The Healing Ranch

Chapter 36

The next few weeks after they got home flew by. Both Tate and Megan fell into the easy routine they had been in before but there was tension in the air. No one actually mentioned anything, but Megan could see that Tate was missing Texas a lot more than he let on.

"Morning Megs." He murmured as he blew through the door one morning for breakfast. March had come into Montana with a cold snap and a few blizzards; not the best way to be preparing for the start of calving season.

"Good morning. Anything out of place out there?" She asked as she finished cooking up the scrambled eggs she was making. She was tired, more so than when they had been in Texas and she couldn't figure out if it was the increased workload, the cold, or the constant tension between her and Tate that had started ever since they got back. She guessed it was a combination of the three.

"Nope. Sure wish this awful weather would lighten up though. How anyone expects us to have healthy calves while being dumped on with snow like this is beyond me. There's a couple cows that should be calving in a day or two and if this keeps up I'm not sure we will be able to save them." Megan grimaced a little at the tone in his voice. Almost all of his life, Tate had been ranching in Texas, moreover a part of Texas that never saw snow. He didn't get the resilience ranchers out here had to have. They had to check night and day to make sure calves weren't born and freezing, and when they were they had to try and move heaven and earth to get them back to health. It wasn't easy but it was rewarding and Megan knew that they very well might loose just as much calves as they saved if the weather kept up like this.

"Yeah? There's been worse years. We will get through it somehow." Her reply was soft, and devoid of any tone, but Tate seemed to stiffen at the comment.

"Yeah well aren't you guys great for getting through all those worse years. In Texas we don't have to worry about things like this and it's a lot easier on the cattle and the humans." With that he turned on his heel and disappeared into the bathroom to wash up. Megan bit her cheek and sighed. She knew Tate wasn't totally happy here; he missed Texas. Now that he had gone back, he missed it more than ever and it was taking him quite a bit to adjust not being around his family again. The weather was just one more reason for him to hate it here. They ate breakfast in silence and when Megan started clearing the table, Tate grabbed his hat and headed for the door again.

"Where are you off to?" She called towards him, but instead of answering he just opened the door to welcome a blast of cold air and snow before slamming it closed behind him. Megan sighed again, and quickly did the dishes before moving to the window. Despite the snow falling thickly, the wind had stopped, making it easier to see. She could just see the gloomy shape of the mountain peaks surrounding their valley and she felt her heart fill at the sight. She loved this place more than anywhere in the world, and she didn't understand the way Tate had been feeling towards it. She knew without a doubt that she could never move from here and she worried what might happen if Tate decided he had to go back to Texas. Just then her cell phone rang causing her to jump before answering it.

"Megan! We haven't talked in a while." Caroline's voice echoed over the phone and Megan smiled at the sound of it. She missed Tate's family a lot, but it still didn't compare to how she missed home when they had been in Texas.

"Yeah it's been a few weeks. You've talked to Tate though right?" She hadn't talked to Caroline since a couple days after they had gotten home, but she knew Tate called home often. After having nothing to do with his family for three years, he was making up for lost time now.

"Yeah. He seems to be doing... okay." Megan heard the hesitation in Caroline's voice and knew that she had either picked up on the fact that Tate was upset, or Tate had told her himself how he hated it here.