Love Under the Western Skies

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ

ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇ

➵➵➵➵➵➵➵❂➵➵➵➵➵➵➵

I was running on fumes.

I knew Nathan was too because he about collapsed in the passenger seat of the rental truck we had. Houston was gloomy today, the sun hadn't broken past the clouds and it was mirroring the way we were all feeling. Waking up to Madison panicking was a situation I never wanted to experience again, the pure look of fear that rested in her eyes when she turned to me made me want to burn the world, I couldn't have her hurting, not like that. But that also meant I knew what I had to do right now.

"Mind if I make a pit stop before heading to the mall?"

Nathan looked over at me, dark circles had formed under his eyes, and he looked startled, it was like he forgot that there was another person in the car with him. "Yeah that's fine," Nathan's hand ran down his face, "would it be too much to ask to stop for coffee, Rae had me up all night, the girl is fun to be around, but I'm running on about forty-five minutes of sleep and am on the verge of collapse."

I let out a laugh, shaking my head, "Believe me when I say I understand, Madison's got me on my toes," I turned the key in the ignition, the truck rumbling to life under us. "They've got a lot of authority for such short bodies."

Nathan let out a boisterous laugh, and I pulled out of the spot. Maybe Nathan wasn't so bad, sure he wasn't the kindest man in the world, but he held the same reputation that I did, only he was known for leaving women crying whereas I just wouldn't respond to them again. But he seemed to really care about Rae and had been trying to get on the right path, just like I had been with Madison. "You saw how Nash treats those girls," Nathan shook his head, pulling his phone out when it went off, "they know their worth. And they sure as shit aren't gonna take anything from us."

"Aint that the truth."

The ride became peaceful, Nathan drifted into his own world, only to respond to me when I placed an order for coffee then a comfortable silence overcame the truck. I had known about the ranch far before Nash's crash, I had retired my old mare Petunia to them, instead of barrel racing, she now was used as their resident leisure horse. She was used for the toddler classes because of her gentle nature. So when I heard Madison talking about the place, I knew exactly where I needed to go.

"Holy shit," Nash breathed out when we passed the place where Nash crashed, his truck had been pulled out of the ravine and my stomach dropped, it was a miracle he made it out of the metal with the minor injuries he did have. The entire front of the truck had been caved in, the top of the car nearly flattened, and the bed was half its original size. Lucky, destiny, a miracle, whatever you wanted to call it, someone was definitely looking out for Nash, the man was lucky to be alive.

I felt sick looking at the truck, so I carefully passed the first responders, heading through the white gate that lead to the ranch.

A red barn housed their main office, it sat off to the right of the dirt road, cedar trees surrounded it and outdoor lights illuminated a walkway to the classic red and white doors. I parked the truck, Nathan following me out of the truck, our coffees in our hands and shivering at the cold air that had settled over the city. "What are we doing here?" Nathan asked, stopping when I turned on my heel to face him.

"You can't tell Madison about any of this, are we clear?"

"Yeah man, Jesus what are you going to do?" Nathan took a sip of his coffee following me into the red barn, both of us sighing at the warmth.

Riley was sitting behind the desk, a cute girl that had hit on me more than I'd like to admit. She was stunning, Strawberry blonde hair with honey-colored eyes, and a dusting of freckles that ran across her cheeks, but she held nothing to the woman laying in a hospital bed with her father right now. "Mr. Rogers," Riley smiled up at me from her seat, "Hi, I didn't know you were coming by today, let me get Petunia out of her stable," She let out a breath turning to Nathan who was engrossed in something on his phone, "Hi Mr. Turner." He glanced up at her, waving awkwardly before looking back down at his phone.