The Long Way Home

by Liz Isaacson

  “Can you slow down?” she asked as he practically flew down the steps and across the yard.

  Ty glanced over his shoulder like he’d just realized she was there. His step slowed, and she caught him before slipping her fingers between his. “I’m sorry about the dance.”

  He exhaled, his eyes searching the sky for something, but there wasn’t even so much as a cloud in sight. “This has nothing to do with the dance,” he finally said.

  At least he’d spoken the truth. River took a deep breath of the fresh country air. “What does it have to do with?”

  Chapter 16

  River kept walking, wondering when Ty would stop. But she didn’t want to say anything else. Not until he did. Not until he was ready to tell her what was eating him.

  Besides, she’d already said enough. Just tell me. We’ll work it out.

  And then, I don’t see how it can be worse than anything else that’s happened to me recently.

  And her personal nemesis, one she’d wished she could take back as soon as she’d said it: I drove all the way out here. The least you can do is talk to me.

  He’d bristled at that, and bristled hard. He hadn’t invited her to the ranch. He hadn’t wanted to talk to her, that much had been obvious from their conversation the previous evening. But her mother had said….

  River shaded her eyes with her free hand. “So now that I’ve been here for several weeks, and my job is going pretty well, I’ve decided to buy a house. Make my life here permanent.”

  Ty grunted but didn’t offer anything more.

  “And wouldn’t you know it? My mom’s new boyfriend used to be a realtor. His license is still valid, so he’s helping me.” She avoided a large rock in the trail, taking her farther from Ty.

  “I first thought about getting one of those new houses on the northwest side of town. You know, where Sterling Maughan lives?”

  “I know it.” Ty’s words clipped from his mouth.

  “But they were too big for me.” She added a giggle to her statement, even though she felt anything but carefree. “And too expensive.” River gave him a few beats to add something—anything—to the conversation, but he didn’t.

  Her patience stretched, and she employed everything she did when she was dealing with her three-year-old. “So I’m going to be looking at something a little smaller and in an older neighborhood.” She resisted the urge to check her phone for the time. “A little later this afternoon.”

  They reached a fork in the trail, one leg heading further up the mountain and the other heading further into the trees. “Well, I can see I’m bothering you. Keeping you from your work.” River turned around, prepared to get back to the ranch on her own. “Call me later.”

  She’d taken three steps when he said, “I feel inadequate.”

  River faced him, confusion coursing through her. He was anything but inadequate. “About what?”

  Ty looked at her, every emotion laid open on his face. “I feel inadequate to be your boyfriend.”

  Ty swallowed hard, the words surging against the back of his tongue about to spill out and stain everything. River Lee tipped her head back and laughed. Laughed like he’d said the funniest thing on the planet. Laughed like she had when they were younger, when they were more carefree.

  She sobered when he didn’t join in and cocked her hip. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Is it?” he challenged. “If this—” He gestured between them. “Becomes serious—and I’m not sayin’ it’s not already serious. But let’s say it gets serious enough that we, I don’t know, get married.”

  River Lee flinched at his last word, but he plowed on. “Then what, River Lee? You’re gonna come live with me in my one-bedroom cowboy cabin? Or I’m gonna move into your mother’s basement?”

  Her blue eyes flashed fire and then ice. Cold, cold ice. “I just said I was looking to buy a house of my own.”

  “I don’t make enough to support a family.” Pure anguish raced through him, and he gritted his teeth to keep it inside. He didn’t want to show this weakness, not to her. Not to anyone.

  “Ty.” She stepped into him and wrapped her arms around him. He remained stiff and unyielding—at least until she skated her fingernails along the back of his neck. Then he relaxed into her embrace and did what he’d been dying to do since he saw her framed in that doorway in the administration lodge. He took a deep breath of the soft, floral scent of her skin, his tension draining away.

  She chuckled, the vibrations in her chest shaking against his. “I can’t believe you—the non-serious single cowboy—has been thinking so hard about the future.”

