Page 3

Chapter three

Were I but a wheat seed

Mason

Blue runs his hand up his chin, ruffling his dark handlebar mustache.

I’m pretty sure he’s younger than me, but he has just a tinge of gray starting on the whiskers of his jaw.

We’ve both been doing this shit too long.

“I have to take this back and see if I can find who that brand is registered to. It’s hard to tell with the crossover. The state office has some tech guys who might be able to straighten it out.” His wide brimmed hat blocks his face as he looks down at his phone, flipping through his pictures.

“I’d appreciate it.” Stuck here just to find out I don’t have any answers is infuriating.

Sheriff Wade Rowland props his foot on the lower fence rail and watches the heifer in question laying next to the feeder.

She seems to have gotten used to us looking at her and gave up on her snorting and pawing.

“Mason, do you have men out with your other herds? Any signs of the missing animals?” The sheriff ducks his head to match Blue, but looks down at his notebook. “Forty is a helluva lot. I’ll let the livestock auction network know to watch for your brand. But, if they’re taken out of the area, it’ll be a lot harder.”

Blue nods. “Fuck, they could be in Mexico by now.”

Shit.

“Last time eyes were on this batch was two weeks before roundup. For all I know, they could be chilling in a freezer in Paris.” My words are sour enough, I punctuate them with a spit to the ground.

Eighty grand worth of cows, let alone the loss of their calves.

Gone.

My dad always said, there’s one truth with livestock. You can’t predict it.

I never saw this coming. It was a mild winter, and spring is acting pretty decent.

This was going to be a solid year if the pastures held.

“I’ll check with Ford. He has the radio to the guys in the field. But, as of this morning, there’s no sign.” Turning, I lean my back against the metal rails. That damned cow is the messenger. It isn’t that I’m angry at her, just that it’s the proof of just how fucked I am.

Sheriff Rowland tips his hat and holds out his palm to me. “I’m sorry, Mason. I’ll do what I can on my end. Let me know if anything turns up.”

As I’m shaking his hand, my pocket buzzes.

Whoever it is can wait.

“Thanks. I hope they just wandered off. I guess it’s a blessing and a curse this one escaped.” I extend my arm to Blue next.

There isn’t much more to be done, except wait.

“Sorry you had to work on a Saturday, but I do appreciate you coming out.” If I had my rathers, neither of them would have to be here, and I’d be in Missoula at a rodeo watching my daughter.

“Not a problem. This pisses me off.” Blue’s dark eyes tighten. “Rustling should still be a hangin’ offense in my opinion.” He turns up the collar on his faded tan Carhartt and climbs in his pickup.

The back of my jeans vibrates again.

Digging out my phone, it shows a wall of missed texts and calls, most from unknown numbers.

What the hell?

When I press play on the first voicemail, a man’s voice comes through. “This is Doctor Phillips at Missoula General. You’re listed as next of kin for one—” There’s a pause and I can hear papers ruffling. “—Sophia Mccullough. I need permission to treat. Please call me back at...” He rattles off a wall of numbers that I’m too numb to comprehend.

Sophia.

I knew I should have been there.

Fuck.

I’m pissed at myself when I have to run inside and listen to the message again so I can write the correct digits down.

Apparently my memory doesn’t work as well when one of my kids is in danger.

The secretary takes down my name and the fact that I’m giving permission, but she doesn’t tell me squat about what is going on.

What did I just allow?

“Ford? I gotta get to Missoula. Sophia’s hurt.” I run to my Dodge pickup and jump in before he even looks up.

He tilts his black cowboy hat up and I catch his gray eyes following me down the driveway in my rear view mirror.

I’ll tell him how the meeting went with the sheriff when I get back.

My little girl needs me.

Patience is not my virtue. When the admin clerk and her wide fake smile tried to make me wait in the foyer, it took everything in me not to start busting down doors.

“Please, just one moment, sir.” Her fingers dance over her keyboard.

I struggle to not reach across the counter and shake her like a jar of milk.

“She is in the OR. I need to get some insurance informa—”

“The fuck you do. I need to make sure she’s okay. Tell me where she is before I start tearing this place apart,” I growl.

Her demeanor drops. “I can call security.”

She makes me want to roar in frustration. “My daughter was rushed here from a rodeo. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but if you don’t get someone down here now to tell me, you better call the whole fucking SWAT team.”

