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SHANE

“Looks like one of the worst storms we’ve had in years.” My cousin Levi’s voice cracked over the two-way radio. “Can you go check on the fencing near the western range?”

“Already on my way.” It was all I said before taking off in one of the UTVs we had stowed away inside a barn.

The plan was to wait out the storm and then check on the property, the usual M.O.

for situations like this. Although, this storm had seemed much worse than we’d expected, the winds picking up much faster than before.

At one point, I’d been worried about the animals in their barns, fearing that we’d either have to turn them loose or evacuate them to higher ground.

Thankfully, none of the barns had taken too much damage. But that didn’t mean the rest of the property had been spared.

As I drove across the ranch, I watched the sky above.

There was some leftover cloud cover, and the wind was still sharp.

I didn’t want to end up stuck somewhere with nowhere to hide out, just in case the storm doubled back for us.

I brought my attention back to the path in front of me, just as I made my way over a hill?—

What is that?

There was a solitary horse I didn’t recognize. It looked nervous, maybe confused, standing next to a twisted tree, obviously damaged in the storm. There was a saddle on its back?—

A saddle?

A rider?

A missing rider. I parked the UTV and quickly went to work, looking for the missing rider. The horse calmed down as I approached, and I tried to make out its previous tracks in the mud. I followed a shaky lead down to a lake on the property, keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of struggle.

And there he was, face down by the lakeshore.

My breath caught in my throat as I approached him.

I’d never seen a dead body before, and hadn’t exactly prepared to see one today, either.

My hands went for his shoulders and I turned him onto his side, letting him rest on his back.

The man’s face was matted with blood and mud, his features unrecognizable in the moment.

I carefully wiped away at his skin, just enough to make out his eyes and nose, just enough to check if he was breathing?—

Calder?

My breath caught in my throat again, but this time for a different reason.

I recognized this man. Calder was a cowboy I’d seen around town here and there.

He’d even worked at Stratton Ranch a few times, picking up seasonal gigs when he could.

We’d never spoken much, mostly exchanged nods and polite hellos and goodbyes.

Still, I knew him. And I remembered pretty much everything that I’d learned about him over the years.

It was embarrassing but the first time I’d come across him, I’d thought he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in a cowboy hat.

But I also knew that Calder was straight. Which meant it didn’t matter how handsome I thought he was, it was a dead-end crush.

I took a steadying breath as I reached for his neck, my fingers searching for a pulse.

It seemed cruel that I was the one who found him like this, going from appreciating his every smile to desperately wondering if he’d ever smile again.

I somehow managed to keep myself calm as my fingers shifted to his wrists, searching for a pulse there too?—

“Shit!” I suddenly jumped away from him, as he sat up with a loud cough. The coughing continued as he brought a hand to his chest.

“Are you okay?” I scrambled back towards him. “It looks like you were maybe knocked off your horse during the storm?—”

“She’s gonna kill me…”

“What?”

“She’s gonna kill me…” he repeated, his eyes looking past mine. “Whoever she is.”

“You’re not making a lot of sense right now, Calder. I’m pretty sure something happened to your head.” I grimaced before busting out the two-way radio.

“Hey, Levi. I found someone. Near the lake area. Possible head injury.”

“Got it. I’ll be right over.” Levi’s response was short and to the point.

I looked back over at Calder then. “Do you remember anything? About the accident?”

“Accident?”

“How you got to the lake? You were facedown when I found you,” I continued. “Your horse is fine, by the way. They’re just a little ways up.”

“My horse. Right. Sure.”

“You don’t remember being on a horse?”

Calder shook his head, his eyes wide. “I… don’t remember anything.”

“Short term memory loss,” I murmured, while shifting closer to him. “It’s going to be all right. That just means you hit your head extra hard. But we can help.”

“What’s your… who are you?”

“I’m Shane. Shane Stratton,” I replied. “We’ve worked together before, at Stratton Ranch. We weren’t super close or anything, so you might not remember me. I mean, even if you had all your memory working right now.”

“And you said my name is… Calder?”

“Yep. It’ll all come back to you. Don’t worry.”

“Calder…” he repeated to himself, under his breath. “Calder…”

And then, without another word, he slipped back into unconsciousness, his body slumping against the wet ground.

“Calder?” Levi said, as he stood next to Calder on the couch.

We’d brought him into the main house, carefully moving his body indoors.

Levi was cool and collected during the whole thing, which was expected.

It probably helped that he ran an emergency rescue company, Big Sky Rescue.

He was used to helping people like Calder, still unconscious, still covered in mud.

“He’s been on the ranch a few times,” I replied, my eyes watching Calder for any sign of wakefulness. “Seasonal work mostly.”

“Hmm.” Levi hummed before he searched Calder’s pockets. He pulled away from him, disappointed. “No wallet there. Did you already search his saddlebag? I put it on the living room table.”

