10. Duke
DUKE
“Monroe sent us the tickets months ago. I asked my mom to come watch the girls. She’s bringing my aunt, and they’re planning a big girls’ weekend.
” Rosie is on the phone in the kitchen, stirring a pot of macaroni noodles with her free hand.
“Yeah, I know. I think it’ll be good for you to get away for the weekend.
We rented a big house that’s walking distance from the rodeo grounds.
There’s plenty of room. The whole family will be there, except for Sterling. ”
Pops is sitting at the bar top, pouring whiskey into his coffee. His daytime nurse just left for the day. We finally decided to hire one last week when he fell again while I was in the barn. I don’t mind caring for him all day, but there’s a ton of work on the ranch that needs done.
Holden and Rosie have been coming over more often to help me in the evenings with him, as well as Dolly and Sam and Eden, Sterling’s wife.
He’s still deployed overseas. They had a shotgun wedding none of us were at because it was literally weeks after they met, and she was already pregnant with another man’s baby.
The sperm donor found out exactly what type of family his ex had married into when he made the grave mistake of holding her against her will and pushing her around while she was pregnant.
“How was the ride last week?” Holden asks.
“My shoulder still hurts. They gave me Silver Dollar.”
He winces. We’ve all been thrown multiple times by that bull since he came from our ranch.
“Win anything?”
“Couple grand.”
And a kiss from the prettiest woman in the state.
“Also got approached by a scout.”
“A scout?”
“Pbr.”
“No shit?” He chuckles. “And?”
“They want me to ride in the next one. Red Bull wants to sponsor me.”
“Damn. You gonna do it?”
I shake my head, my eyes landing on Pops. I can’t leave him now. He needs me more than ever.
“Okay! Family wedding planning meeting is starting! Everyone, grab a drink so you don’t have to interrupt me, then gather around!” Dolly enters the kitchen, a binder tucked under her arm.
She exhales and flips her dark hair over her shoulder dramatically, like we’re all stressing her out by not immediately dropping what we’re doing to do her bidding.
Sam is on her heels, already obeying every word she says by grabbing a couple of beers out of the fridge. He tosses me and Holden each one before standing next to his fiancée.
I pop mine open and take a long swig.
“Rosie, you are in charge of florals, the grazing table, and the caterer. They have your contact information.”
Rosie nods. “On it.”
“Eden, can you handle the hair and makeup people when they get here? Just make sure they know where to park and how to find us.”
Eden nods, twisting a golden hair around her finger. She’s rubbing her growing belly. She’s quiet, but we all really like her. When Sterling asked us if she could stay in the bunkhouse while he’s overseas, we all agreed to take care of her. She mostly keeps to herself.
Dolly smiles and thanks her before she turns to Holden. “I need you to get the tables and chairs here.”
She faces me. “Duke, you’re playing guitar for our first dance while Monroe sings. After it’s over and during the reception, I need you to manage the drinks and keep the coolers filled with ice, beer, and champagne. Can you do that? Just bring more out from the house when things are getting low.”
I nod. “Got it. Do I get to pick my own assistant?”
Dolly shuts her eyes and purses her lips. “Rosie, I think it’s time.”
I glance at my sister-in-law, who’s currently shooting daggers at my face with her glare.
I hold up my hands. “What did I do?”
Rosie goes to stand beside Dolly, tucking her copper hair behind her ear. “Don’t play dumb. You keep messing with Dallas, and it’s not okay. She literally got divorced five seconds ago.”
Dolly raises her voice, gesturing. “She doesn’t need some playboy who can’t keep it in his pants!
She has two little boys! She needs support and stability and some time to heal, not a man-whore trying to crawl into her bed.
We’re her friends, trying to sincerely help her, and you’re being a real pain in the ass, making it complicated for us because she doesn’t even want to come on the rodeo trip because she’s afraid you’re going to try to seduce her. ”
I take a step back, bumping into the counter. I glance around at Holden and Sam, who are both suddenly interested in the nutrition label on their beer.
Dolly and Rosie are a united front, arms crossed and determination in their pinched expressions. The foreign sensation of guilt tingles up my spine.
“Okay, I didn’t realize it was like that. I wasn’t just trying to seduce her. Well, I mean, yeah, I was, but I wanted to get to know her too.”
I can’t say the words I like her. Because then I’ll sound like an even bigger dick for going after a woman who was divorced, as Rosie puts it, literally five seconds ago.
“Well, now you know. We don’t appreciate it. You have tons of options. Leave our friend out of it. She’s in therapy. She’s doing the work. You’re bad for her,” Dolly finishes, picking the binder back up and listing off more wedding assignments.
“You’re bad for her.”
The words rattle around in my brain. I know I’m barely twenty-six, and she’s turning thirty soon, but hearing it said like that from my own sister hurts more than I would have thought.