  “Hey.” He wasn’t exactly hurt, but he hadn’t exactly thought about marriage with anyone else either. “It’s just…you have two kids, River Lee. I—I like you a lot, and I—” He had no idea how to finish his thought, so he just let it hang in the air between them.

  She peered up at him, waiting for him to go on. Instead, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. There one moment, gone the next. Even with a kiss so fast, he still felt stronger about her than any woman he’d ever dated.

  “I was scared,” he whispered.

  “Is that why you wanted to buy the ranch?”

  “I thought it would give you some stability.” He gazed over her shoulder, back toward the ranch they’d left behind. “But that won’t happen. I can’t get the funding I need. Jace will end up buying it.”

  “You’ll still have a job, right?”

  “Yeah, I’ll probably become the general controller, even. Me and Caleb think Jace will buy the ranch, and then he’ll need a new foreman, of course. He can’t own the ranch and be the foreman. Caleb takes care of the herd, all the agricultural stuff, but he could become foreman. If not, I might get the job. Or Nelson, who’s the general controller. If that happens, I could maybe take his job as the controller.”

  “Sounds complicated.” River Lee smiled, something Ty wanted to witness every day of his life.

  “It’s not,” Ty said. “Very little about ranching is. Although, Caleb did say he wasn’t sure he wanted to be foreman. Too much paperwork, and he’d need to hire someone to oversee the agricultural side of the ranch, which he loves.”

  River Lee tucked herself into Ty’s side and gently guided him back down the path. “So you’ll have a job, and a place to live, and an amazing girlfriend.”

  Ty chuckled. “I suppose so.” He wondered what he’d been so worried about. “If I don’t live on the ranch, I’ll probably get a housing allowance.”

  River Lee said, “All right,” and stepped, stepped, stepped. “And you know, Ty, I’m not looking to get married right away. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like you. I just—”

  “Need more time,” he said.

  “Right,” she said. “Time. I have a lot going on in my life, and I’m probably going to move soon, and Lexi will be starting kindergarten, and we don’t need to rush things.”

  “Of course not.” But the thought left Ty hollow inside. The thought of living through the bitter temperatures of another winter alone made his bones ache. At the same time, he wasn’t in love with River Lee—yet—and he still needed to figure out how to deal with his place in line behind Lexi and Hannah.

  They arrived back at the ranch, where River Lee said, “So I guess lunch is out.” She wasn’t asking, and her tone suggested she was teasing him.

  “Sorry, River Lee.” He didn’t know what else to say. “I do have to get back to work, but I’ll see you on Saturday morning, okay?”

  She stretched up to kiss him, and he gladly complied, taking his time to convey his feelings for her, his apology for freaking out about a future that was as uncertain as it had always been. She matched his intensity, encouraging Ty to maintain the contact—and get out of his own head so he didn’t mess things up with River Lee.

  Chapter 17

  Ty spent his early mornings riding up to check the herd. His afternoons trying to stay cool by working on t
he machinery or hauling hay. It was almost harvest time, and that meant the Harvest Festival was just around the corner.

  He drove down to the valley in the evenings for planning meetings, or sat on his front porch and sent texts and made phone calls. He and River Lee met to plan the Huck Finn fishing event, and he spent the entire day with her that Saturday. Horseback riding lessons, lunch, planning, and another walk to the duck pond pushed him closer and closer to falling in love with her.

  And the way she kissed him suggested she was falling for him too.

  He didn’t bring it up. He didn’t tell her he loved her. Didn’t mention their future again.

  A few days before the Harvest Festival, Jace burst into the administration lodge during lunch time. “It’s official, boys,” he said, a giant grin on his face. “As of January first, I’ll be the new owner of Horseshoe Home Ranch.”

  A cheer went up, and Ty joined in. He’d searched for a way to be happy for his friend, and God had granted him the ability to feel Jace’s joy as if it were his own. A sense of gratitude filled him again. Gratitude that he was able to participate in Jace’s happiness. Gratitude that he could find joy even if he didn’t get what he thought he wanted.

