Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

A ngel shimmied and shook, pulled the dress up over her shoulders until she could reach the zipper. She missed it a couple of times, and then managed to grab it and bring it up. She smoothed her hands down the front of her body and looked at herself in the mirror without her wig. She didn’t look half bad.

Henry had once told her that his favorite color on her was purple, so today for his graduation, she wore a lavender dress with big, splashy, golden horses running across it. It felt fitting for the graduation at Sherman Academy, where this year three farriers who worked at Lone Star had earned certificates or degrees.

She and Daddy didn’t attend graduation every year, not even when they had men graduating who worked on the ranch, so she hadn’t known if she’d be able to go this year just for Henry. The employee handbooks had been delayed, and they had still not made any announcement about their relationship, and that hadn’t helped.

Then, like she did with most things, Angel had gone to her father to talk it through. In the end, he’d gotten her to admit that yes, she wanted to attend this graduation. Yes, just for Henry.

So he’d made the decision that they’d attend, and Angel appreciated her father for carrying some of that load.

She turned away from her reflection and picked up her wig cap to finish getting ready. She definitely sensed some growing unrest inside Henry over the lack of a dating announcement, but he hadn’t brought it up again. They’d continued sneaking off-site to meet, or he’d come over to her house late at night the way he had been.

With only one more week until June first hit and everything got mixed up, new farriers came on for the apprenticeship positions, and the summer internship positions began, Angel felt like her life was about to blow up one more time.

You have help in place this year , she told herself. But everyone, literally everyone, would be new at their job—including Angel—and she simply wasn’t sure how it would all play out.

She clipped her wig in place, slipped into her heels, and grabbed her purse before she left the house. Down the road a bit and around the corner, she came to the farmhouse where Daddy sat outside in his rocking chair, a book in his hand.

Angel sweated as she climbed the steps and said, “I should have driven over; it’s way too hot already.”

Daddy smiled at her, a brief gesture that only lasted a moment before it floated away. “It’s pretty warm today.” It had been warm in the Texas Panhandle for a while now, and Angel had lived here her whole life. But that didn’t mean she’d gotten used to it.

“How’s Momma this morning?” she asked as she sat in the chair her mother had once relaxed in.

“She’s doing fine,” Daddy said.

Angel let the silence sink into her soul. While her mind ran away from her, she carefully went through her shoulders and her back, trying to relax her muscles. “You sure look nice this morning,” Daddy said.

“Thanks.” Angel threw him one of his type of smiles: brief. “I can’t believe Flint is going to be gone next week.”

Flint was married and had three kids, and he’d been working as a master farrier for fifteen years, ten of those here at Lone Star.

“A lot of change is happening next week,” Daddy said, and the tension and stress that Angel had just relieved tightened up her muscles again.

“Should we go?” she finally asked.

Daddy set aside his book and got to his feet. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said, almost like he was marching into battle instead of going to see their friends, employees, and loved ones earn something significant. Angel didn’t comment on it; she let Daddy drive off the ranch and toward Sherman Academy.

“Do you ever miss it?” she asked as the tires bumped over the gravel road.

He glanced over to her, but she didn’t have to clarify what “it” was. Daddy had taught at Sherman Academy for many years while running Lone Star. Angel did guest lectures every now and then, and she’d done a class or two in the past, but nothing for a couple of years.

“They asked me to teach this fall,” she said. “I got an email about it yesterday.”

“Is that right?” Daddy asked. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Angel said. “I don’t love teaching.” And she didn’t. She liked being outside. She liked organizing schedules. She loved being with horses. “Depends on how many riding students I can get, I guess. I’d rather do that.”

Daddy grunted, which meant, It’s not always about what you want to do.

Angel knew that having a presence at Sherman Academy ensured that Lone Star got insider information about the best farriers in their program. They got access to their grades, could read the reports on their strengths and weaknesses, and they could try to get the best men to come to their boarding facility.

“I’m going to do that guest lecture at Amarillo State,” she said. “For the equine care and agricultural sciences program.”

“That’s great,” Daddy said. “It’s good to stay in touch with Herb.”

“Yeah,” she said. “He said they’ve got an unusually large crowd of students graduating this year who’ll need jobs next year.”

“Good,” he said. “We always need people who know what they’re doing with horses.” And that was true. Justin and Shad couldn’t be the foremen and barn managers forever. New men would have to move into those positions eventually.

The conversation stalled, and Angel’s worries did too as they continued to drive to the academy. They held their graduation in a huge horse arena with stands all along the side, and Angel had not been back to Three Rivers since February, but she knew Henry had told his parents and his family about their relationship.

So she automatically started looking for Chelsea, a new set of snakes growing in her gut. She had not even thought she might have to introduce her father to them today. How had she missed that?

“I don’t want to climb up too high,” Daddy said, and Angel started looking along the first couple of rows where she might find two seats.

In doing that, she spotted Chelsea’s dark hair and her bright red lips. She drew in a breath; she hardly made any noise, but Chelsea seemed to hear it, turned toward her, and zeroed in on her. Recognition lit her face, and she tugged on her husband’s arm.