I know Dallas needs time to heal. Maybe I have been selfish, constantly hitting on her and flirting with her.
It unsettles me, and I lie in bed awake that night, tossing and turning and wondering exactly when my life started to crumble around me.
Dolly’s wedding day is approaching, but it’s shadowed with the heavy reality that Pops is dying faster than even the doctors predicted. He’s drinking more alcohol than ever, constantly disoriented, and sickly.
I’ve had to clean up his vomit from the floor countless times. The nurse is only at the ranch house on weekdays, so during the evenings and weekends, I spend the entire time caring for him.
Watching my father die is slowly eating away at my soul.
“Come on. You can take another bite. You’re losing too much weight. You wanna be strong enough to walk down the aisle, don’t you?”
I minced his chili up in the blender so it would be easier to eat, but he’s only taken three bites. He shakes his head, the skin of his gaunt face yellowed from jaundice.
“I just feel too sick to eat it, son. You’re a good cook though, just like your mom is.”
Watching his body waste away has been harder than I thought. I’ve thought about admitting him to the hospital so many times.
But he always talked about how he wanted to die here, on his ranch.
I don’t really know why, considering he’s been mentally checked out for years.
But I can’t deny him that last wish. He watched my mother die in a hospital bed with tubes stuck all in her like wires.
I think that mental image is part of what has haunted him all these years.
“Mom is a great cook, isn’t she?”
He nods, his hand shaking as he sips on the whiskey, mixed with ten percent sweet tea. He often forgets she’s gone, and I don’t have it in me to explain it to him again tonight.
“What’s your favorite meal she makes?”
He sets his cup down, seeming to contemplate my question.
“I guess I like her hamburger casserole the best. It’s her grandmother’s recipe. When we were first married, she didn’t know how to cook a damn thing. And she made me that casserole almost every single night for a month straight before finally admitting that it was all she knew how to cook.”
He smiles, tears pooling in his distant blue eyes.
Emotion builds in the back of my throat. I’ve never heard that story before. I was so young when my mom died. I have very few memories from before then. She had a soft, addictive smile that I’ll never forget. The kind of smile that made it impossible not to return it with your own.
“I love her voice. I always thought she sounded so soothing.”
He nods, seemingly unable to respond for a few moments. It’s just us at the house tonight. It’s quiet, quieter than it’s ever been before.
“The woman is the heart of the family. When I married her, I knew she’d be the type of woman who could handle anything life threw at her. She wasn’t expecting four boys in a row, but she’s a damn good mother.”
“The best.”
Flashes from scrapbooks I’ve seen over the years roll through my mind like a movie reel. I don’t have any separate, individual memories of her. I just have the snapshots that come with the stories I’ve heard and photographs.
I finish the last bite of my chili before taking both bowls to the sink. I made a huge pot of it so we’d have leftovers for the next few nights.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket. I tap the screen to answer Holden’s call.
“Hey.”
“Hey. How’s Pops?”
“He’s good.”
“All right. Well, we’ve got a ranch guest coming our way.”
“Who?”
“Dallas’s apartment caught on fire.”
My heart stops. I stand frozen at the kitchen sink.
“She’s okay. The boys and she just need a place to stay for a bit.”
“Okay, yeah, sure. I, uh … I’ll go make sure the guest rooms are ready.” I turn around, making a beeline for the hallway.
“I think she’s going to the bunkhouse with Eden.”
I pause, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Oh.”
“Yeah, Rosie is headed over there now to help her settle in.”
I want to ask why she wouldn’t just want to stay here. The bunkhouse is small compared to the main house.
I guess with Pops here, it would be challenging to have her and the boys around.
“Okay. Will you come sit with Pops so I can help her move in?”
“I think she only had time to grab a few essentials. Probably won’t be much stuff.”
“I made chili. I could take them the leftovers.”
“I think Rosie might be taking them part of our dinner.”
I stand there, feeling completely helpless and hating every second of it. I debate on calling Dallas myself and seeing what she needs, but Rosie and Dolly’s warning to stay away from her is still ringing in my mind.
“Sounds good. Let me know if she needs—”
“I gotta go.” The line goes dead.
I grit my teeth, giving in to the urge to send a text to Dallas.
Duke
Hey. I heard about the fire. Are you okay? Are the boys okay? Do you need anything? I made chili for dinner.
I set it down on the counter and place my hands on the edge, gripping it tightly when I see the three little dots indicating that she’s typing something in our messages. My heart rate hasn’t slowed down since Holden told me what happened.
The dots disappear. I watch the screen for five more minutes, but a message never comes through.
Pops distracts me when he tries to stand on his own. I go to attend to him, and my chest is tight for the rest of the evening.