Maybe he’d shut an internal door to protect his heart, but he’d never thought his belief that love was too risky would shut Evie out.
He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling stupid. “How is this just like old times?”
Roddy leaned on the stall door, regarding Hayden with a wry grin as he petted the calf. “Caught you a couple times when you were a kid sleeping in here with that young bull of yours. What was his name? Snot? Snotty?”
“Bucksnort.” Snort for short. Hayden smiled, heartened by the memory as he got to his feet. “I won a lot of livestock shows with him.” The bull had been as tame as a sleepy kitten, just like this young calf. “Whatever happened to Snort?” Bulls didn’t live as long as horses. He expected Snort to have died by now.
“After you left, Clyde put him out to pasture somewhere. That’s the last I saw of him.”
“So…” Hayden took gentle hold of Mike’s muzzle, looking him in the eyes. “This could be—”
“The Son of Snot.” Roddy’s grin widened.
“Hardy-har.” Hayden gave Mike a few affectionate pats on the rib cage. “I’d like to think this little fella is Bucksnort the Second.”
“Chances are that your little buddy here is third- or fourth-generation Snotty,” Roddy teased.
“Dare I ask?” Evie appeared behind Roddy, holding a coffee travel mug. She had on blue jeans, plus a teal T-shirt beneath that brown jacket of hers. “Why are we talking about mucous?”
“Don’t ask,” both Roddy and Hayden replied.
“Did you sleep out here?” Evie offered Hayden the travel mug. “Katie was worried when she woke up and didn’t find you in your…our bedroom this morning.”
“Oh, he slept out here, all right,” Roddy answered before Hayden could. The old cowhand was enjoying this immensely. “I can see why you married him, ma’am. He’s a good nursemaid. Bet he can change diapers too.”
Evie’s gaze locked onto Hayden’s. Her words about kissing leading to love returned to him.
I won’t be playing nursemaid to our babies.
He was struck by a wave of melancholy at the thought, as if he had…regrets about guarding his heart from Evie. The irony of that feeling wasn’t lost on Hayden.
I’ll only ever be nursemaid to livestock.
Roddy must have made a noise, because both Hayden and Evie stared at the old cowhand. Hayden couldn’t remember a day at the ranch that Roddy hadn’t been there. He couldn’t imagine a day when Roddy wouldn’t be there.
That’ll be me someday. Old and alone.
The thought didn’t appeal. But neither did another broken heart.
Which leaves me…
Stuck.
Chapter Fourteen
There was an unfamiliar truck and an unhitched horse trailer in the ranch yard when Hayden and Roddy returned from loading a trailer full of livestock and delivering to the auction yard.
“Texas plates,” Hayden said to Roddy after getting out of his truck and Roddy got out of the hauler they used to pull the double-decker livestock trailer. “Must be Rhett.” His next-to-youngest brother, a single dad and an experienced ranch foreman.
Hayden’s mind had been drifting a lot today, from the memory of holding Evie and what might be if their marriage vows were sincere, to the doubt he was the right man for her. Evie could have any man she wanted.
“Looks like your brother brought a bunch of horses with him.” Roddy gestured toward one of the paddocks outside the barn where three brown horses watched them with interest. “More mouths to feed.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage.” With the livestock auction looming, Hayden held out hope for a positive financial outcome. They unloaded their horses from the trailer hitched to Hayden’s truck. It wasn’t long before they had a visitor in the barn.
Rhett strode into the breezeway. He was taller than Hayden, thinner than Hayden, and looked more rested than Hayden. “You couldn’t tell me you got married, bro?”
“I’ve been busy.” Hayden carried his saddle, pad, and bridle into the tack room. He placed the bridle on a hook, the saddle on a rack, and then turned his saddle pad upside down so it could dry on top of his saddle. Finally, he turned and drew his brother into a fierce hug. “It’s good to have you here.”