Cowboys Mine Read Free Page B

steaks.”
    “Hey!”
    He laughed, tugging her pigtail as he walked off. “Your
dad’s lending us the motorhome. I’ll come after breakfast tomorrow and get it
hooked up to my truck.”
    “See ya.”
    She planned to stop by their ranch after dinner and
do what she could to help. She could clean, cook, bring in firewood, and do a
million other things. Their mother shouldn’t have to suffer because Eva was
taking her sons away for a week. It was the least she could do.
    ****
    North was ready to drop after pulling off his boots.
He’d harvested more fields in one day than he’d ever done, hoping to get as
much as possible finished before following Eva down to the city. The timing was
shit, but he had no choice in the matter now. They’d made a promise to Mr. Ford
and had to follow through.
    Colton was in the shower, the static of water loud
when he entered the quiet bungalow. He’d wanted to jump in himself, but he’d
just wait until morning. His mother’s door was open, and when he peered inside
it was empty.
    “Ma?”
    There was no one else in the house, and he wondered
where she was since her car was parked out front. He was tired of the lies,
guessing games, and constant sneaking around.
    North had saved extra for a rainy day, harvesting
neighbors’ fields during his free time. He’d left the money on the kitchen
table in the morning so his mother wouldn’t have to worry while they were gone.
She’d be able to pick up any supplies, groceries, or gas she needed.
    The money was gone.
    He opened the fridge since she hadn’t made anything
for dinner. The white interior blinded him, only condiments and a drawer full
of apples available. He closed it with a rattle and decided he was too tired to
care. All he wanted to do was get to bed.
    The front door opened, the cool breeze sneaking in.
“Hey,” said Colton, tossing his Stetson onto the hall table. He began tugging
off his boots.
    North frowned. “I thought you were in the shower.”
    “Just finished bringing in the livestock.”
    Panic welled up inside him. He rushed over to the
bathroom and pounded on the door. “Ma, you in there?”
    When there was no response, he banged on the door
more, the entire frame rattling. She had to be in the bathroom.
    Colton joined him, bracing a hand against the wall
beside the door. “Ma, open the door or we’re breaking it down.”
    The shower was still going strong, humidity escaping
from underneath the door. They looked to each other, a silent agreement passing
between them. North reared back and rammed the door with his side and shoulder.
It crashed open, the hinge snapping from the pressure. The shower curtain was
half pulled off the bar and their mother was lying naked in the tub unconscious,
the water streaming down on her body.
    Colton grabbed a towel off the rack and dropped to
his knees, covering her nudity and pulling her upper body up. North turned off
the water.
    “Ma, wake up! Talk to me,” Colton shouted, lightly
patting her cheeks.
    North noticed the empty bottles of pills on the
tiles, a few spilled out. His fears vanished and numbness took over. “She’s
fucking wasted.” He kicked the bottles before knocking in the cupboard under
the sink with his heel.
    Colton carried her to her room, coming out a few
minutes later. “She’s okay. She’s talking,” he said.
    “I ain’t worried,” he lied.
    His brother exhaled. “She promised to stop. She’s
gonna take Aunt Laura’s offer to get help in Newcaster.”
    North paced the room, throwing up his hands in
defeat. “And you fucking believe her? She spent all the damn food money on
pills again. What else is new? I’m sick and tired of her so-called promises.”
    “You’ll get her upset if she hears you.”
    “What about me? Am I not allowed to get upset ? Do you think it’s normal to come
home and find your mother high as a kite and nearly drowned in the bathtub,
Colt?”
    His peripheral vision caught movement to the right.
Their mother was