Chapter Eight
“Did you know her ex-husband was a football player?” Kace had dropped Izzi back home and returned to the main building to find Jett.
Jett and their mother lived in the family’s quarters off the main building. When Jett took over the ranch, he’d built a second story on the place where he and their brothers grew up. The upstairs belonged to Jett, and the downstairs, still with its four bedrooms, was more than big enough for their mother, who had never remarried. He, Lock, and Gage still teased Jett about being almost forty and living with Mom. The real joke became they all still lived with her. Gage rented out a guest cottage. Lock lived in one of the employee cottages near Tara, and Kace had returned to the ranch after his accident.
He paced between the wood coffee table and the flat screen on the wall beside the stone fireplace. Jett sat on the brown leather sofa with his feet planted on the table and drank a beer.
“Could you sit the fuck down? I’m trying to watch the sports channel. And why do you stink?”
He dropped into the chair with its wide wood arms. Jett had made that too. “It’s massage oil. I kind of like it.”
Jett arched a brow. “Did you get laid?”
“Shut up and answer my question. Did you know Tara’s ex played pro football?”
“Yeah, I knew. I hired her. So what? You want an autograph?” Jett pointed the remote at the TV and flicked through the channels.
He gave out autographs. He didn’t go running around like a kid begging for them. “She was surprised to see him.”
That was putting it mildly. He was pretty sure she had trembled while saying goodbye to him at the truck, as if a cold wind had come in and frozen her skin. He had asked if she wanted him to stay, but she brushed him off. He hadn’t been sure what to do, so he left the decision up to her. Now he wanted to go back to make sure she was okay.
The ex hadn’t budged off the porch to even come to say hello. When Izzi had walked past with a wave, the guy had ignored her. Kace disliked him right away.
“That’s not my business. There isn’t a damn thing on.” Jett turned off the TV and stood. “Do you want a beer?”
“No, thanks.” The alcohol didn’t always sit right with him these days. He actually felt a little better since the massage. He didn’t want to mess with that. Something else tied him up in knots now. It might be Tara’s ex-husband and the way she acted, but he couldn’t figure out why he cared so much about her and her ex, except that he didn’t like seeing her shaken by his presence. “Do you know anything about him?”
“Nothing more than anyone else. Why are you asking me all these questions?” Jett arced a brow again as if he had a twitch.
“I don’t know. Never mind. I have something else I want to discuss with you.”
“I think I need another beer.” Jett went to the refrigerator and pulled out a Cold Smoke Ale. “What’s up, little bro?”
“Aren’t you getting tired of calling me that?” As the third of five boys, he had been stuck in the middle with Jett and Gage before him and Lock and Ajay after him. Then Ajay had died, throwing everything off balance in more ways than one.
“Not as long as it bothers you.” Jett raised his can with a smirk. “So what is this thing you need to talk about? I hope it isn’t your feelings.”
“How would you even know what feelings look like?”
“Beats the hell out of me.” Jett cracked a smile, but only because what he’d said was true. Jett played his feelings close to his chest unless it involved an animal.
He squared his shoulders. Once he said what he was about to, there would be no going back. Jett would hate it, but it had to be done. He took a few steps toward the door in case his brother went apeshit when he heard his idea. “I want to sell my piece of the land.”
Jett started to laugh, but the smile fell from his face. His eyebrows climbed into his hairline. “Are you shitting me?”
“No, man. I need the money.” He might as well try honesty, because lying to Jett would only get him into more hot water. The Ryker Ranch was the most important thing to Jett. If he understood what was at stake, he might actually agree to the sale.
“How broke are you? Do you need money for your medical expenses? I’ll give it to you.”
“I’m okay for now.” Heat flushed his face. He had sold the garage to cover the remainder of his expenses. He was living at home rent free, which made him sick inside that he couldn’t pull his weight at the moment. If he didn’t get back behind a wheel, he’d have to either work for Jett or find a mechanic’s job somewhere, because no way in hell would he work on someone else’s race team if he couldn’t drive. He had planned to retire from racing and then decide if he wanted a spot on a team.
“Then what do you need the money for?” Jett focused on turning the beer can. The metal scraped the counter each time he moved it.
“There’s a team looking for investors, and they want me to drive for them. They’re headed for the Southern November. It’s my last chance.”
“Who do you plan on selling to?” He finished the beer and crushed the can.
“Can I sell it back to you?” He had thought this through. If Jett bought him out now, he’d make fifty percent later. Jett had earned that much. He was the one who worked the hardest for this business.
“I don’t need to buy what I already own.” He tossed the can into the garbage.
“You don’t own my share.”
“I take care of your share so if and when our family gets out of the ranching business, you will make more money. Gramps risked everything so his family could have a better life. Are you going to disrespect that?”
“Don’t bring Gramps into this. He left the reservation to have the life he wanted. He would understand me wanting my own life too.” He only hoped his proud Native American grandfather would understand his decision to divide the family land. He would never disrespect his family’s legacy, but no one could expect him to be a rancher.
