He’d be interested to see what would change in Talia when she did.
“Right, I need the honey butter taken to the table, and the green beans as well. I don’t care who does it, so long as they both get there,” Kellie announced as she returned to the kitchen.
Lars and Ford moved to help her while Reid and Eric finished setting the table. West proudly brought forth his mashed potato masterpiece as though he had raised the potatoes himself, and soon enough, all of them were sitting around the table, including Kellie.
“How long are we staying in Lost Creek?” Eric asked as he eyed the feast before them. “And how many times can I come for dinner?”
Kellie laughed and propped her elbows on the table, folding her fingers together. “This is a special occasion, and it doesn’t happen often. But I’ll tell you what: You guys stick around and do the rodeo, you can come round for dinner the night before.”
Reid’s eyes narrowed. “All three nights?”
Ryan smiled as his sister remained completely unruffled by the question. “Did I stammer, Reid? The night before the rodeo, we can have a family dinner here.”
Family.
Ryan looked around the table, at these guys who had been part of his life through some of his most growing moments and understood his passion like few others would. Lars and Ford had actually been there when he’d had his accident, and had shown up at the hospital for him. Reid, West, and Eric had been on another circuit, but they’d called him repeatedly.
They’d probably have been there alongside him during his recovery, if he had let them. But he’d shut everyone out from the moment he’d heard the worst, and missed out on keeping this going. Even now, no one was asking him why he’d cut them out. They were just hanging out around the table as though no time had passed.
The questions might come later, but with how things were now, he knew there wouldn’t be any accusations in it, just curiosity.
He couldn’t blame them for that; he just didn’t have an answer.
“Ford,” Kellie suddenly said with a smile, “would you say grace, please?”
“Sure.” He bowed his head, clearing his throat. “Lord, we’re grateful for this home and this food, and for being all together again. We’re grateful for our health and our safety, ’specially with what we do to risk it. We ask for a blessing on this meal, and on us all. And particularly for the ladies Kellie’s helpin’ here on the ranch, that they may find the healing they need in their lives. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”
“Amen,” they all echoed.
Kellie surreptitiously wiped at the corner of one eye, which made Ryan’s throat tighten. She so rarely got acknowledgement from people who weren’t actually on the ranch, and while she would never complain about what she did, given how she loved it, the strain of it all took its toll. The only reason Ryan knew about any of that was because he knew his sister better than anyone, and he knew when she was worn down.
Those were the days she got out of the homestead and threw herself headlong into ranch chores again, though she had a couple she did regularly. On those days, she could outwork any two of his ranch hands, and himself.
Then she’d sleep hard and wake up the next day energized.
She was getting close to another hard ranch day, he could see, so he made a mental note to save some good work for her.
But Ford’s praying for her guests …
That saw into the heart of Kellie perfectly.
“Thanks, buddy,” Ryan murmured to the broad-shouldered man beside him, nudging him with his elbow. “I mean it.”
True to his reserved nature, Ford only shrugged.
“All righty, y’all, dig in!” Kellie said brightly, picking up her fork.
“Don’t hafta tell me twice,” Lars announced as he reached for the platter of chicken fried steak. “I haven’t eaten a meal like this in years.”
“Tell that to your gut,” West suggested, taking the bread basket. He glanced at Ryan. “You said Kellie didn’t make this, right?”
Ryan groaned as he handed off the bowl of potatoes, the rest of the table chuckling at the reminder. “Nice, West. Thanks a lot.”
Kellie snickered from her place at the head of the table. “I’ll have you know that I did bake bread today, but I remembered how you boys down loaves like it’s a challenge, so I picked up some more fresh bread from Mariah’s Bakery in town.”
“In that case …” West pointedly took two large slices of bread from the basket and placed them on his plate. “No offense, Kells, your bread is good and all, but Mariah’s is the bread to end all breads.”
They all continued to laugh as the food got passed around and they began to eat, catching up with details about people they all knew and teasing each other, just like they used to.
“So, Ryan,” Reid said suddenly, sitting forward and looking up from his second helping. “What’s the plan?”
Ryan stared back at him blankly. “Plan?”
“Yeah,” Eric chimed in, cocking his head as he looked at Ryan now. “You got us all here, even though only West, Ford, and I were entered for Lost Creek. Said you needed our help.”
“I did say that, didn’t I?” Ryan pressed his tongue to his front teeth in thought. He hadn’t really thought all that much beyond getting the guys in, figuring their names would be enough to get some attention going for the rodeo. Clearly, he would need a little more thought and a decent chunk of action.
What exactly either of those might be was still to be determined.
“Oh, good,” Lars mused in a slow drawl. “He’s thought about this carefully.”
Ryan gave him a hard look. “I’m not running any kind of show here, Lars. I just said I’d get you boys in. Tom Hauser says numbers are down in the events, so they could probably use more guys to compete.”
“Easy enough,” West grunted, drumming his fingers on the tablecloth. “We can make some calls. Ford can be pretty convincing when he wants to be.”
Ford snorted softly, but lifted his palm from the table in a sort of shrug. “Threaten to tie down a guy or two, suddenly they listen to you.”
“Never works for Eric,” Reid pointed out with a grin.
“Ha ha, Chute Boss,” Eric shot back, rolling his eyes. “They’ll make a clown out of you yet.” He looked down the table at Ryan. “What about SHCC? They love an alumni thing. We could talk Buddy Powers into setting something up down here. That would help, right?”
“Definitely.” Kellie nodded firmly, taking a sip of her water. “Numbers have been down at events, but the SHCC rodeos still get the best turnout.” She frowned before looking over at Lars. “What if you did a mutton bustin’ clinic? They haven’t had one of those events in a few years—you’d probably get a decent turnout.”
“You want me to teach kids?” Lars made a show of rearing back a little, shaking his head. “I’d do it, but I can’t promise it’ll be good.”
“Better you than us,” Eric said simply. “You and West could do it. The rest of us could do some roping and tie-down demonstrations. I’ve got the YouTube channel, plus sponsorship from King Spurs, so that might help.”