  The Lord works in mysterious ways, he thought as the festivities died down. Jace moved through the crowd, headed for his office. Ty met him at the mouth of the hallway and pumped the foreman’s hand. “Congratulations, Jace. You and Belle will be real good owners.”

  Jace nodded him down the hall, and Ty followed him into his office. “I heard you wanted to buy the ranch.”

  Ty scrubbed the back of his head at the seriousness in Jace’s voice. Though the man was only a few years older than he was, Ty viewed him as almost a father figure. “I couldn’t get the funding. I don’t actually own anything and don’t even use a credit card.”

  “You want to run the ranch?”

  Ty lifted his gaze to Jace’s. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?”

  His mind whirled, whizzed, wove through possibilities. “I—”

  Jace exhaled and moved behind his desk. He said, “I also heard you’ve been datin’ River Lee Whitely,” as he sat.

  “Yeah.” Ty grinned, unable to keep the gesture from his face. “We like each other.”

  Jace chuckled. “So the foreman’s cabin is big enough for a family. Things that serious with River Lee?”

  “Not quite,” Ty said. “Hopefully, though.”

  “So you like her a lot.”

  Ty shrugged. “Yeah, sure, I like her a lot.” He spoke true, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had more than like in his life for River Lee. He had a little bit of love for her. “She just bought a house,” Ty said. “She’s movin’ at the end of the month.”

  “Well, no one wants to get married in the winter,” Jace said as he pulled a folder toward him. “Believe me, I would know.”

  Ty laughed and watched Jace get to work. “So is this what the foreman does?” He glanced around the office, not quite sure how he felt about sitting behind a desk, behind these walls.

  “It’s not always a picnic,” Jace said. “Make no mistake about that.” He glanced up and met Ty’s eye. “I’ll be choosing the foreman by the end of the month, so I can train him before I take ownership. Do you want me to consider you?”

  “Does the foreman have to live on-site?”

  “It’s easier,” Jace said. “It’s not a nine-to-five job, Ty.”

  Ty glanced around the office again. Gray walls. Curtains with gray and white chevrons. A picture of Jace and Belle on their wedding day sat on the desk, the only personal touch he’d added to the office.

  He’d make more as the foreman. Have a bigger house. Maybe River Lee would move up here with him if they got married.

  “I want to be considered, boss.”

  Jace went back to work. “All right, then. I’ll let you know.”

  Ty backed out of the office and then turned back. “Remember I’ll be gone on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for Harvest Days.”

  “I remember,” Jace said without looking up.

  “Who else are you considering for the foreman job?”

  “Everyone.” A bit of annoyance accompanied the word, and Ty took his cue to get out of there before he blew his chance at the job completely.

  River left work at lunchtime on Thursday, glad she could close the folders containing the cases of her charges. The girls were only going to be at Silver Creek for another week, and she thought several of them had made real progress.

  The pride she felt expanded and then evaporated. She’d fumbled around for weeks before figuring out the intricacies of her job, and any progress these girls had made certainly wasn’t because of her. The group leaders worked ten times harder than she did, and every girl on River’s list had talked about how much they loved the horses.

  If there was one thing River didn’t understand, it was that. She’d suffered through the last eleven weeks of horseback riding lessons, and the last lesson couldn’t get over fast enough. Even though the Harvest Festival would be in full swing on Saturday morning, Ty hadn’t canceled the lesson. Claimed Silver Creek needed to stay on schedule with such things.

  He had moved the time to earlier in the day so everyone could attend the parade in the morning. A sour taste filled River’s mouth. She didn’t want to repeat the Fourth of July parade and following carnival. In fact, she’d taken steps to ensure the Harvest Festival turned out much better than July’s event.

