Before he was quite ready, they pulled into the ranch yard. After Jason got out, Casa tossed him the keys. “Here. You’ll be driving yourself again from now on, I reckon.”
Jason caught them neatly. Already he seemed to be past the brief but heady mix of beer and post-cast euphoria. He nodded. “Thanks for playing chauffer for me the past few weeks. It’s been hard, not being able to do that and a lot more, but I’ll be up to speed soon.”
Casa nodded, trying not to let the end of this brief period of closeness bother him. It had been too good to last. “Yep, can’t keep a good man down…”
As he started away, he was anything but and he didn’t dare look back to see if Jason had a similar reaction. If there had been a few more miles between town and the ranch, who knows what might have happened. A couple of times he had sensed Jason was about to reach across the cab and—But no, that was foolish, wishful thinking.