Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
REMINGTON
“ J esus, you’ve been in a shitty mood all fucking week.”
I turn to glare at my brother, Brady. “So?”
“So, what’s wrong with you? I mean, you’re usually a grumpy fuck, but you’re not typically an asshole on top of it. What crawled up your ass?”
Leave it to my brothers to call me out on my shit.
We’re repairing some fence line on the edge of the property to the south, but I take a minute to take my gloves off and rub my eyes.
“It’s been a shit week.” I sniff and look over the pasture to the mountains beyond. We own that whole mountain.
Sometimes that stops me in my tracks.
“Why?” Brady asks. “The kids are on spring break, so you haven’t had to run them to school and back, and Mom’s been hanging with them all week.”
“Yeah, but Holly’s pissed off because she’s grounded from the barn after her little stunt last week. Then, on that same day, I got a call from Johnny’s teacher, and she told me that my boy is failing math.”
Brady scowls. “How does a second grader flunk math?”
“I asked him that. He told me he hates it, so he doesn’t care about it.”
“I mean, I hate math,” Brady says with a grim nod.
“Don’t tell him that. Anyway, between the kids, losing that filly yesterday, and having a mountain lion on the property killing my beef that I can’t seem to catch, it’s been a shit week.”
“Fair enough,” Brady says.
“When do you start rodeo stuff? I’ll need to hire another hand before you go.”
Brady shrugs. “In about a month or so. Shows start in May. I can still work here; I’ll just be in and out through the summer, as usual.”
“Yeah, but I want to make sure I have the coverage here so you don’t feel like you have to hurry home. I know what your first love is, and it’s not the ranch.”
“I do love that rodeo ring,” he says with a grin. “She can be a bitch of a mistress, but I can’t get enough of her. You never have issues finding hands. Especially with that new bunkhouse. It’s fucking nice .”
“The old one was falling apart. I want our guys to like living here. Besides, we’re making a shit ton of money now. The ranch should reflect that.”
Brady nods and then changes the subject. “Speaking of a shit ton of money, I spoke to Ryan this morning.”
I concentrate on pulling my gloves back on. “Yeah? I think he flies in tomorrow morning.”
“He does. Mom wants to do dinner on Friday night at your place, since it’s the biggest. That okay with you?”
“Sure. She cooks dinner almost every day at my house anyway.”
“Are you ever going to stop being pissed at Ryan?”
“I’m not pissed.” I grab my tools and walk down the fence, not at all interested in discussing our brother. “Let’s get back to work.”
“Right. You’re not pissed, and I’m a vampire.”
“Is that so? Maybe you’re the one killing my beef.”
“Ha. Ha. You’re a regular comedian.”
“Hey, Mom, is everything okay at the house?”
“Of course, it is. I’m just out in the garden, getting things ready for some flowers to brighten it up this summer. The kids are inside. They helped me for a while, but then they wanted to go in and play some video games, and I didn’t see the harm in it.”
“I’m glad it’s been uneventful. I’ll be home in about thirty. We’re just finishing up a few things.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you when you get here, honey.”
I hang up and have a quick meeting with my guys, setting up a game plan through the weekend. The week has gone by fast.
Hell, every week goes by fast these days.
“My niece’s birthday is Sunday,” Bruiser says. He’s a big guy, about six-foot-seven and all muscle. And he’s all gooey when it comes to his niece.
“Then I guess you’d better take Sunday off,” I reply with a nod.
“Thanks, boss.”
“There’s something on this property killing my beef. Keep an eye out. We have wildlife cameras set up, but so far, we haven’t caught anything.”
“We saw bear tracks,” Lucky says, looking up from his notebook.
“I know, but this feels more like a mountain lion to me,” I reply and turn to Brady. “What do you think?”
“Could be a wolf, or a pair of wolves,” Brady says. “Hell, it could be any of the above.”
“We’ll keep an eye out,” Lucky says, making notes in his ratty old notebook. He’s had the same small spiral notebook tucked into the pocket of his work shirt since I was a kid.
At least, it’s always looked like the same notebook.
After a few more minutes of catching up, I break the meeting and head for the house.
My kids have been on break all week, and I’ve hardly seen them. Tomorrow’s Friday, and I didn’t spend any time with them at all.
I’m a fucking jerk.
Tomorrow, I have to take Holly to the eye doctor for a checkup, and I figured I’d take Johnny with us and spring for lunch when we’re done.
They’ll like that.
“Hey, Mom,” I call out when I see her gathering some weeds and tossing them into a trash bin.
“Hi, honey. How did it go today?”
“It was fine. Want to come in for some iced tea?”
“Actually, I’m meeting your father in town for dinner in just a little while. I’d better get on home and change out of these dirty clothes. I have some lasagna in the oven for the three of you. Have a good evening.”
“Thanks. You can leave that. I’ll clean it up. Maybe later, I’ll light a little fire outside and roast marshmallows with the kids.”
“Oh, they’ll love that. Have fun. And I’ll take you up on cleaning this up for me.”
She pulls her gloves off, then reaches up and cups my face.
