Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
“So, how’s it going, Ellis?”
He and Rick settled into seats at the tavern not too far from the coffee shop where he’d dropped Zane off to hang out for a few hours with his friends.
Rick had texted right about the time he was going to head back to the ranch, so he’d decided to have a basket of onion rings and a beer with a switch to water with the guy so he could tell Rick what was what.
“Man, it has been brutal cold here, huh?” Rick looked at the menu, which was limited, mostly bar food, which was nice, because a lot of times in Aspen even the dive bars had crispy tofu and chicken tikka sliders.
“Yeah. Glad they finally got the roads clear. Look, I got about an hour. Then I have to hit the City Market and get some groceries and grab an order of stuff at the vet resource center.”
Rick frowned. “Sounds like you’re pretty entrenched at the ranch.”
“Yep. I’m only in town to get stuff and to take Zane to his coffee meetup. What are you doing in Aspen so much? I thought you were over in Denver mostly now.”
He poked that sore tooth a little because he knew Rick was hanging around hoping to get some traction. And to see Ichabod’s ranch.
“I am. I am. I got to tell you, though, there are some serious buyers interested in that land.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice, as if he were sharing a secret.
“They’re willing to pay top dollar for it, and that’s not just good news for me.
Think about it—this could set everybody up for life. You, me, those kids.”
He’d already heard enough about this. Vic had left the ranch to the kids because he hadn’t wanted it sold. He’d wanted it to stay in the family.
“I don’t think the land’s for sale, man. It belongs to those kids.”
“Those kids don’t know what the hell to do with it. Neither does their father. This is easy. All they have to do is transfer ownership to me; I’ll sell it. It’s not that big of a deal.”
It sort of felt like a big deal to him. And he had the idea it would seem like a fairly big deal to Ichabod. Hell, even Zane was getting settled here.
“Uprooting those kids again now would be seriously unfair, man.” He tried to appeal to Rick’s better nature that way. “They’re just setting in, and I got to tell you, at least one of them has ideas about being a rancher.”
Rick shook his head. “We’re not talking about a couple hundred dollars. We’re not talking about a couple thousand dollars. We’re talking about a few million dollars. Get him to sell the ranch.”
No, he didn’t think that was going to happen. In fact, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that this ranch became a going thing for this little family.
Rick could fuck all the way the hell off.
“Buddy, you’re my brother, and I care about you, but I’m not going to do it.” The beers and food came, and he hoped he got to have them, but he was sure gonna leave if Rick got to being a real asshole. He could lose the money for this shit and walk right out.
“Why not? It’s not like those kids earned this land.” Rick’s face screwed up into an ugly sneer.
He blinked and then clapped back. “And you did? You’re his adult stepson.
Were his adult stepson. I mean, I don’t even know if you’re actually legally still a step after your mom broke up with him.
I mean I’m sorry she died. But— Whoa.” This was weird and ridiculous. “Are you in some kind of trouble, man?”
“I have investors. I need to get this ball rolling.”
Ellis was totally calling his pop. Dad could call and find out what the fuck was going on with Rick, right?
“Well, you’re going to have to let them down easy.”
Rick’s face went red, and he looked like he was gritting his teeth, but then he sat back in his chair, a big fake smile appearing. “Sure. I get it. You’re being all cowboy code guy. You don’t want to help, no problem. I’ll find another way to talk with him about selling.”
That sounded ominous, but Ellis couldn’t call it a threat.
Yet.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t even want to get into that. It’s a huge production to relocate that many kids, you know? They’re in school now and doing well. Everyone’s happy.” Ellis pursed his lips and shot Rick a glare. “I know that Ichabod called you and talked to you about this.”
“Yeah, and thanks for selling me out there.”
“Dude!” Ellis stared at Rick. “This isn’t like some covert fucking operation.
I got a job that I was qualified to do. I am not going to be all skulking around trying to screw up a man and his four kids’ lives so that you can get some money.
” He waved his hand, making sure Rick got how serious he was.
“You and me, we’re the ones who are family. You should be helping me,” Rick snarled, leaning forward to poke a finger toward him. “Not those brats.”
“Hey, now.” He stood, opening his wallet to toss two twenties on the table. “That’s enough, Rick. You call me to apologize when you settle down.” Ellis grabbed the onion rings. He would take them to the bar and ask for a box, but he’d be damned if he would listen to Rick insult those babies.
They were Vic’s kids. His grandbabies. Full stop. Rick needed to get his shit together.
His phone beeped, Ichabod’s name popping up.
he texted back, waiting at the bar for his box. He could feel Rick glaring at him, but when he glanced over, his brother had both beers sitting in front of him, so he was set for the afternoon, Ellis guessed.
Yeah, he’d already had some problems. But he wasn’t going to call Ichabod about it. He was going to call his dad.
Which he did as soon as he was back in the truck so he could drive to the other end of town to the City Market.
“Hey, bud. How’s it going?” his dad said by way of answer.
“Good. How are you, old man?”
“Fair to middling. I can’t complain. How’s cowboying going for you?” Dad’s voice was like old smoke—raspy and rumbly—and it soothed his soul on a deep level.
“Good. I have a great job right now. It’s Vic’s old ranch, Dad.”
“No shit?” His dad sounded surprised as hell. “Who has it now?”
“His son-in-law has it in trust for the grandkids. I’ve hired on as foreman.”
