It was hard to look him in the eye because I knew he was right. I needed to get away but didn’t know what I’d do without the hospital. “What about Uncle Dale?” My father’s brother, a veterinarian, lived on a ranch in Montana, one that I had visited as a kid. The owners, Redman and Bea, were friends of my grandparents. We visited the Walker Ranch during the summers when I was a kid, but now my uncle lived there.
“Dale could use some help and they have the space. It’s beautiful there this time of year. You could fish. Remember how to do that?” He smiled.
“What, and help Dale deliver calves?”
“Something like that. You’re not above that, are you?” My father’s expression was one of disappointment. It was the first time I had seen that look in his eyes in a long while. The last time he seemed disappointed was when I was seventeen and I drove my mom’s car over her flowerbed in the front yard. That look made me feel small.
My jaw clenched. “No, Dad, I’m not. I’ll go.”
“That’s my boy.” He patted me on the back.
Even as reluctant as I was at the idea, two days later I was packed and ready to go. Frankie was going to live in my apartment and take care of my cat while I was gone. His brisk knock came promptly at six a.m.
“Hey, brother.” He gave me a sideways hug and dropped a large duffel bag in the entryway. He looked around and said, “Wow, you still haven’t decorated this place?”
“Haven’t had time.”
“You bring women back here?”
“Haven’t had time.”
“It’s not like it’s hard for you. You’re a doctor, and you look like . . .” He waved his hand around at me. “You look like that.”
“It hasn’t been on the top of my priority list.” My cat jumped onto the couch in front of us. “Anyway, that’s my girl.”
“Wrong kind of pussy, man. What’s her name again?”
“Gogo.”
He laughed. She went up to him, purring, and rubbed her back on his hip. He shooed her with his hand. “Go-go away.”
“You better be nice to her.”
“She’ll be fine. This situation is kind of pathetic; I don’t know why I agreed to stay here. This apartment and that cat are going to kill my sex life. You might as well get five cats now and just quit. Seriously, Nate, when was the last time you got laid?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go. Are you gonna take me to the airport or what?”
“Tell me.” He began moving toward me.
“A while,” I said, towering over Frankie’s five-foot-five frame.
“Jenny, that neonatal nurse told me that she would be willing to pay you to let her suck your dick,” he said, pointing at my crotch dramatically.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re weird, man. You look like a model and women are lining up for you and you haven’t had sex since when? Tell me.”
“I don’t know. Olivia, I guess.”
“What?” His voice was high. “That was five fucking years ago at least. That is not normal.”
Shaking my head, I finally laughed. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”
I landed at Great Falls International Airport in the early afternoon. I had brought one small carry-on suitcase and my laptop—nothing else. When my aunt Trish pulled up to the curb, she rolled down the passenger-side window of her gray dually. I hadn’t seen her in eight years, but she looked exactly the same.
She lifted her sunglasses in a dramatic gesture and said, “Well, well, look at you, all grown up. Get in here, you handsome thing.”
Once I was inside the truck, she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
“Hi, Aunt Trish.”
As she pulled away from the curb she shook her head, her blond curls bouncing around. “It’s been too long, dammit. I know you and your pop have been busy but we miss you out here. Your uncle Dale misses your father so much.”
“It’s been hard to get away.”
She glanced over and pursed her lips. “Is that so?”
I smiled sheepishly.
“Well, you’re here now. Redman and Bea and your uncle will be thrilled to see you.”
We drove across miles of land as the sun slowly sank toward the horizon. I looked out the passenger window toward a field and saw a few pronghorn antelope grazing.
“Stunning creatures,” I said.
“Yes, they’re gorgeous.”
“God, it’s really beautiful out here, isn’t it?”
“You’ve been trapped in that concrete jungle for too long. You’ll feel more alive out here. The clean air gets into your bloodstream.” A beatific smile etched across her face. “You’ve changed a lot since the last time I saw you.”
“How’s that?” I asked.
“You’re thinner.”
“I work out.”
She chuckled. “You do that L.A. kind of workin’ out. I see those muscles, honey, but those are skinny muscles. We’re gonna beef you up out here.”
I laughed. “Okay, Aunt Trish.”
“When we get to the ranch, I’ll show you around and introduce you to the other folks we have there with us. We’re puttin’ you to work—you know that, right?” She looked over and winked.
I looked down at my smooth, hairless hands. Prized surgeon hands were not meant to shovel shit on a ranch but I smiled at her anyway. “Who lives there with you all now?”