“My boy. You always were the quiet, serious one. Don’t forget to have a little fun.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I bend down and kiss her cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, now!”
She waves and sets off for home. My dad had a house built for them less than a mile from my place, and I like having them close by.
“You’re going to be in so much trouble!”
Welcome home , I think to myself as I hang my hat in the mudroom and slip out of my dirty boots.
“No, you are. I told you not to pour it like that.”
“What’s going on?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen and then stop cold.
There’s milk spilled all over the countertop and on the floor. Someone dragged a bath towel through the milk, smearing it all over.
“Is that chocolate?” I ask, pointing to the brown substance dripping onto the granite.
“I wanted chocolate milk,” Holly says as her eyes fill with tears. “And Johnny spilled the milk all over.”
“It fell,” Johnny insists. His own voice is quivering. “The jug was full and heavy, and it just fell. I couldn’t make it stop coming out.”
“Don’t be mad,” Holly pleads, and I realize that I must be a real asshole if my kids are this scared that they’ll get in trouble for a silly mistake.
“I’m not mad.” I take a deep breath, surveying the scene. “It looks like you two need to go change your clothes because you got wet.”
“Yeah.” Johnny’s voice is already much calmer. “It really splashed.”
“Can we change into jammies?”
I raise my eyebrows at my daughter. “Before six in the evening? Sure, if you want to. Go get comfy, and I’ll clean this up.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” Holly throws herself around my legs and hugs me tightly before running off to change.
Johnny, however, stays behind, his face totally serious.
“What’s up?” I ask him as I reach for the paper towels.
“Thanks for not yelling.” He shuffles from one foot to the other. “I mean, you don’t usually yell real loud, but we don’t usually mess up this bad, and you’ve been really mad lately. So, thanks for not yelling.”
And with that, he runs off behind his sister, and I have to take a minute to myself.
Yeah, I’ve been mad.
I’ve been frustrated.
And as of right now, I’m going to stop taking it out on my kids.
“It’s definitely a mountain lion.”
I turn at the sound of Lucky’s voice and raise a brow. “Did you catch it on camera?”
“Yeah, a few minutes ago, before the sun came up. She was out hunting and would have taken a calf if we didn’t get there first. You’re going to want to see this, boss.”
I stand and grab my hat. “Show me.”
He nods grimly, and we hurry out to the Jeep I bought last summer for times like this when we need to get somewhere on the property fast, and there isn’t a road to take.
It’s a bumpy-as-fuck ride, but before long, we see some of our guys standing around the carcass.
“I had to fire,” Bruiser says, looking completely miserable. “She was about to take out that calf over there. I had to.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“She’s a mama,” Lucky says, and points to the tree line where three cubs watch us from the brush.
“Well, son of a fucking bitch.” I immediately pull out my phone and call Chase. My brother is a cop, not Fish and Wildlife, but he’ll know who to call for this.
“Yo,” he answers.
“I need someone from Fish and Wildlife out here right away, and I don’t know who to call.”
“I can handle that. Where on the ranch are you?”
I give him our location and the gist of what’s going on. “It’s a fucking mess, Chase.”
“I’ll be out there, too. Give us thirty to get there. Don’t touch those babies, Rem.”
“We know better,” I assure him and end the call, turning to my guys. “They’re on the way. We don’t touch those cubs.”
“What will happen to them?” Bruiser wants to know.
“They’ll probably go to a wildlife rescue.” I rub my hands down my face. “Fuck.”
“It’s not poaching,” Lucky insists. “We’re entitled to protect the herd.”
Of course, it’s not poaching, and the fact that Lucky feels like he has to jump in to defend Bruiser tells me that he respects the other man, because we all know that Bruiser didn’t illegally hunt that cat.
“No, no one’s in trouble. It just sucks that she’s a mom. Those babies aren’t weened yet.”
“Do you want us to stay here?” Bruiser asks.
“Yeah, let’s wait so we can all answer questions. Just be honest, you understand? You didn’t do anything wrong, and you won’t be in trouble.”
Bruiser, looking like he’s full of guilt, nods.
Just like Chase said, thirty minutes later, two vehicles drive out onto the pasture and park next to the Jeep.
Chase gets out of the police SUV, and two other men step out of the truck.
“Hey, Rem.” Nathan Price extends his hand for me to shake. “I’m sure sorry about this.”
“You and me both.” I shake his hand and then turn to the other officer. I don’t recognize him. “I’m Remington Wild.”
“Cole Sutton,” he replies and shakes my hand. “What happened?”
“I’m going to let Bruiser explain.” I gesture to my ranch hand and step back next to Chase as we listen to him describe seeing the mountain lion on camera and then racing out here to the field.
“She was poised and ready to kill the calf. She’s been killing cattle for about a month now, and we had to protect the calf.” Bruiser wipes his hand over his face. “So, I shot her, and when I walked up on her, I heard them.”
At his gesture, we turn to the tree line, and Cole says, “Damn.”
“I have traps in the truck,” Nathan says grimly. “We’ll take them to a sanctuary. They might even be able to be released back into the wild at some point.”
“Just far away from my ranch.”
“There’s going to be paperwork,” Nathan warns me.