Chelsea pointed at Angel, and she saw no way around it. Henry’s family sat about twenty yards to Angel’s left on the third row, and there was plenty of room beside them.

“Daddy,” she said carefully. “Can we sit by Henry’s parents?” She didn’t look away from Chelsea as she asked, and Daddy must have clued in on that.

He looked toward them too and said, “All right.”

Angel lifted her hand in a wave, and Chelsea pointed to the bleachers next to her. Angel nodded and held up two fingers to indicate that they just needed two seats. She helped Daddy up to the third row, and they started walking down.

“How are you, dear?” Chelsea asked when Angel reached her. She took her into a hug and did a little shimmy. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Angel wondered how Henry had felt walking into her parents’ house the morning after she’d made the promotion announcements. Did it feel like the sky might fall? Had he wondered if he’d make it out alive?

“You remember Pete,” Chelsea said as she leaned back so Angel could see him.

“Yes, of course. Hello, sir.” She shook his hand. “This is my daddy, Bard. Daddy, these are Henry’s parents, Chelsea and Pete Marshall.”

Pleasantries got exchanged, along with handshakes, and everybody sat down. Chelsea pushed on her husband’s chest, and he leaned back. “These are our other boys. Rich is our youngest. John is just older than him, and Paul is our oldest. That’s Paul’s fiancée, Brielle, down on the end.”

Angel nodded and smiled at all of them. “It’s great to meet you,” she said as she leaned forward to see them all. They all had hair in various shades of dark brown, and Angel catalogued that Henry’s was by far the darkest out of the boys. “Henry talks fondly of you all.”

“Does he now?” Paul said with a smile, and Angel wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“He’s real glad you could come, John,” Angel forged ahead. “He said you might not be able to with your new job this summer.”

“Yeah,” John said with a pleasant smile. “It worked out okay. Here for the weekend.” He had a good air about him, and Angel couldn’t quite remember where he’d traveled from, probably near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

She glanced over to Daddy, feeling like she sat on spikes instead of a flat bench. She looked out to the arena, where the dirt had been swept away to reveal the hard-packed earth underneath. Chairs had been set up in rows, and a stage had been erected with Sherman’s colors—red, white, and blue, to match the Texas state flag and the United States flag.

A general buzz rode in the air, and Angel breathed that in, trying to calm herself. She had attended graduations here before, and they didn’t take long.

Music started to play, and the graduates began marching out. Not very many women went into being farriers, but Angel caught a few of them wearing the bright royal blue robes that all the men wore.

“There’s Henry,” Chelsea said, pointing off to her left. “There he is, Pete. Do you see him?”

“I see ‘im,” his daddy said.

Angel saw him too. He wore his white cowboy hat, and he found his momma easily, who frantically waved her hand, and he returned the gesture.

When he saw Angel sitting there, she lifted her hand just up to her shoulder, and the smile vanished right off his face. It rebounded quickly, and he waved to her as well, then followed the line to where he sat in the second row.

President Wilson got up and spoke for a few minutes, and then someone who was earning his master farrier certificate, a man named Winston Bauble, spoke for about ten. After that, they started calling graduates’ names in alphabetical order.

Angel whistled and cheered for Cedric Davis, one of the apprentices who worked at Lone Star. And the closer Henry got, the harder her heartbeat pounded. She wasn’t even sure why. She simply liked being here, being able to celebrate with him, being in this special moment with him.

Though he stood a good hundred yards away from her, she sure did like him. She couldn’t wait to talk to him, lay in his arms, and ask him what was next in his life. Did he have any big dreams? Did he want to open his own boarding stable or his own farrier business?

She was pretty locked in at Lone Star, and he knew that, but she’d been thinking more and more about living off-site since he’d mentioned it.

Why couldn’t she do that? She didn’t have to live in that cabin. She could commute into work every day. Some of their interns and even their full-time apprentices did that, as they didn’t have room for everyone to live on-site.

They’d offered two apprenticeships this year, which was one more than they’d been able to do last year, mostly because Flint was leaving and because of their restructuring.

“Henry—Marshall,” the announcer said, and Angel got first-hand experience for how loud the Marshall family could be. She really felt like adding her applause and whooping wouldn’t do anything, but she did it anyway, satisfied when Daddy whistled and applauded as well.

The keenest, most powerful sense of pride Angel had ever felt marched through her as Henry confidently strode across the stage. He shook hands with the four men there, accepted his certificate, and just like everyone else—he wasn’t special—he turned toward the crowd and held up his degree.

His family went nuts again, but Angel clasped her hands together and held them at her throat. She’d never been in love before, and she wondered if this was what it felt like. Like his accomplishment was hers, and she suddenly realized that she had not prepared properly to celebrate this with him.

