Page 103 of Forever Enough
“You’d walk away on top?” I asked, not missing how my father was side-eyeing me. It also wasn’t lost on me that I was doing the very same thing.
Uncle Ty smirked. “Why not? The bulls don’t care one way or the other. I’m getting old, Bradly. My wife wants me home, my only son is planning a career for himself that I didn’t see coming. My daughter is pregnant, and Kaylee is questioning why everyone in the Shaw family must pursue careers filled with danger. A man knows when it’s time to take the road to the left. Or right, whichever you prefer.”
Dad chuckled, and I grinned.
“I can see her point. Firefighter isn’t exactly a safe job.”
Uncle Ty pointed at me. “I think she’d actually prefer that than what you do.”
I glanced at Dad, who gave me a single nod.
“Speaking of what I do. This is my last weekend.”
Ty raised a brow. “For?”
“My career as a professional bull rider. I decided before Christmas I no longer had the heart or desire to keep riding. I talked to Dad and Lewis about it, then spoke with Mom, and after Dad suggested I take a play out of Uncle Brock’s book, I’m going to win this weekend and quit.”
Uncle Ty smiled and slowly shook his head. “Go out on top and on your own terms. Are you sure he isn’t Brock’s kid?”
Dad laughed.
“I could have taken the championship last year, but my heart wasn’t in it and I made some stupid mistakes. The decision to walk away is easier than I thought it would be. I think Mackenzie has something to do with that. The fact that our family is growing played a big part as well. I miss being home.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, son,” Uncle Ty said. “I support your decision a hundred percent, and I know the rest of the family will as well. The only thing that matters is that you’re happy with the decision.”
“I am,” I said with a firm nod. “May I ask you both a question about your relationships with Mom and Aunt Kaylee?”
They both fidgeted in their seats but said yes.
“You and Mom always say it wasn’t easy at first, that it was rocky. Did you know she was the one, though? In your heart, did you know?”
Dad scrubbed his chin for a moment before he spoke. “I think a part of me deep down knew, but I was afraid. Don’t ask me what I was afraid of or why. I was young, had everything I wanted in life. Money, women, a job I loved. I’d made some stupid decisions in my life. One of them was competing for things that I had no business competing for.”
Dad and Uncle Ty exchanged a knowing look before my father went on.
“I was an idiot, Bradly, and I almost lost your mother. I didn’t see what I had. Or maybe I did and that scared the hell out of me. I don’t know. All I know for certain is that your mother saved me, and she gave me two of the greatest gifts I’ve ever been given.”
I smiled and blinked back tears.
The thought of my mother and father not being together was something I’d never thought of before reading her journal. Looking at them now, you’d have never thought they’d a rocky start. I knew my mother had been pregnant with me before they got married, and I’d often wondered about that story but never asked. They were crazy in love and happy, so what difference did it make how they got there.
Looking at Uncle Ty, I asked, “And did you know the moment you met Kaylee?”
He laughed. “Hell yes, I did, and it scared the living shit out of me.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why were the two of you so afraid?”
They both shrugged.
“I was pretty messed up mentally after my accident. I had to give up my career, and I wasn’t happy about it. I had to sit back and watch Brock and Dirk do what I wanted to do. I had a lot of anger—and I mean a lot of it. I pretty much was living my life as one big pity party until Kaylee swooped in and turned my world upside down. Man, we fought like cats and dogs at first.”
I dropped back in my seat, surprised. “You did?”
Dad and Uncle Ty laughed.
“Yes. Let me tell you, Kaylee set me down a few times, and I think I fell in love with her more and more every time we fought. The more I resisted, the harder I fell.”
“But you eventually gave in to love?”