A buzzer sounds to the left of me, and I glance up to see a portly older woman pushing through a heavy set of security doors.

“Are you Mr. Mccullough?” Her wrinkles on her forehead show more clearly as she raises her brows.

“Yes.” Ignoring the pain in the ass behind the desk, I stride over to the lady dressed in surgical scrubs.

“I’m Doctor Sivers, the orthopedic surgeon. We just finished on your daughter. She had a pretty bad break of her femur, and she has a couple of broken ribs, but she’s going to be fine.” Her palm faces me, like she’s trying to calm me.

This probably isn’t the first time she’s dealt with a cranky family member.

“ Thank you. ” I throw the words over my shoulder at the bitchy clerk. “When can I see her?” Looking past the doctor, the hallway is long and seems to lead to nowhere.

“She’s getting stitched up. I can take you to the recovery area. Please follow me.” She’s a head shorter than me and she shuffles as she walks, but her pace is hard to match as she cruises down the corridor that reeks heavily of disinfectant.

She gestures me into a room packed with monitors and tubes with a small industrial chair in the corner.

My boots smell like horse shit and my jacket has flecks of hay clinging to it.

I feel foreign in this sterile place.

It makes me wonder if I should even be in here in my present state.

All doubts disappear when the door opens and a heavy stretcher is wheeled in.

Sophia is in the center with her leg stretched out and hanging from some sort of trapeze.

She looks so tiny. Frail.

Her cheeks still have angry red marks from where they pulled the tape.

“Are you her father?” An anonymous nurse asks me from behind her mask.

I just nod, my broad brimmed hat eclipsing the bright lights of the room.

My throat feels like it’s clamped shut.

“How…how long will she be out?” It’s killing me not knowing. Was it something I could have trained out of that high headed mare of hers? A failure in her gear?

Dammit. She’s been asking me about a new cinch for a while.

Fuck. Did I do this?

There’s a hesitation in my hand when I reach out to touch her. Like I’m going to break her.

“The anesthesia should wear off in the next hour or so. She may be groggy. I’ll be right outside the door, so just hit the button when she wakes up.” The nurse pulls a white box from the wall and threads the cord into the rails of the bed. “Sometimes they’re nauseous afterwards. We don’t want her moving too much.” She leaves, letting the door fall quietly shut behind her.

Tossing my hat on the chair behind me, I bend over and place a gentle kiss on her forehead.

It’s like when she was four and had her appendix out.

This helpless feeling is so hard to handle. And her mom isn’t here this time to help.

What I wouldn’t give to have Carolyn here.

It takes close to two hours before she starts to stir.

The blissful sleep that kept her features soft and relaxed gives way to twinges of discomfort as she tries to shift beneath the bleached white blanket.

Her blue eyes flutter open and wildly search the room before they land on me.

I haven’t moved since she came in. I’ve just been hovering patiently for her to awaken.

“Dad?” Her elbows dig down and she tries to prop herself up, but with a grimace, she wraps her arm around her chest and lies down. “Where am I?”

“Easy, honey. Don’t move.” My palm finds her hand with the IV taped to her knuckles. “You got hurt and had to have surgery.”

Her dark hair spreads on her pillow as she falls back, wrapping her hand over her chest. “Oh, crap. Yea, I remember.” Her jaw drops. “Dad! I was going faster than I’ve ever gone. I knew I was going to break a record. And, then—” Her free arm flies up and she covers her face. “I cut too tight. You warned me. Last thing I remember is Misty flying over me…” Her voice is croaky. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t even sure what happened to you.” The last time I was this scared was the night of the accident.

When I lost my wife.

“Dad, she’s still there. If she’s hurt—” Sophia struggles to sit up again and her lower lip begins to tremble.

“I’ll take care of it. You were my priority.” After pushing her sweaty hair off her forehead, I’m able to finally sit down for the first time in hours. “She’ll be brought home today. I’ll send Ford up after her.”

Shit, I nearly forgot.

After I hit the button next to her hand, it isn’t long before the nurse comes in and runs through a series of questions for her.

“How soon can I go home?” Sophia interrupts her.

The nurse glances at me then back to my daughter. “If everything goes smoothly, probably within a few days.”

Sophia wrinkles her nose and her lips thin. “When do you think I can walk again?”

“The doctor will be able to go more in depth with you on that.” Fidgeting with her mask, she turns to me. “One of the coordinators will meet with you tomorrow to plan home care options.”

