Page 50 of Hometown Cowboy
Gabe’s grin untangled the bundle of nerves in his gut. “I don’t want to shake you around too much. Can’t have you falling apart on me any worse than you have already.”
“True that.”
Ryan watched part of his herd grazing in the paddock on his right. “Have the cows been a problem? I know you’re pretty busy yourself.”
Gabe shrugged. “Nah. Em and Darby have been helping out, plus Simon and Max when they have the chance. Dad’s been here a fair bit too. He seems to think it’s his new job.”
A wave of unexpected emotion rose and threatened to close Ryan’s throat. He swallowed and blinked quickly to relieve sudden blurry vision.
“Thank you.”
His response was quiet, but Gabe heard him clearly. “You know we’re always here for you. All of us. You’re the fourth Jameson son.”
Ryan tried to laugh off his unusually emotional response. Gabe had been calling him that since high school.
“Oh, and Mum has filled your freezer with meals-to-go. She spent days cooking. The damned thing is brimming over. I’d say you have at least three months’ worth of food in there. Plus treats. I don’t know why she cooked you treats too.”
Ryan’s laughter filled the opulent cabin of the comfy car. “Because I’m special.”
He pushed at the leather seats to distract himself from his weirdly circular thoughts about the Jamesons.
“I like the fancy new ride you’ve got yourself.”
They turned past his mother’s house to head up his personal driveway.
“Em traded-in her ute. Said we don’t need two, so it gave her a nudge to go pick something a little more comfortable.” Gabe patted the steering wheel. “I like it. It’s great on trips.”
Ryan nodded in agreement. The trip back had been more comfortable than he’d expected, given his injuries. It was easy to forget you were in a car.
“I hope Bill won’t knock me over on my crutches.” His kelpie got a little rambunctious if he was away more than an hour, as if he’d been gone for years and had left him behind. He always got a super-excited welcome home any time he went to town without him.
“He’s over at my place. I’ll drop him off later. Although he might not want to come home. Emma’s been spoiling him rotten.”
Ryan nodded and glanced up and forgot to breathe.
Sitting in grand glory in front of his house was a brand-spanking new tractor. If he wasn’t wrong, it was the very brand and model he’d had his eye on for years.
A bright scarlet bow the size of a small car perched precariously on its bonnet.
“What the hell?”
Gabe’s grin showed no remorse. “Welcome home.”
Ryan was certain his heart had stopped. At least it had faltered drastically and now pounded, the rush of blood loud in his ears.
Gabe pulled up right next to it and Ryan grabbed his crutches and gingerly got himself out of the car to stand in front of the gleaming beauty. He faced his friend, disbelieving.
“You didn’t…”
Gabe looked up from pulling out Ryan’s bag from the back seat. “No. I didn’t. It wasn’t me. Well, notallme.” He threw the bag over his shoulder and stood beside Ryan, admiring the machine before them. “Some locals decided old Betsy needed to retire before she killed you, and they held a fundraising dinner a couple of days after you got hurt.” He reached over and patted the rear wheel arch. “We had enough to buy this for you, plus feed for the herd and some seed with the left-over money.”
Ryan couldn’t help it. He breathed deep and tried to grind down any emotion, but it leaked out his eyes, clouding them so he couldn’t see.
“Who?” he managed to choke out.
Gabe finally realised the extent of the emotional puddle standing beside him. He threw an arm around Ryan’s shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, it’s okay. Would you believe, there were so many at the dinner that they had to put tables out on the terrace of the Environmental Lodge? Everyone contributed. We all thought it was worth parting with a few bucks to keep you with us. I’d happily burn that bastard of a tractor on a pyre, but I got vetoed. The others thought you might like to light the match.”
His attempt at lightening the moment helped a little. Ryan spoke through his tears. “You’re not burning Betsy. She can retire in the veggie patch as an ornament or something.”