“Dottie? You in here?” she called out.
“Right here, sweetheart. I saw you two out riding, so there’s milk heating on the stove for cocoa. Come in here and warm up by the fire.”
Dottie pulled her into a big hug. Nobody gave hugs like Dottie. She held on a little longer than usual, and then kissed her cheek. “Everything okay with you, honey?”
“I’m okay, but I don’t think Billy is,” she said, biting her lip. “He’s out of sorts.”
“Pancakes didn’t go so well?”
“No, the pancakes were fine.” Renie laughed. “I figure you had a hand in them.”
“He called and asked me how to make them. In the time he took to write the directions, I could’ve ridden over, made them, and ridden back home.” Dottie chuckled. “It seemed important to him.”
“He made bacon too.”
Dottie raised her eyebrows.
“The kitchen looks like a war zone, and the main weapon used by both sides was flour.”
“I can picture it.”
“I don’t think that’s his problem, though.”
“I’ve been waiting for this day to come.”
Renie nodded, and looked out the window. Billy was headed their way, which meant she didn’t have time to ask Dottie what she’d been waiting for. Had they been waiting for the same thing—for Billy to realize Renie was no longer a little girl?
“Hey, Mama,” Billy said, coming in the back door and shedding his gloves and jacket as Renie had.
“How’d the pancakes go this morning?”
He glared at her, which made Renie laugh. “Billy, I’ve known you most of my life, and I’ve never seen you cook anything. Did you think I’d believe you whipped them up all on your own?”
“What are you two doing today? Besides cleaning the kitchen?” Dottie winked at Renie.
“I’m beginning to think I made a mistake buying the house next door.”
“Oh stop. You love livin’ next door to your mama.” Dottie patted his cheek.
She was right, he did. He’d loved Liv’s house since they built it on the open ranch land next to his parents’ place when he was a little boy.
The house he bought from Renie’s mom had two floors, the main one, where the kitchen, family room, master bedroom, and two other bedrooms were. On that floor there were two big stone fireplaces, both were double-sided. One was between the kitchen and the family room, the other was between the master bedroom and bathroom. Those fireplaces were among his favorite things about the house.
On the lower level, there were three more bedrooms, and another double-sided fireplace that opened to the deck outside the walkout great room.
The house had three bathrooms on the main floor and another three on the lower level. Billy doubted he’d ever set foot in more than two of them. The hundred acres the house sat on, bordered his parents’ land, so technically he lived next door, although a big, forested hill sat between the two ranches.
3
Billy wrote a text to Renie. Not going this weekend.
Why not?
Feeling off.
Why?
He wasn’t sure, but things had been off for him for most of the year. At the end of the previous year, he was the saddle bronc champ. This year he considered retiring. He knew it would mentally be worse for him to go out this weekend and have another crappy showing, than it would be for him to stay home and try to get his head on straight. He didn’t know where to start. So many things in his life weren’t working right.