She knew how hard it was to graduate from farrier school. She’d seen countless men do it and double that amount drop out. Even more couldn’t even get in. Henry had gotten in. He’d stuck with it and graduated at the top of his class. He’d been their only apprentice last year, and within a year, he’d been promoted from team lead to captain. The man exuded charm and charisma, and everything about him was special to Angel. Her emotions wavered and shook and vibrated through her whole body, almost like she might burst into tears.

Did love do that to a person?

How could she be in love with someone after only three months of dating?

You’ve known him for a lot longer , she told herself. How long do you need anyway?

She worked with Henry every single day. They talked all the time. She knew about his work ethic. She knew about his religious commitment. She’d seen him with his family. He’d seen her with hers.

About the only thing they hadn’t talked about was marriage and kids, and she wasn’t really sure how he managed his money. She should probably talk to him about those things. But otherwise, Angel wasn’t really sure what other crucial conversations she needed to have to decide if Henry was worth sticking with. She sure liked him. She felt comfortable with him. He cared for her.

As he walked down the steps and off the stage, and somebody else took the spotlight, Angel couldn’t tear her eyes from him. Marriage was a real commitment. She knew that, but Henry didn’t seem afraid of it.

She wanted to talk to him about it. The fight-or-flight reflex inside of her wanted her to jump out of the stands and run toward him right now, leap into his arms, and start asking questions. She put her hands on her knees almost to keep herself in her seat.

As Henry made it back to his, the names continued to be called. After the four-year degrees, the special certificate ceremony started. They had an additional speaker, and Angel’s anxiety started to bleed through in the form of her foot tapping.

Daddy reached over and put his hand over hers. Angel looked at it, the way his skin was older and more weathered. She turned her hand over, curled her fingers into her daddy’s, and looked over at him with a smile. He looked at her with plenty of questions on his face, but he didn’t vocalize any of them. Angel wouldn’t have been able to answer anyway.

When Flint’s name was called, Angel jumped to her feet and cheered as loud as she could. Daddy whistled. And of course, Flint’s family was there to celebrate with him as well, a few rows back and to her left.

When everything ended, Angel breathed easier. She looked over to Chelsea and said, “Well, that sure was fun.”

“Yes, every one of these men has worked so hard for today.” Chelsea stood and shouldered her purse. “You guys are still okay if we come back to the ranch?”

Angel grinned at her and said, “I think there’ll be a riot if you don’t show up with the food.”

They laughed, and Angel turned to leave with her daddy. She wasn’t sure if she should stay to celebrate with Henry or not. Surely he would meet his family, and they’d hug and take pictures. She suddenly found herself wanting to be in them, wanting to be at his side, simply wanting to be in his orbit because he pulled her in so powerfully.

Before she could decide, she and Daddy went down the stairs, underneath the bleachers, and outside the arena when Henry called her name. She turned back and found him jogging toward her, his blue robes billowing behind him and revealing his black slacks and white shirt—what he might wear to church.

“Hey,” he said as he gathered her into his arms. He swept a quick kiss across her cheek and then moved right to Daddy and hugged him. “Thank you so much for coming, sir. Hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

Daddy grunted, this time in total surprise. Angel couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her daddy hug a cowboy, and she turned her face away to hide her smile. Henry stepped back, grinning from ear to ear, that powerful charm on full display.

“I’m gonna go meet my parents, but we’re still okay to come for lunch, right?”

“Yes,” Angel said. “Everyone’s counting on it. Tables are set and ready.”

He took her hand, his fingers strong and warm. “Do you want to come? I saw you sitting by them.”

Angel looked at Daddy. Daddy looked at her. And she met Henry’s eyes again. “Yeah, I want to come. Can I be in some of the pictures?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” He squeezed her hand, and maybe for the first time, Angel had one of those silent conversations that she’d seen her momma and daddy have. Thank you for inviting me to be in your graduation pictures.

“Come on, Daddy,” she said, taking his hand with her other one. “We don’t have to get back to the ranch anyway.”

“No,” Daddy grumbled. “But I don’t want to be in no pictures.”

Angel laughed and said, “That’s just fine, Daddy.” She released his hand, and he walked alongside her as she hugged Henry’s arm and said, “You looked so good up there, baby. You should have seen yourself walking across that stage.”

He laughed. “Yeah, you think so?”

“I’m really proud of you, Henry.”

He looked down at her, all of his joviality still there, but somehow a sense of sobriety fell over him too. “Thank you, Angel. I did work real hard for that.”

“Hey, there he is!” his daddy yelled, and the Marshalls descended upon them. Angel didn’t mind because they were so open and so warm. Chelsea chatted with her daddy while Henry introduced Angel around to his siblings one more time.

“All right, all right,” Daddy said. “Let’s take the pictures and go.” He held two phones in his hand and said, “You guys get all together. Everyone together. Then, Henry, we can take you with your momma and daddy and your brothers and sisters and maybe just you and Angel too.”

And that was when Angel knew that Daddy had accepted her relationship with Henry.

And if he had, surely the other cowboys at Lone Star would too.

And perhaps it was time for Angel to accept it—and take it out of the shadows.