  Ty had bought tickets to the rodeo for Saturday night, and she’d taken the girls to the carnival after the children’s parade the previous day. She parked in her mother’s driveway and hurried into the house. “Lexi, Hannah. It’s time to go if you want to catch some fish.”

  The girls came rushing down the hall from their bedroom, both of them wearing their swimming suits and carrying towels. Her mother followed them, rubbing her hands together. “I just put sunscreen on them.”

  River hugged her mother. “Thanks, Mom. Let’s go girls.” They filled the car with their girlish chatter and giggles, and River drove them all to Battlecreek Park, where the parking lot was already full.

  She parked down the street and herded the girls toward the crowd. She passed the girls to her friend, Jodi, who had a five-year-old daughter and lived down the street from River’s mother. “I’ll be at the registration table.” She flashed a smile at Jodi. “Thanks so much.”

  Jodi, a dark-haired stay-at-home mom had also offered to babysit the girls, walk Lexi to kindergarten, and even brought dinner to River one night. It had been a fast friendship, which River really appreciated now, as she made her way through the long line to begin her first real community service.

  Ty was already seated at the table, his sexy cowboy hat perched on his head. “Sure, Suzy Curtis,” he drawled as he searched a paper in front of him. “Here you are, Suzy.” He made a checkmark next to a name and handed the girl a sticker. “That goes somewhere on your swim suit. You can take two fish home, all right?”

  The mother thanked Ty and moved out of line.

  River slid into the chair next to him. “Okay, so I just check them off and give them a sticker?” She examined the list in front of her. “I thought registration opened at three.”

  “Hey, beautiful.” Ty flashed her a smile. “She was the first one I did. You just find them, check them off, give them the sticker. They’re colored coordinated and numbered so not everyone goes in at once. No sticker, no admission to the pond. Kids can take two fish home. Easy as pie.”

  “Only if it’s peach pie,” River quipped and turned her attention to the woman standing with three boys.

  Ty’s soft laughter reached her ears, and she wished this whole Huck Finn event was over so they could go to dinner, hold hands, talk about their future.

  He hadn’t said anything more about his fears or their future since the Fourth of July. River suspected he was waiting for her to bring it up, but she didn’t quite
know how.

  “I close next weekend,” River said as she waited while the boys stuck their stickers to their swim shorts. “I’m moving the weekend after that. Can I borrow your truck and your muscles?”

  “Always usin’ me for my body,” he joked under his breath.

  A smile exploded across River’s face. “And that truck. Don’t forget about that.”

  He looked at her, his green-brown eyes hooking into her blue ones and holding on. A moment passed between them. A moment full of heat. A moment where River thought she could spend the rest of her life with this man.

  She ducked her head and raised her eyes to the next person in line. “Name?”

  As she searched for the name on the list, Ty’s fingers brushed hers. Could’ve been an innocent touch to any watching, but River knew it was more than that. He couldn’t wait until their time alone tonight either.

  “I got two fish!” Lexi kept saying. Over and over.

  River said, “Mm hmm,” for at least the tenth time, her blood flowing through her body like it contained live electricity. She’d planned to take the girls with her to dinner with Ty, but now that the hour had arrived, she didn’t want to.

  She loved her girls. She did. She didn’t want to choose a man over them, but if it had been John, she’d have chosen him over Lexi and Hannah. Their relationship was supposed to last longer than the girls would be in the house. Their marriage was what had started the family in the first place.

  River pulled into the driveway at her mom’s house, the stench of fish and pond water filling her nostrils. “Baths,” she told the girls. “Then we’re going to dinner with Mister Ty.”

  Hannah and Lexi piled out of the car, still chattering about the fish and the pond and the butterflies they’d chased while they waited for the green group to be called. River watched them climb the steps and enter the house, a smile drifting across her lips.

  Yes, she wanted to spend time alone with Ty, but her mother also had a date that night, and her girls were River’s responsibility. She thought briefly of calling Jodi to watch them, but reminded herself that Jodi had already helped her for hours that day.