He Let Them Think She Was His novel · Chapter 9 of 32

Chapter 9: The Shipping Pens

Jesse's POV

My mother's pulse was steady by midnight and the doctor sent her home with a new prescription and a warning.

By four in the morning I was at the shipping pens, because the steers still had to load.

That was how I knew Ward would be there.

He was always at the pens on a Monday, in his good hat, leaning on the rail with a thermos.

He liked to watch other men do the work.

I walked straight up to him in the dark.

"Dad."

"Son." He poured coffee into the thermos cap and held it out. "Your mother's resting. Thank God. I owe Abby for that."

"You owe Abby a lot more than that."

His hand stayed out with the cup in it.

I didn't take it.

"I'm telling her tonight," I said. "All of it."

Ward lowered the cup and screwed it back on the thermos, slowly.

The nearest hand was fifty yards off, hazing steers up the chute, and nobody could hear us over the bawling.

"No," he said, pleasantly.

"It's not your call."

"It's exactly my call." He leaned back against the rail. "Let me say it plain. Your mother has two stents and a doctor who says another shock may be her last."

"You watched her go down at that table."

"Because of what you said."

"Because of what Abby asked." He didn't raise his voice.

He never had to.

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend