“Good thought.” She sipped her tea once again. “What about the combination of the herds? Is that going smoothly?”
Dawson nodded.
“Ky is very pleased, and I’ve decided that I want to travel more, so I’m going to transition overall management of the ranch to him. He and I will work together, and I want you to know that there will be a place for you. Ky respects your abilities and wants you to act as foreman of the entire cattle operation.”
“I’m pleased he thinks so well of me.” Dawson knew she was beating around the bush. “Is there something else?” He knew there was.
She sipped her tea, taking her time. “Is everything okay with you? I wanted to make sure you weren’t worried about your position.” Rita held her tea cup on the way to her lips.
“Mrs. Cantino,” he said, choosing his words carefully, “if you got something to say, just come out with it.”
She nodded. “Fair enough. If it isn’t you being worried about your job, then why have you been as surly as a bear with a wounded paw?” She finished the tea and set the empty cup and saucer on the table. “Before you get your undies in a twist, none of the men have said a thing. They wouldn’t. All of them respect you enough that the way you’ve been acting has been overlooked. But I’ve seen it.”
He leaned forward, his mouth already opening, but she held her hand up, and he snapped his lips together again.
“Yesterday when the four-wheeler flipped on its side, you went off like a Roman candle on the fourth of July. Now, you and I both know that there was no call for that. Brad simply righted it, checked it over, and was on his way, but your reaction was as though he’d set it on fire. And that’s just the latest example. Little mistakes are blown up into huge deals.” She had that church-lady look, like he’d just farted in Sunday School… loudly. “It’s been that way for the last few weeks.” She sat back, her fingers weaved together like she was praying.
He sat back as well, drinking his own tea and wondering if maybe there wouldn’t be an emergency, like one of the barns burning down, to keep him from having to have this conversation. He finished the tea, set down the cup, and turned to Georgia, willing the dog to go on a barking spree—anything at all. The traitor simply blinked at him—as if to say “you’re on your own”—and lay down.
“I can sit here all night and you know it.”
Dawson shrugged. “This isn’t something I want to talk about.” Maybe that would put her off.
She unlaced her fingers and crossed her arms over her chest. Jesus Christ, she was giving him that stare of hers, bringing out her big guns. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with Lilly’s cousin, the one who’s been helping her with the wedding?” She never missed much, and Dawson did his best not to react. “I haven’t seen him around lately.”
“He said he had to return to Houston on a business matter, but that he’d be back.” Damn it all, he needed to keep his embarrassment to himself.
“I see. And he’s been gone for a few weeks. Has he called? Messaged?”
Dawson found himself fucking nodding and wished he could just leave the room.
“Have you called him back?”
“There’s no need. He’s in Houston running his family business. Sinclair came here to help Lilly plan the wedding, and that’s it.” Dawson didn’t need to share the fact that he’d let himself get carried away and think that there could be something more. Hell, he was a fool. The people in his life didn’t stick around—he’d learned that a long time ago. There was no need for him to drag this out. Dawson knew who he was: a cowboy who was best left alone.
“You know that for sure?” Rita asked, then nodded. “Well, that must be a real talent you have. A God-given gift.” She held out her hand, leaving it there until Dawson took it. “I always wanted to meet someone who could tell the future.” Rita dropped his hand. “No, wait, I get it. You’re a man, so you think you know everything about everyone.” The amusement slipped from her expression. “It’s not for me to get involved in your personal life. You’re an adult and big enough to make your own decisions.” She stood, and Georgia got right up and trotted over to her for pets, which she gave. “I’ll leave you with one thought. What would Oliver say to you?” She went to the door. “I’ll see myself out.”
Dawson groaned as soon as the door closed. That wasn’t fair and she knew it. Still, he had been growly and short-tempered, and he needed to get over it. So he might have set his heart on Sinclair just a little. It wasn’t anyone else’s fault but his own for not seeing things the way they really were.
Sinclair had a whole other life, and it would be stupid for Dawson to think he could just walk away from it… for what? Dawson was a simple cowboy, nothing more. He lived his life in basic black and white, while Sinclair was all the colors of the rainbow. Heck, he was more than that. Compared to him, Sinclair was all the colors ever invented or that would ever be thought of. Dawson had absolutely nothing to offer him, and that was why it was best that he just made a clean break of it. At least he’d had a little romance: a dinner, some time looking up at the stars, a kiss that he would compare all future kisses to. Not that there were likely to be many, but still.
“Dang her,” Dawson mumbled under his breath, Georgia staring up at him like he was crazy. He sat down, and she jumped onto his lap and settled right down like she knew he was upset.
“Why did she have to bring up Oliver?” he said to himself, stroking Georgia’s back gently. Sometimes he liked that woman a lot better when she’d been an uptight church lady. Ky and Brodie… well, maybe it was Brodie’s baby sister, Emily, that had changed her a great deal over the past few years. But she had changed. Rita had become a lot more accepting and less judgmental, which was nice. But there were times when he missed the old Rita, if only because he knew what to expect. There had been rules with her. She saw things in black and white, right and wrong—period. Those kinds of attitudes he could understand. Now, like Sinclair, she came in colors. Not as many as Sinclair, though.
And she had to bring up Oliver, who had made a real difference to him. Oliver would tell him to get off his ass. He might have even kicked it if he’d have thought it would do some good.
Dawson remembered standing in the barn after he’d cleaned the entire thing and it smelled like fresh straw and was as clean as the first breath of morning. He had been trying to decide if he should stay on the ranch or go out and give the rodeo a try. The ranch was known and it was safe—the rodeo was a chance, with rewards that he’d dreamed about.
“You have to be willing to take a chance if you want anything in life. Everything is out there, kid—you just have to be willing to go after it. Take the leap, and when you catch the ring, hold on with everything you’ve got.”
At the time he’d thought Oliver was only talking about work, but he’d been talking about life. And Dawson was being stupid. Maybe that ring was Sinclair, and if he was lucky, it might just come around again.
He reached for his phone to bring up the messages from Sinclair, and it rang in his hand. “Yeah, Brad,” he said, already tensing, causing Georgia to jump to the floor. “What’s up?”