Chapter 22 Lina #2
Dad continued, “I should have said something.” A furrow was deepening between Dad’s brows. He was not enjoying this conversation. “His only surviving son, Jack Matheus, perished in the fire. Jack’s wife and kids moved away after that happened. I didn’t think I’d ever see any of them again.”
“Did you know who Jesse was when you hired him?” Jude asked.
I looked toward the hallway where Hazel had disappeared with Penn. No wonder she was willing to step out. I’m glad Dad told her privately before telling us.
“I did.” A look of guilt washed over his face, his mustache turning down in a frown.
“I knew there were some hard feelings between our families, but I was willing to set it aside, thinking time healed all, and this was a good way to repair old wounds. I didn’t realize Jesse knew the family history, but I suppose he would have been old enough to remember the fire.
He was a hard worker and took great care of the herd.
When I was moving Dad into assisted living, I told him, and he warned me, but I didn’t listen.
I should have listened. He warned me that the Matheuses felt as though they still had a claim to the land. ”
“Did Hazel know this at the time?” I asked, because I certainly didn’t. But I wasn’t the one dating Jesse.
“I let her know. She did tell me that he’d make comments every once in a while that he was mad that we let the old Matheus homestead become a burn pile, that we let the sagebrush grow over what remained and never rebuilt it.
But when Jack was killed and the family left, I thought they were gone for good. There was no reason to rebuild.”
“Then Jesse was killed, Junior was harassing Romy—assaulted her—and let the horses out.” Jude’s face was growing red, his hands balling into fists on his thighs.
Romy stalled in her massage of Jude’s shoulder, her own body going rigid. The whole room went tense.
“Fuck,” I said under my breath, putting all the pieces together. My heart beat wildly. “Junior’s behind this.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Reed said.
I shot him a look. “We don’t bullshit here.” I could tell he’d already put the pieces together even though he was still new to Thornbrush. Anyone who was here long enough could see there was more going on.
“He seems to like digging his claws in,” Reed commented, glancing at Jude.
He jerked his head toward Romy behind him. “I told her,” he confirmed. “She knows about your ex-wife and Junior.”
I watched Reed’s face turn hard, and I could feel my own fury building for him, Penn, and my own family. “This is so fucked up!” I cursed.
“Yeah, it is,” Romy agreed, her voice carrying an edge to it. “Junior should’ve been charged with obstruction of justice, not just breaking a restraining order.”
“For real.” We were on the same page.
“Is there more?” Jude asked, leveling Dad with a look that was so reminiscent of ‘The Bull,’ his cage fighting persona.
“All of that being said, I think Junior may be behind the vandalism. He has the motive.”
A thought dawned on me. “Do you think he’s using your ex-wife?” I asked Reed. “Maybe he thinks he has some sort of in to get what he wants since he knows you’re working here.”
Reed’s eyes grew darker than usual. “It crossed my mind, but he was with her before I ever came here. It could just be an added bonus for him.”
“God, he’s a fucking asshole.” I slumped in my seat, my mind reeling. My legs felt antsy, like if I didn’t move or do something, I’d lose my fucking mind.
“We need to be extra vigilant,” Dad was saying, giving instructions to Jude and Reed, telling them they were going to need to start carrying and patrolling the fence lines until the perpetrators are caught.
I stood from my chair, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants.
I could feel the spiral starting. As much as I wanted to know about the whole sordid family history, I really didn’t want to talk about Reed’s ex-wife.
Because if Junior was using her, would he leave her as soon as he was done with her?
Would she come to her senses and run back to Reed for help?
Would he drop me and take her back so they could be a family? My chest tightened.
“Thanks, Dad, for filling us in. I’ll take a patrol while I’m home, but I need to get ready.” I needed to leave before I started pacing the room like a caged lion.
“Lina––” Dad started.
“Better just say ‘okay,’” Reed suggested.
I gave him a small, appreciative smile. He saw me, and I was feeling that warmth spread through my chest again, calming me. It was exactly what I needed before an event.
Dad exchanged a look with Reed and Jude.
“Reed’s right,” Jude said.
“Ha! I never thought I’d hear you say that,” Romy teased, jiggling baby Charli as she started to fuss.
Jude gave her a lopsided smirk over his shoulder. “Reed here is all right. And look,”—he gestured to Reed at his side—“Lina hasn’t killed him yet, so he must be growing on her, too. Right, cuz?” He gave me a wink.
“Growing on me like a damn fungus,” I teased, but I couldn’t help the smile that threatened the corner of my lips.
Reed’s own mouth twitched at the corners.
“All right, but we’re all patrolling in pairs,” Dad cautioned. “No one goes out alone, especially now that we know there are multiple people involved. And no gaps in patrol. You wait until the others come to relieve you.”
“Agreed,” we all concurred.
Dad slapped his hands on his thighs, pushing himself up to his feet. “We have America’s birthday to celebrate and a rodeo to get to. My baby girl is going to win her second Willows Rodeo in a row today.”
I pulled my cell phone from the pocket of Reed’s sweatpants to peek at the time.
It was almost 9 a.m. “Shit, I gotta get going.” I immediately started ticking off the mental list I usually kept before an event.
I still had warm-ups to do. I needed to load up Mushu and the tack before eleven o’clock if I wanted to get to the rodeo grounds when the gates opened.
“Love you, Daddy! Thank you for sharing the family secrets! Yeehaw!” I hollered, flashing a grin and Reed a wink before rushing out of the living room.
Reed’s gaze followed me like a damn caress. I wanted him tonight. I’d take him however he was willing to give himself to me, too.
“I don’t know why I don’t have more gray hairs,” Dad commented.
“I heard that!” I called back.
“Good!” Dad hollered.