“Not yet.” I hastily made my way towards the living room table, jumping into action.

I gingerly dumped its contents onto the table, but there wasn’t a wallet anywhere to be found.

The only thing of note was an oilskin pouch that had quietly plopped onto the wooden table.

I opened the pouch, slipping out the only thing that was inside: a worn photo of a woman with her arms draped around Calder’s shoulders.

I brought the photo back to Levi. He hummed again as he took it between his fingers. “This was the only thing he had on him? Really?”

“Pretty much.”

“But you recognized him from the ranch?” Levi’s eyes met mine. “Do you know if he has a wife or girlfriend?”

“I think it’s safe to assume that he’s straight, so sure.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s safe to assume anyone’s straight these days.” Levi playfully winked in my direction. “But we should probably see if we can figure out who she is? She might live in town for all we know?—”

“Safe to assume who lives in town?” my uncle, Joseph Stratton, stepped into the room, his usual scowl in place. He stopped a few feet away from Calder on the couch. “Who is this? What trouble have you two brought to my door?”

“No trouble here, Dad.” Levi waved his hand. “Just someone we found put out during the storm. It looks like he hit his head. Probably fell off his horse.”

Joseph shot Levi a withering look. “Then take him to a hospital. We don’t need the scandal of a random cowboy dying in our home.”

“Can’t we use one of the doctors here instead?” I pressed. “Please? I can already tell that he’s having memory problems, and if we move him again—I’m just worried?—”

“Fine.” Joseph turned his growing ire towards me. “But if the doctor recommends we move him to the hospital, that’ll be it. No further discussion.”

Joseph left the room, not sparing either of us another glance.

A few moments later, one of Joseph’s private doctors came to greet us.

Joseph was generally a healthy man, but he was getting older, and as the patriarch of the family he always liked to play his cards close to the chest. We didn’t suspect he had any health issues, but we honestly would’ve never known if he did.

It was one of his ways of maintaining control of the ranch, by keeping us in the dark. Still, I was grateful that he was sparing someone from his personal staff for the sake of Calder.

A woman with a bright smile greeted us before walking over to him on the couch.

She checked his heartbeat, his temperature, and shone a light in his eyes.

She then spent a few minutes just observing him, like she was waiting on something to be revealed.

When she was finished, she came back over to us, her expression neutral.

“Pupil reflexes are good. So, possibly no brain damage,” she continued. “I’m guessing he has a concussion. Joseph said he fell off his horse?”

“We think so, yeah.”

“Okay. In that case, unless one of you wants to play babysitter for the next few days, the hospital should be able to watch him?—”

“I can play babysitter,” I casually volunteered, my hand already up in the air. “I mean, I don’t mind watching him, if he needs to be watched.”

“Good.” The doctor nodded before jotting her number down on a piece of paper. “Here’s my number. If anything changes, if he doesn’t wake up sooner rather than later, just let me know. We can handle things discreetly, the way Mr. Stratton prefers.”

As the doctor left the room, Levi quirked his eyebrows in my direction.

“What? What is it?”

“You’re going to play babysitter?”

“What about it?”

“For a guy you barely know?”

“He needs someone to look after him, Levi?—”

“And you really wanted it to be you?”

“I’m just trying to do the right thing. When I found him, I thought he was dead.”

“Right…” Levi nodded, his tone still lined with suspicion. “Let me know how it goes, yeah? We can put him in one of the open cabins we have near yours.”

Calder.

There was something cold settling in my stomach, something I couldn’t explain.

Levi had helped me get Calder settled into one of the open cabins, unclaimed for the season.

He was resting now on a warm bed instead of a couch.

I’d thought about stripping off his clothes and getting him properly cleaned up.

Instead, I’d opted for a wipe down of sorts, cleaning off every part of him that was visible, his arms, his face.

He looked so much better not caked in mud, his expression betraying nothing except being sound asleep.

I just want him to make it.

I’d kept the doctor’s number close by, just in case, even as the thought of calling her made me feel so much worse.

I watched Calder, then, noting the way his chest was rising and falling in time, nothing about his breathing seeming ragged or wrong.

There was a slice of moonlight cutting across his nose?—

Moonlight?

I looked outside the nearest cabin window.

Shit.

How long had I been watching over him? It was almost afternoon when we’d first found him by the lake. How much time had passed since then?

I hadn’t even noticed it at all.

Because it didn’t matter. Not when I needed to make sure Calder would be okay.

He took in another breath, and I took one in, too. It didn’t matter how long it took for Calder to finally wake up. When he did, I was going to be there, waiting for him.

The wind howled outside, a haunting reminder of the way things had come to be. I quietly cursed the wind as I kept my eyes on Calder, willing him to wake up at any moment.

Please wake up, Calder.

Please.