Page 58 of Falling Back to You

I called out to Reese, “I’m gonna change and brush my teeth.” In my bedroom, I unplugged my phone and typed out a text message.

Dial

Thank you.

Ozzie

’Twas nothing.

Dial

It felt like a whole lot of something to me.

Ozzie

I just hope it makes your day a little bit brighter.

Dial

Smiles were had.

Ozzie

Happy Sunday, Dial.

Maple and I made our way to town after I picked her up from the sleepover.

“When do I get to drive?”

“You’re seven.”

“Sometimes Daddy lets me sit on his lap and turn the wheel.”

“I didn’t need to know that, but tooling around on the ranch is very different from driving on a busy road.”

“The roads are never busy in Hume.”

“Fair enough.”

“When did you learn to drive?”

“I was ten.”

In the rearview mirror, I could see her mouth drop open. “Ten isn’t that far off from seven.”

“If you need to get somewhere, you can run or ride a horse.”

“Daddy said he thinks I’m ready for my first competition.”

“What do you think?”

“I think Hazel and I would put on a show.” Both her parents had confidence to spare, so it was no surprise she’d get a double dose.

“You look good in your classes. But remember, this is supposed to be fun, and the minute it’s not, you can walk away.”

Maple was a part of the Junior Equestrian Riding program at Palmer Ranch. She’d grown up around horses, so it was only fitting she’d want to ride them one day. I think Ozzie secretly hoped she’d follow in his footsteps and become a horse trainer. But he never pushed or pressured her, just showed her the basics of grooming, feeding, and cleaning and hoped she’d take to it.

In contrast, Oz’s father had made it clear in no uncertain terms that he was expected to work at the ranch after high school. When we were teenagers, Ozzie would’ve already put in hours of labor before settling into homeroom. He was up at five in the morning to tend to his horses. Most school days he couldn’t keep his eyes open. As far as Ernest Palmer was concerned, all paths led to the ranch, and Ozzie was considered foolish for wanting to pursue anything else. He was good at so many things—steer roping, football, and knitting, just to name a few. But he wasn’t allowed to fully devote time to any of them because the ranch always came first.