“I’m not buying you out of your part of the land.”
“Then I’ll go talk to Autumn Archer. The Archer Farm has been looking to expand and buy more cattle.”
The lines around Jett’s mouth deepened. Something dark passed across his face. “She’s in no position to buy. Not since her husband died. In fact, I want to purchase her piece of land that butts up to the mountain. Our ranch needs to start offering skiing to the guests.”
“When were you going to tell us that?” He shouldn’t be angry about Jett’s decision. Jett was a good businessman. The ranch ran well and at a profit because of him and Lock, but Kace was still a member of the family, which no one ever let him forget when they’d hovered over him while he healed.
“Lock and Mom know. That’s all that matters for now. I figured when the plans were done, I’d tell you. It’s not like you’re planning on working around here.”
“I drive.” He wanted to drive his point home. He wasn’t planning on working the ranch, but the idea that Jett and Lock were making major decisions about the ranch without him still stung.
“Right. How could I forget? You can’t sell your part of the land now, not to me, not to anyone.”
“Why not? It’s mine.” When they were kids, Jett always tried to tell him what to do. He stole his toys and even the food off his dish when there wasn’t enough for all of them and Jett wanted seconds. Jett picked on him because he was the next brother in line. Even though Lock was younger than Kace, Lock was bigger, and no one teased Ajay because he was the baby.
“Have you sat down and figured out which section you’re going to sell off? Did you ask Gage or Lock if they wanted that space for something? Now that Gage and Calista are together, do you really think he’s going to stay in that little cottage? You can’t just decide you want to sell a fourth of our property without thinking it through and talking to us. Especially me and Lock. And especially not when we’re being sued by that knucklehead who fell taking his dumbass selfie.”
The guy on the horseback riding tour. Gage had climbed down the mountain to save him, and that bastard had decided to sue even after he signed the forms that explained the ranch rules and liabilities.
“I’m talking to you now.” The anger began a slow burn in his stomach. If it picked up speed, he wouldn’t be able to keep it under control. His doctor had given him some exercises to focus on when he became frustrated, but he couldn’t remember one of them now.
“Don’t care. I vote no.” Jett crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes.
“You don’t want me to drive. That’s what this is really about. You’ve been a huge pain in the ass since I left the hospital.”
“That has nothing to do with it.” Jett walked back into the living room, leaving him standing there as if the conversation were over. Well, it wasn’t just because Jett might want it to be.
“Stop acting like my damn father.” The anger spread out all over his skin. He should back off. He didn’t come here to fight with Jett. He had only wanted him to understand what racing meant to him, what he was willing to sacrifice. His head pounded again, as if that massage had never happened.
“You can’t drive this season without getting hurt again. Every doctor you’ve been to has agreed. Start over in February when you’ve had time to heal. Then I’ll talk about selling.”
“I’m fine. The doctors don’t know what they’re talking about. I haven’t had symptoms in over a week. I’m driving, and no one is going to stop me.” He forced his gaze to hold Jett’s. The lies burned his tongue.
“You want to die? Is that it? Do you want Mom or any of us to have to live through another senseless death? You think she can handle that any better now? Losing Ajay almost killed her, not that you noticed. What’re a few more months to get healthier? You can drive next year.”
“I’m not sick anymore. I wish everyone would stop acting like I am. Investing in this team is my last chance because I’m getting too damn old to drive. No owner wants a guy my age on his team. Racing is a young man’s sport.” He threw a hand in the air. “Forget it. You don’t understand. You’re living your dream every day.” He turned on his heel and headed for the door.
“Kace, man, come back.”
He stormed out, not waiting for Jett to say anything else. The fire in his belly made his whole body shake with fever. The cool night air couldn’t soothe what bothered him. His head continued to pound, and his ears rang, confusing his thoughts. He dragged himself into the truck and rested his forehead on the steering wheel.
He would never hurt his family on purpose. After tonight, Jett maybe. Mom had been through a lot in her life. He’d been eight when his dad died. His mom had had to raise them by herself and run the ranch. She had never complained about the hard work or raising five kids. She had never said one word about how much Ajay hurt her and their family.
Jett was wrong. He did know what losing Ajay cost her, because it had cost each of them in one way or another. He had been angry for years after what Ajay did to them all. Gage had paid the highest price because he believed he should have been able to stop Ajay. Focusing on the past never did any good. He wouldn’t keep doing it.
Without racing, he was a nobody. Just the middle kid of five brothers who got lost in the noise of a big family. He couldn’t reinvent himself now. He didn’t want to go down as the driver who almost made it. He wanted the stands filled with a cheering crowd. He wanted to taste the win.
Nothing else mattered. He’d sell his part of the land, and if his brothers got madder than hell at him, that would have to be the price. They’d come around eventually. They always did.
He needed to find a buyer without Jett knowing what he was doing.
Somehow.