The Cowboy’s Return

by Aarsen, Carolyne

  Trying to describe grass that could be so green in the spring it almost hurt your eyes.

  He shifted his Jeep back into gear, already grinning at the ribbing he knew he would get from his brothers about being too army to drive a pickup truck.

  As he drew closer, he saw two little kids, a boy and a girl, sitting on the swings, twisting them around and then spinning, their winter coats wide open, knitted toques askew on their head. He couldn’t hear them but he could tell they were laughing.

  Tricia’s twins. His nephew and niece.

  A woman came out of the house, blonde hair pulled up in a sloppy topknot, one hand holding her sweater closed, her other shading her eyes, checking on the kids.

  Tricia.

  He could see her puzzlement as she turned then headed down the sidewalk toward him. When he parked the Jeep by four other pickups, an old song Grace used to sing bounced through his head.

  One of these things is not like the other.

  He got out of his vehicle and pulled his Oakleys off, waiting for recognition to dawn.

  When it did he wasn’t prepared for her happy shriek, nor did he expect his heart to jackhammer in his chest as she launched herself at him.

  He caught her arms in a defensive gesture but stopped himself in time. Didn’t follow through and toss her to the ground.

  Thank the good Lord.

  Tricia’s hurt expression at his action cut him to the core. As she drew back, rubbing her arms, the weight of his years away, of living on high alert, dropped on his shoulders like an unyielding rock.

  “Hey, Lucas,” she said, her voice now subdued, her next movement toward him tentative, her fingers curled as she led with the back of her hand. Like she would with an untrained and wild horse.

  “Hey, Tricia.” He gave her a slow release smile then moved toward her, pulling her into a quick, tight hug. “I missed you, Sis.”

  She returned his hug but she still seemed wary.

  “Sorry about the war cry,” she said, pulling back, her hands resting on his shoulders as her eyes skimmed over his face. He could tell the moment she saw his scar. The faint shift in her expression and the concern clouding her eyes. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “And I didn’t mean to treat you like an enemy.”

  Her smile blossomed. “I’m so glad you’re back. When I saw you on the video at Faith and Kane’s wedding—” Her voice broke and she gave him another hug.

  “It’s okay. I’m doing fine. I wish…I wish I hadn’t been talked into that video. Maybe not the best note to strike at a wedding.”

  “I’m glad you did it. It was hard to see you but such a blessing that you could be a part of the celebration.”

  His mind skipped back to that time in the hospital. How alone he felt knowing his family was gathering half a world away. “So where is the happy couple?”

  “Faith’s at work. She’s got a job in the school and will be upset that she missed you. Kane, Dad, Mason, and Elliot are having coffee, trying to decide which parts of the pasture to plow up next spring and what kind of grass they’re planting.” She rolled her eyes, clearly uninterested in forage planning.

  Then she slipped her arm through his, tugging him along. “Come and see the kids.”

  Lucas glanced over at the swing set but Tricia’s twins were already scurrying over, interested in this new person who had shown up.

  “This is Hope,” Tricia said. The little girl with a fluff of blonde curls peeking out from her toque, framing a chubby face looked at him with curious detachment, keeping her distance. “And this is Cash.”

  The young boy was not as wary but he kept Tricia between them as he came nearer nonetheless.

  “Hope and Cash, this is your Uncle Lucas,” Tricia said, holding her hands out to her children.

  Hope frowned, as if she didn’t believe this, but she moved closer.

  “You a good man?” she asked.

  “He’s one of the best,” Tricia said, giving Lucas a warm smile. “He’s a hero.”

  Lucas swiped the air with his hand as if to erase her words. “Please don’t say that. I’m just a soldier.”

  Tricia gave him a level look. “In my book, there’s no such things as ‘just a soldier,’” she said.

  Lucas nodded, suppressing the disappointment that he hadn’t completed the job he went to do. Thinking of the soldiers he had trained to fight the Daesh, hoping all was well with them.

  They’re not your responsibility anymore.

