Solivagant

Chapter Fifteen - Ralph

Time for a rancher was never available by the big load. There was always so much to be done and always so few hours within the day and week to get it all done in. Yet for Ralph, by the time Thursday had rolled around, it felt like it had taken a millennia to get there.

     He knew why. It was because there was a lacking presence in his life which had slowly and unbeknown to him until it was too late, had become the core element to what he thought about for most of the day. Now that's been taken away, his mind had been given a chance to think and wander far beyond what was comfortable with him. He didn't like it.

     Keeping a promise had never been so hard before. Then again, whenever he'd had to keep a promise before, it had always been for a good reason. Not for the benefit of anything. This time, he damn well knew what the benefit was for and he was having a hard time reining his thoughts in from it.

     Robinne.

     He thought it would be easy keeping his mind off of her since seeing her at the bakery earlier on this week. He was epically wrong. Not even putting in extra hours on the ranch was enough to quash those thoughts until a time where he was alone in his own home to do so. He was in deep. Deeper than he'd ever been with anyone since...her.

     Entering the main house kitchen, he gave his head a mental shake as he sat down at the table to enjoy some of his mother's delicious cooking for today's breakfast. She'd invited him to join her and his Pa this morning, having enough time to cook for whoever wanted to join them before she headed off to the B&B.

     "Morning baby boy, what'll you have?" Cassie said from the stove, cracking another egg into the frying pan.

     No matter how many times Ralph told her not to call him that, albeit politely, she still called him her baby boy. Being the oldest of her five sons didn't seem to enter into the equation either, as she'd always maintained that no matter how old he or any of his other brothers got, they'd always be her baby boys.

       "Whatever you're cooking up Ma, it smells delicious."

     "I wouldn't do anything less."

     He chuckled. "No, no you wouldn't."

     As he grabbed the mug which had been placed in front of him while he sat down, his Ma piled up a decent-sized amount of breakfast onto his plate, sliding it onto the table for him to eat.

     After she grabbed a plate of her own, with a much smaller portion size than his own, his Ma joined him at the table.

     "How've things been with you sweetie?"

     "Good thanks, Ma." He said, taking a bite of a hash brown, moaning in appreciation at how delicious it was as it melted in his mouth.

     The two of them settled into a comfortable silence as they both tucked into their respective breakfasts. Ralph did always enjoy his Ma's cooking, there was just something about it that no other food never truly ever came close to being as nice, as warming. Even Ryder's cooking, and he wasn't a half bad cook thanks to his Ma teaching them all how. Making sure that they could well look after themselves when in their homes, or with families of their own.

     As if I'll get that any time soon...

    A few more minutes of silence surrounded them as they continued to eat, until his Ma brought up something he'd been working so hard over the last few days or so to forget. The very thought that would be on his mind twenty four hours a day if he wasn't working so hard to keep busy. Her.

     "I know you've been wondering what Robinne was doing at Laney's bakery on Monday. Am I right?"

     He blinked, completely dumbfounded at her scarily accurate guess.