I turned to see Lennon standing there in his Tumbleweed Feed shirt. He owned the feed store a few blocks down the road, having just officially taken over the building from the leasing company a few months ago. 

“Don’t ask.”

Lennon set an elbow on the side of my truck bed. “I take it you skipped the cafe?” 

“Long story.” I wasn’t in the mood to explain.

He lifted a chin toward the passenger side of the truck. “That for your place? I’ve never pegged you for a fancy coffee kind of guy.”

“It’s for Mom and Dad’s place. Theirs broke this morning.”

Lennon tried to hide his smile, but was terribly unsuccessful.

“What?” I asked.

“Just get it on recording when Dad sees the machine sitting in the kitchen. I’m begging.”

I rolled my eyes, closing the passenger door. “I’ve got to get to work.”

He hit the side of my truck bed twice, stepping away. “See you tonight?”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “Tonight?”

“You promised dinner with me and Oakley, remember?” 

“Right. Yeah. I’ll be there.” 

Lennon headed inside the grocery store as I rounded the truck to get in on the driver’s side to head toward my parents’ ranch. They lived on the outskirts of town on a massive property where they raised a decent number of cattle, grew hay, and ran their horse rescue. The volunteers helped majorly with the rescue load, but my dad was always out on the ranch taking care of things. With me and Reed almost always on the property for work, mine being the riding lessons and Reed being a farrier, we were typically the ones assisting him with various ranch chores.

I liked helping in general, but ask me to do anything on the ranch and I’d do it with a smile on my face.

About twenty minutes later, I was pulling up the long driveway to Bottom of the Buckle Ranch and killing the engine on my truck. The pressure in my chest eased with the feeling of being home, even though I was only out for barely an hour. Reed was bent over his horse's hoof by the red barn while our dad was stuffing something in his saddle bag. 

I got out, coming around the other side of my truck to grab the two boxes. 

“Damn horse threw another shoe again,” Reed grumbled from where he was hunched over.

“Might say something about the farrier,” Dad teased him.

Reed shot him a glare as I closed the passenger door with my shoulder. “He’s clumsy. Keeps stepping on his other foot and yanking it off.”

“Morning, guys,” I said to the two of them. 

Dad turned, his eyes dropping to the boxes in my hands. “What’s that?”

“New coffee machine,” I replied.

His eyes narrowed, inspecting the picture on the side. “Where’s the pot?”

I looked down at the side of the box, seeing the picture for the first time. “Good question.”

“It’s one of those fancy coffee machines,” Reed stated. “It doesn’t have a pot.”

“Then how the fuck do you make coffee out of it?” Dad asked.

Reed dropped the horse’s leg gently, standing to his full height with a frown. “Pods.”

“Pods?” Dad said it like he was trying the word out on his tongue.

“I thought the same thing,” I told him.

“Even I know what a coffee pod is,” Reed snided with an eye roll.

“I’m going to go set this up and see if I can figure it out,” I said. “I’ll be back out for my lesson in thirty minutes.”

They went back to their tasks, Dad heading inside the barn while Reed dug through his bag on the ground beside him. I headed inside the old farmhouse my parents had renovated, hoping that this machine would be easier to set up than it looked.

3

Sage

Iglanced at the clock, counting down the minutes until Gemma came in for the lunch hour so I could head home with Avery. As much as I disliked Gemma’s work ethic and attitude, I’d feel relieved when she walked through that door. After the morning rush had slowed down, I’d cleaned as best I could and made sure to wrap my finger after putting antibiotic ointment on the cut. 

It stung, but it would heal.

The cowbell strung above the door sounded and I looked up to see Lennon Bronson walking in. The man was a tall glass of water with his dirty blonde hair and baseball cap, but we’d always just been friendly to each other. He was dating one of my favorite customers who also happened to be his employee at the feed store. He and Oakley were perfect for each other, which made my mind wander to wishing I’d find my perfect person one day, too.

The last man in my life was far from it.

“How’s your day, Sage?” Lennon asked, approaching the counter.

I sighed, my shoulders drooping a bit as I let my defenses drop. I didn’t have to be my usual fake, cheery self to him. He wasn’t just some random customer, he was a friend.

“Do you really want to know?” My mind grew exhausted just thinking of having to rehash the day's events.

He chuckled, flashing a half smile. “From the sound of it, guess I don’t.”

Avery strided through the back door, a drawing in her hand as her eyes landed on Lennon. “Mr. Bronson! Do you wanna see my horse?”

“Is that even a question? Of course, I do.” He leaned toward her as she stepped up on the stool behind the counter, setting her drawing on the metal surface.

“I don’t know what to name him,” she said.

He picked up the paper like he was deep in thought, pressing his lips into a thin line. “Hmm. What are our options?”

She pushed her dark brunette hair out of her face, the color courtesy of her dad. Mine was more of an ash brown.

“Sparkle, Boots, and Pigeon,” she listed with confidence.