Reality starts to set it. She could be weeks, or even months, in recovery after this.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I say softly as she steps out.

Sophia stares at the ceiling, biting her cheek as tears well in her eyes. “I was so close, Dad.” Her hand floats in the air and her fingers pinch into a tiny gap. “This much. Just a hair cost me the championship.”

“Yea. And the opposite direction coulda been worse. I’m just glad you’re here.” A sigh escapes me and I lean back in the stiff chair. “Your mom would say things happen for a reason.”

Three days and she’s going stir crazy. I can see it in her face the moment I push the door to her room open.

“Dad! Please, you gotta get me out of here.” She’s sitting up and winces as she twists.

Her hand reflexively clutches her ribs.

“Whoa. What’s got you up in the bit this morning?” She’s as wild eyed as a green-broke colt.

Groaning, she leans back gingerly, her palm still pressing into her side. “Cash said he’s here to see me. I told him not to. He’s at the nurse’s station.”

A flare of anger runs through me. “Is this that boy you said had a hard time taking ‘no’ for an answer?”

She squints and looks away. “Well, yes and no. I mean, I didn’t just tell him off, I kinda, um. Gave him parameters, but now he’s trying to meet them.”

I can feel my forehead furrow in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“Barbie rejected him last year, and he made her life hell. I just thought if I didn’t really turn him down, just kinda strung him along, he’d get bored.” Her eyes look everywhere but at me.

He’s irritating me, and I don’t even know the boy. “How did he harass that girl?” There’s no way I’ll let him mess with Sophia.

“Just making up rumors and stuff. He found a video online of a girl in a porn video that kinda looked like her and told everyone it was her. He’s just a jerk.” Her cheeks flush with red. “I know he won’t come out to the ranch. I just want him to go away.”

Sometimes, this new world pisses me off.

But, maybe I’m just old school. I’ll unleash a medieval style ass whooping on his if he fucks with my daughter, though.

“You don’t have to worry about him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t come in here. I don’t mind being the bad guy.” Over my dead body will I let him anywhere near my little girl.

“Thank you, Dad.” Her features relax and her heart monitor slows its rhythm.

“I’ll be back in a few.” Dimming the light over her bed, I head out to the nurse’s station.

I’d rather cut him off at the pass before he gets close.

He’s a lanky one, no older than Sophia. Holding a grimy hat in his hands, he’s grinning at one of the younger techs behind the desk.

“Cash?” I try to keep my voice neutral. The last thing I want is him causing undue stress on Sophia.

“Yes, sir.” He stands straight, almost as tall as me.

I hold out my hand to offer to shake. I can tell a lot about a man by how firm his grip is.

Cash’s is soft, weak in the wrist. But, he’s also thin as a rail. His belt looks like he had to make holes to get it tighter around his waist.

“I’m Sophia’s father. I’m afraid I’m limiting all visitors. Thank you for coming, I’ll pass on that you stopped by.” It’s hard to stay calm when I know he’s making her uncomfortable.

His smile drops. “Oh. I was hoping to at least say ‘hi’?” He glances past me down the hall.

“I appreciate that. But, she’s been through a lot, and I’d like her to rest.” Fuck, it’s hard not to let my irritation come through.

He drifts his palm to his head, flattening his dirty blond hair over his forehead. “I understand. I’ll text her.” With a dejected look, he turns towards the elevators.

Cash acts like I took away his birthday, leaving without meeting my gaze.

Sophia is watching the door when I enter her room, peeking between the rails of her bed. “Is—” She doesn’t finish, just stares behind me as if to make sure I wasn’t followed.

“He left.” At least it lets me feel like I’m doing something to help.

Her suspended leg sways as she flops back. “Whew! I still want to go home though.”

“I get it. I’ve been trying to find one of those agencies who have someone to come to the house. That’s the last step to getting you out of here.” She’s completely bedridden, and will need a lot of direct care.

I don’t think I’m qualified.

“I think I have an idea.” She’s been busy this morning brainstorming, it seems.

“I’m all ears.” I’ve been trying to figure out how this is going to work. As much as I’d do anything for her, she’s a bit different now than when she was a baby in diapers.

I’m not quite the right person for that job anymore.

“My best friend, Lori. She’s almost done with her physical therapy degree, and she needs some extra money. Would you be able to pay her?” Her blue eyes look up at me with a hopeful expression.

I can’t turn her down.