Chapter 15

He shook his head and said, “I’m not interested in your being sorry, young man. I’m interested in your enjoying what you have and keeping it close to your heart.”

“Which is what you had with Marcus, right?”

The cowboy nodded his head, blinked a few times, knuckled his ear again, and said, “Exactly. Those were the best years of my life, and I can’t return to them. Life isn’t about time traveling, my friend. My remarkable years with Marcus were a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

“Is that what you think I have with Pax?”

He shrugged and said, “Maybe. Maybe not. Don’t know as of yet.”

Before he started walking away from Merwanda and me, heading back across the chilly barnyard to the main house, settling into his daily chores, I asked him, “Can you tell me something, Blake?”

“Only if you ask it.”

“Pax—do you think he’ll ever remember that he’s straight?”

He let out a low chuckle, shrugged again, wiggled his finger deep in his ear, and said, “Only time will tell, my friend.”