Linda Warren – Tomas: Cowboy Homecoming (страница 10)
“No, no.” She shook her head. “You keep it. You earned it, my son. You’re the hero.”
Suddenly, there was that silence he dreaded. He glanced at their familiar faces and saw the look he dreaded, too—hero worship. He shoved the medal into his pocket and took a step backward. “I’m not a hero. Michael is. I did what I was trained to do. Anyone here would have done the same thing. Any marine in my unit would have done the same thing.”
Uncle Josh put his arm around Tuf’s shoulders. “But no one in your unit covered Michael’s body. No one in your unit ran back for him. They were running for the chopper and safety. You did that. Why is hero so hard for you to accept?”
“Because you’re looking at me different. I’m not different. I’m still the annoying younger brother.”
Ace approached him on the left side. “Yep, you’re still that annoying kid who had the nerve to wear my best boots to a rodeo, like I wouldn’t see the mud and the scuffs. But you’ll forgive me if I see a man where a boy used to stand.”
“Yeah.” Colt moved closer.
Dinah, Beau and Duke echoed the sentiment.
Some of the tension left him. “I know none of you understood my reasons for joining the marines, but when Dad died, I lost my love of rodeo. It wasn’t the same without him there. I was always in the shadows of my brothers and cousins. I had to get away to find my own niche in life. I just never planned on being away so long.” He sucked air into his starved lungs. He never talked this much. Ever. “I’m home now and I’m ready to start rodeoing again to help out.” He looked at Ace. “Just how bad are the finances?”
After a round of hugs and shaking hands, he, Ace and their mom walked to the office. For the next two hours, they went over the books with Leah. They’d leased three thousand acres to a man from Texas who was always late with the lease money. That put a strain on making the payment on a three-hundred-thousand-dollar note at the bank. Seemed the economy, a flood and bad decisions made by their father had left the ranch deep in debt.
Tuf rose from his chair. “I’ll go to the house and get my checkbook. I have some money in my account, and I’ll sign it over to the ranch.”
“Absolutely not,” his mom said.
“Sorry, Mom, it’s my money and I can do what I want with it and I can sell my truck.”
“Slow down,” Ace advised. “You’re going to need a dependable truck if you start rodeoing.”
“Yeah. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Ace patted his back. “I’m sorry I was short with you earlier.”
“Come on, Ace, don’t do that. Don’t treat me with kid gloves. You’ve never done that before.”
Ace nodded. “Okay, then get your ass to rodeoing and see how much money you can win.”
“That I can do.”
“But I want you to know I’m proud of what you did for Michael. Dad would be, too.”
“Thank you.” Emotions clogged his throat for a second, and he wondered why it had been so hard to open up and share his experience with his family. In the end it had been cathartic.
His family might look at him differently, but he knew they would never treat him differently.
That he could handle.
Chapter Five
Most of January Tuf busied himself learning the rodeo contracting business. Leah had a huge whiteboard in the office listing rodeos and horses and bulls to be delivered to said rodeos. He didn’t see Midnight’s name on the board. His mom hadn’t made her decision yet.
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