  Though it was hard not to feel he hadn’t left them behind, hadn’t let them down.

  “What happened to your face?” Hope asked, still looking askance at him as Tricia bent down and zipped up her puffy jacket and straightened her toque.

  “I got injured.”

  “Is it all better now?”

  He smiled at her concern. “Yes, it is.”

  “Okay.” And that, it seemed, was that.

  “It’s cold out here. Come inside.” Tricia gave his arm another gentle tug. He sensed that she was being cautious and careful with him. It bothered him but after his reaction, he could hardly blame her.

  So he pulled his arm free and gave her a tight, one-armed hug. “It’s good to be back,” he said.

  “Want a snack,” Cash called out, tugging on Tricia’s sweater.

  “Pardon me?” Tricia angled him a questioning look and Cash heaved out a long-suffering sigh.

  “Pwease.”

  “That’s better, though next time a little less attitude would get you a long way.” Tricia signaled to Hope to follow. “C’mon, missy. You should come too. You can come back and play later.”

  Hope skipped ahead of them, followed right behind by Cash.

  “They’re cute kids,” Lucas said as they headed around the side of the house.

  “Thanks. They’re a handful, but they sure love it here. I’m so thankful Mason and I could work on the ranch. It’s been a real blessing.”

  “Training horses?” Lucas slipped his arm around Tricia’s shoulder. “That’s different, and yet, it seems like such a perfect fit.”

  “I love it so much. I can’t believe I’ve come to this good place in my life.”

  Tricia grew serious and Lucas thought of all the troubles Tricia had dealt with in her past. First losing her mother and then, half a year later, her husband in a car accident. The wandering she had done trying to support herself and her kids.

  Now she was here, engaged and looking forward to a future on the ranch with Mason, who Lucas hoped was a decent guy.

  “That’s good.” Envy flickered through him at how settled she’d become.

  Tricia stopped, her expression growing serious. “And how about you? How are you doing? I heard that Summer is helping your grandmother. Have you been back to your place?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Just came from there. It was…okay.” Which was understating the double whammy of seeing his grandmother and his ex-girlfriend at the same time and in the same place.

  Pregnant ex-girlfriend.

  He couldn’t seem to get the words out of his brain.

  “Tricia, do you see Summer at all?” he asked.

  “Here and there. She moved back in with her mom about six months ago and was working odd jobs until she started with your grandmother.”

  “Did she say anything to you? About a boyfriend?” He hated asking, but it was nagging him so much that he figured he may as well get it out of the way as soon as he could.

  Tricia shook her head, giving him a sad smile. “I haven’t said more than hi or good-bye to her. But I haven’t seen her with anyone either. I’m thinking you’re wondering about the father of that baby she’s carrying.”

  He nodded his acknowledgement of this.

  “Sorry. Don’t have a clue, and no one else has said anything. I know she’s friends with Eve Wochinski, one of the social workers in town, but I’m no gossip, so I haven’t asked Eve.”

  A mystery then. It shouldn’t matter to him, but he couldn’t figu
re out how the girl who had always been so involved in church and Bible Study and so adamant about not being physically involved with anyone until after marriage ended up being pregnant and single.

  He knew this well because she grew up the child of a single mother and had told him repeatedly she never wanted to be in that position. Her mother was often absent, working or hanging out at one of the local bars. He had even heard her mother tell Summer to her face that she should never have kept her and her brother.

  So what happened?

  “Anyhow, let’s go inside. It’s cold, and the guys will wonder what happened to me. I can’t keep you to myself any longer, though we do have to go out for a ride if we get a warm day. Catch up. I want so badly to introduce you to Mason and show you what we've been doing on the ranch.”

  She flashed him another one of her signature smiles, the one that had made her a shoo-in for Rodeo Queen back in the day.

  In usual Tye fashion they walked past the large, imposing front entrance with its double doors and heavy beamed archway curving above it. The only time Lucas had ever used that door was the first day he came here, escorted by his grandmother.