“Well, good deal. I always liked old Vic, even if he did marry Barbara, which made him kind of dumb.” Dad choked out a laugh. “Speaking of Barbara, how’s your brother?”
At least Dad didn’t say, “Speaking of Barbara and dumb.”
“Mad as wet hen. I tried to have a beer with him, but he wants me to help convince Ichabod to sell, and I won’t do it.” He turned off on the main road. He should go to the vet center first.
“Uh, who’s Ichabod? And what’s he selling?”
Ellis rolled his eyes and explained, top to bottom. Dad got more and more quiet. Finally, Dad cleared his throat.
“You okay, Dad?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m all right. I have to tell you, I never did like that boy.”
“He’s your son.”
He could almost see Dad shrug in the back of his mind. “That’s the rumor. But whatever’s going on, it ain’t right. Vic was not that man’s daddy. And he didn’t owe him a damn thing. If Vic wanted to leave that land to his grandbabies, and that land belongs to his grandbabies. No question.”
“That’s my feeling too.” And Dad’s words made him feel better. He’d needed to hear it out loud from someone else.
“You don’t worry about your brother. I’m sure he’s gotten his ass into some sort of trouble. That’s my problem, not yours. You keep doing your job and being true to yourself and good to those people. You ride for the brand, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
Dad sighed softly. “I don’t know, son. I don’t think there’s a bit of me in him sometimes. There’s something off; his moral compass is a little too well-oiled for me.”
“Yeah. I reckon that’s always been my problem.” He sighed. “I guess that’s up to him, but you’re wrong, you know. He ain’t your problem either. Sooner or later, he’s got to fall flat on his damn face.” He parked at the vet center, sitting for a moment.
“Now, son, who’s the dad here?”
“You are, but none of us are getting younger. You got to take care of you.” He wanted his dad to have everything he needed, not worry about Rick and his wheeling and dealing.
“I’ll deal with Ricky, son. No worries at all.”
“Okay. You know I trust you.”
His dad chuckled. “Thank God for that.”
They chatted for a few more minutes about cattle and kids and Rio and Mavis and his dad’s old wiener dog, Lolo, before he had to hang up to go get his shit done.
“Love you, Dad.”
“Love you too, son. You stay the course.”
“I will.”
They hung up, and he climbed out of the truck, texting Ichabod.
He picked up his order and got back on the road before hitting dial on Ichabod. He felt like he could talk about it now that he’d spoken to Dad.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ichabod sounded so worried about him. It was sweet.
“Oh, Rick caught me in town so I told him I would have a beer with him. You know, to tell him I wasn’t interested in helping him.”
“Oh, babe, are you okay?”
“Yeah, he sure pissed me off, but I am. I called my dad.”
“Ah. And what did he say.”
“Not to let Rick screw up anything good I found.” And Ichabod and those kids were good. So he wasn’t going to screw it up.
“Smart man.”
“Mmm. What kind of hamburgers? Fast foodie or a bit better?”
“How about Zane’s?”
“Sounds good.” All the kids loved the fact that the burger place here shared a name with their oldest brother.
He could call it in and pick it up in Snowmass on the way.
Zane’s was a little more upscale than the ski area burger place, but they had some damn fine food, no matter the name. “Some poppers for us to share too?”
Ichabod moaned. “Oh my God, yes.”
“Don’t be making sex sounds now,” he teased. “I’ve got a lot of errands to run, and I gotta pick up your eldest.”
“Speaking of Zane. Did you happen to see who he was meeting? Is it that same little girl as before?”
“The one that’s got half of her head dyed white and the other half dyed black?
Yeah, she was there. There was also a couple of boys and one little quiet-looking girl.
They didn’t seem like they were going to get in any trouble though.
” He imagine they would try, but Zane was on a relatively tight leash.
And to be fair to the kid, he was trying to work the whole driving thing, so he was on his best behavior.
“Well, cool. I mean, I’m pretty happy with the friends he’s made here. If this girl sticks around, though, I need to meet her.”
“Yep. Because that could be an ally.”
“She could. So the grocery store?”
“Uh-huh. Oh, and the dry cleaners for my shirts. And then food. Anything else?”
“Yes.” Ichabod hummed, the sound one he knew meant solidarity with him. “Don’t let Rick get you down.”
“That’s what Dad said.” The City Market parking lot was always such a damn joy. “See you soon, baby.”
“I’ll be here. We’re making cookies.”
He started chuckling—the last time cookies had been made someone named Allie had dropped the flour canister, shattering it and sending flour and glass over every square inch of the kitchen. “Let’s have a less exciting one this time, right?”
“From your mouth to God’s ears.” Ichabod’s little chuckle was sweet and soft. “Be careful driving, huh? While you’re at the store you might get yourself a toothbrush to leave over here or whatever. I cleaned out space for a couple of your shirts in my closet.”
“Well, I can surely do that.” That would rock, not having to trek down to the bunkhouse in the cold all the time.
“Good. Good deal. You bring whatever it is you think you might need. It’s awful nice to wake up with your lover.”
Okay, that made him sweat a little bit. “You got that shit right.”
“Go do your errands. I’m going to finish making cookies and cleaning up. I’ll see you at supper.”
“Yes, sir.” Ichabod would totally see him at supper, after supper, and in the morning. Rock on.
He grinned. Yeah. No way was he letting Rick fuck this up for him.
No way.