“Of course, there is.” My phone rings, and I pull it out to find that it’s my mom. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. Did you forget about Holly’s eye appointment?”
I close my eyes. Yeah, I had forgotten it in all of this mess. “Shit, yeah, I did.”
“I can’t take her because I have a doctor’s appointment of my own,” she says. “I suppose I could reschedule.”
“No, I’ll figure it out. Just give me a minute.”
I check the time and curse under my breath. I have less than an hour to get my daughter to her appointment, but I can’t leave the ranch until this whole mess is figured out.
So, I call my sister.
“Hi, favorite oldest brother,” she says in my ear.
“Remember that I’m your favorite, okay? I need some help. Tell me you’re not working today.”
“I’m not working today.”
“Good. Can you come get Holly and take her to her eye appointment? I’m hung up here at the ranch.”
“Uh, sure. Give me an hour.”
I close my eyes. “I can’t. She has to be there in less than that.”
“Jesus, Rem, give a girl some notice. Okay, I’m pulling myself together, and I’ll be there shortly.”
“I’ll let Mom know. I’m in the north pasture, so I won’t be at the house when you pick her up.”
“I’ll talk to you later,” is all she says before she hangs up.
“You good?” Chase asks.
No. I’m not good.
But I force a smile. “Yeah, great. Let’s get this taken care of.”
It takes two hours to answer a million questions, get the babies trapped, and bury the carcass of the mother so she doesn’t draw in other unwanted visitors.
By the time I get back to the house to return to some admin work in my office, Millie is just pulling in with the kids.
“I have to get glasses,” Holly announces as she bounces out of my sister’s car and runs over toward me. “Are the kids at school gonna call me Four Eyes ?”
“Only if they’re idiots,” I reply and kiss her on the cheek.
“I helped her pick them out. She’s going to be gorgeous in them.” Millie smiles at both kids as they hurry inside.
It’s a cold spring day today, so we trudge up the steps behind them.
“Rem, we need to talk.”
“Hold on.” I hold up a finger and find the kids in the family room, already settling in to play their game. “Are you guys good in here for a little bit? I want to chat with Aunt Millie.”
“We’re good,” Johnny assures me. “We had McDonald’s for breakfast on the way home. We got there just in time, before they switched to lunch.”
“Grandma already fed you breakfast.”
My son just smiles slyly at me.
“Right. Okay, we’ll be done shortly.”
I walk into my office and close the French doors behind me.
“Okay, what’s wrong? Are you in trouble?”
Millie frowns. “Huh? No, why? What did you hear? It wasn’t my fault. The stupid tourists were being assholes, and I just?—”
She breaks off and tilts her head to the side.
“That’s not what you meant, is it?”
“No, but now I want to know about the asshole tourists.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “It’s no big deal. I’m not in trouble, Rem. That’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”
“Good.”
“Your kids miss you.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Look, I’ve never been one to tell you how to raise your kids. Hell, I was a kid when Johnny was born, and you’re a great dad. You really are. But your responsibilities here at the ranch are huge now, Rem. You bought ten thousand more acres to the west last year, which means more work. Dad decided that since the ranch is now bringing in seven figures every year in profit, he could retire, which is awesome for him, but that means way more work for you because now you’re in charge.”
“Thanks for the recap.”
“You have a lot going on, and yeah, Mom helps out with the kids a ton, but even she can only do so much. I asked the kids today what you’ve done for spring break, and Holly said she’s hardly seen you all week because you’re gone before they get up in the morning, and you get home at dinnertime.”
“Like you said, I’m running a business here, Mill.”
“But you have kids, and this was their spring break, and they spent it playing video games and helping Mom in the yard. I’m not telling you this to make you feel guilty.”
“Yeah, well, you are making me feel guilty.” I rub a hand over the ache in my chest. “Shit, Millie, I’m doing the best I can.”
“I think you need a nanny,” she announces.
“How will hiring someone else to be with my kids actually give me more time with my kids?”
“You need help to get them to and from school. Taking them to appointments. Helping with homework and all the other little things that you don’t have time for. Then, when you’re here, you can just be with them, and not worry about all the shit you haven’t done. You can spend quality time with them, Rem. They’re craving that with you right now.”
“Running a ranch isn’t a nine-to-five job.”
“I know that, and you know that. But they’re just kids, and they miss you. You’ve taken on a lot more over the past year, and they’re feeling it.”
“I do need the help. Mom’s spread thin, and she should get to enjoy her time with Dad anyway.”
“Yeah, she should.”
I sit back and tap my fingers on the top of my scarred desk. It used to be my dad’s, and his father’s before him.
I think about how rushed everything always is where the kids are concerned, and how I’m not able to enjoy them, or them me, because it always feels like we’re running around with our heads cut off.
“Okay. I’ll hire a nanny. But it needs to be someone reputable and trustworthy. Not a kid.”
“Agreed,” Millie says, nodding. “I’m going to keep my eyes and ears open, and I’ll keep you posted.”
“Do that, because the last thing I have time for is to find a nanny.”
“I have time,” she says with a bright smile. “Just leave it up to me.”
“Deal.”