  On that day Grace had opened the door, a puzzled look on her face. She had smiled when she saw Lucas standing beside Glenda. But Lucas remembered how her smile shifted when Glenda told Grace that she couldn’t take care of her grandson. That she wanted to leave him here with the Tye family at Tall Timber.

  And nipping at the heels of that memory were the feelings of abandonment and loss he had felt. He had just lost his parents, and now his grandmother didn’t want him. It was hard to shake the idea he was being discarded like a puppy its owner didn’t want anymore.

  Tricia went around the house to the pergola by the double French doors of the dining room. She pulled them open with a flourish. “Hey, everyone, look who’s here,” she called out, ushering her children inside.

  Lucas followed her in, frustrated at the wariness that prickled the back of his neck as he stepped into his old home, taking in the room and the men gathered around the table.

  But then older memories sifted in, and he relaxed.

  This was home, and when Kane, Zach, and Elliot all surged up from the table and came at him en masse, he had an easier time pushing down his instinct to retreat.

  “You’re here,” Zach said. Kane and Elliot stood back to allow their father to be the first to greet Lucas.

  Zach pulled Lucas close, gently, and Lucas closed his eyes, hugging his father back, tight and hard, catching the scent of outdoors and horses on his clothes. Zach slapped him on the back then stood back, his eyes skimming over his face, resting briefly on the scar ridging the side of his head.

  “Oh, Son, it’s so good to have you back,” he said, clutching Lucas’s shoulder, his eyes as blue as the Alberta skies. Lucas was surprised to see the glint of moisture in them as Zach blinked a few times.

  “I’m okay, you know,” he said, hoping to assure his father.

  “That’s good. That’s good. Home is a good place to heal,” Zach returned.

  He stepped aside, and this time Lucas was pulled into a manly hug as Elliot pounded on his back. Then Kane hugged him as well.

  “Wow, I guess home is where you go for hugs,” he joked, pulling back, one arm still slung over Kane’s shoulder and his other hand resting on Elliot’s.

  “So great to see you,” Kane said. “So glad you’re home.”

  Tricia had placed the kids’ coats aside then walked over to the fourth man standing by the table, kids in tow. Tall, lean, dark hair, and serious. Tricia grabbed his arm and dragged him toward Lucas.

  “Mason, this is my amazing brother, Lucas.”

  Mason’s grip was firm, solid, and he added a careful smile, as if unsure of his reception from another one of Tricia’s brothers.

  “Welcome back, and I just want to say I appreciate your service.” Mason’s matter-of-fact tone sat well with Lucas. His estimation of the guy hitched up a notch.

  “Nice to meet the man who tamed our sister,” Lucas said.

  “Sit down.” Zach waved a hand toward the table. “Elliot, get Lucas a cup of coffee. Tricia baked some cookies for us.”

  “Edible ones?” Lucas couldn’t resist.

  She frowned, elbowing him in the side. “C’mon, Lucas. You’re barely home and you’re already digging at me.”

  “Still so easy,” he murmured, remembering how little it took to get a rise out of his sister.

  She flapped her hand at him and caught Hope before she filled her other hand with cookies.

  “Only one, missy,” she warned, setting her on a chair. She tossed a look at Lucas as he sat down. “My kids can’t resist them, so they can’t be all that bad.”

  “I’m sure they’re great. I just can’t remember you baking or cooking much before.”

  “Slowly but surely, I'm learning. Carmen who used to run the café in town taught me. Not that I’ll be all domestic and everything, but I was sick of people ribbing me about not knowing how to cook. Especially because Faith is so good at it.”

  Lucas turned to Kane with a warm look. “And congratulations in person again on your marriage. I’m so happy for the two of you.”

  Kane returned his grin, gripping his shoulder in a brotherly gesture. “It was so awesome that you were able to do that broadcast.”

  “Yeah, well, sorry about the injury, but it was the only time that worked for me.” Lucas gestured to the scar on his face.

  “You want to talk about it, Son?” Zach asked, his voice warm as he settled into a chair beside him.

  “Not yet.”

