

He said, “If Mrs.Parens had inherited Teague’s place instead of the museum—”