  Zach nodded in understanding. “When you’re ready, any of us are here, waiting. We don’t want your stories to be unheard.” He scratched his forehead. “I had an elderly uncle who was in World War II. My parents always told me to leave him alone, but I wondered if we shouldn’t have asked him about his time. Let him tell the stories I saw behind those old, wise eyes. I know we wouldn’t have known what it was like for him, but we would’ve at least been pulled into that part of his life. Shown him that we wanted to hear his experiences.”

  This created a sudden silence around the table.

  But as Lucas looked around at his family he felt an older, more powerful emotion. The sense that these people had been here for him in the past and would be in the present.

  “So, I just want you to know that we want to hear your stories,” Zach said, squeezing Lucas’s hand and just as quickly releasing it. “We want to be involved in that part of your life.”

  To his dismay he felt an unwelcome prickle of tears thicken his throat. He swallowed and swallowed. He couldn’t let those emotions out. Though here, in front of his family, in the kitchen of a place he had always felt safe and loved, was probably the best place for that to happen.

  “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate that,” he managed, then sucked in a ragged breath, pushing his hair back from his face.

  “And whoa, lets talk about that watch,” Elliot said pointing to the smartwatch on his wrist. “Since when does a self-respecting soldier wear one of those? I thought it was all huge watch faces and rubber cases.”

  “I have one of those but I like this one better.”

  “Oh, boy. My brother is getting all techie. Please tell me you have a truck?”

  “He drives a Jeep,” Tricia put in, flashing an impudent look at Lucas.

  Elliot groaned, looking heavenward in a dramatic gesture. “She’s joking, right?” he pleaded with a pained expression.

  “Sorry. She’s not.”

  “Is it camo?”

  “I’m not that predictable,” Lucas said.

  “Thank goodness for that.”

  “It’s pink,” Lucas returned, chuckling at Elliot’s look of pure horror, thankful for his brother’s ability to know exactly when a conversation was getting too heavy and turn the tone on a dime.

  Elliot looked like he might cry himself. “Where did we go wrong?” he asked, looking around the table as
everyone laughed at his exaggerated reaction.

  “It’s black, not pink,” Tricia said, putting Elliot out of his misery. “Now have some cookies and tell us what you’ve been doing the past couple of months. We’ll work backwards until we’re all caught up. We’ve got time, right? I mean, you’re back to stay right?”

  Lucas felt all eyes on him, not sure what to say.

  Thankfully, Zach picked up on his hesitation. “Stop putting pressure on him,” he said. “He’s here and we’re thankful for that. So, Lucas, where did you just come from?”

  Again Lucas felt a burst of appreciation for his family. For their sensitivity and their desire to have him around. To have him at home.

  So he planted his elbows on the table, drank his coffee, and told his family about his trip from Kingston across Canada. The things he saw and the people he met.

  It was easy, comfortable. These were his people, and he was home.

  And for a moment an unformed thought tantalized. Should he stay in Rockyview?

  And live in the same town his old girlfriend was staying? What about his grandmother?

  No. He had endured too much the past few years to put himself in a vulnerable position like that.

  “So does everyone live in the house now?” he joked, looking from Kane to Zach, Elliot, then Tricia and Mason who each had one twin on their lap.

  “Dad is in his old room and Faith and I are in the other wing,” Kane said. “Tricia is upstairs with the kids until she and Mason get married. They’re moving onto the old Hennesy place up Hidden Creek. Elliot and Mason are bunking in the cabin.”

  “And Mason snores like a Humvee,” Elliot complained.

  “Sounds like the place is full.”

  “Too full,” Tricia groaned. “I can hardly wait until we get our place fixed up so at least the kids and I can move and get out from under Kane and Faith’s roof.”

  So much for staying here. The place was as crowded as a mess hall from the sound of things. Maybe the Hidden Creek Inn in Rockyview had space. It wasn’t quite skiing season, so the ski hill wouldn’t be funneling people over there.

  At any rate, if he stayed in town he could still come here whenever he wanted. He knew that much.