Chapter Two #2
And they had. They’d done a damned fine job of it. By helping each other, by banding together, they had brought the ranch
out of its darkest era into something great.
He was proud of all of them. He might not show it, but he was.
They were in a different space now, though. And this was different.
“I can literally see it on your face,” Arizona said. “You think it’s different.”
“What the hell?” he asked, unamused that his little sister was so adept at reading his thoughts.
“That’s just who you are, Denver. You think if you want to do something it isn’t the same. If you want to do it, then it’s
all fine. Justifiable. Your reasons are good reasons.”
“My reasons are good reasons, squirt. And anyway, she has a whole business plan.”
“You don’t know her, though,” Landry said.
“Are you worried about me getting taken advantage of?”
“Not exactly,” said Landry, but his hesitation made Denver think that’s exactly what his younger brother was worried about.
“Excuse me. I don’t trust easily. And I certainly am not going to get fleeced. We all had the same dad. We all know to be
suspicious.”
“Sure. But you also have a savior complex that runs deep and wide, big brother. And a beautiful woman wanting you to do something
for her . . .”
“Let’s get one thing straight. Sheena Patrick is not a beautiful woman to me. She was a victim of our father. Her father is dead because of our father. She and her sisters experienced hardship because of our dad. The way she looks or doesn’t look in a tank top has nothing to do with that.”
“Well, no one said anything about a tank top except for you,” said Justice.
Bix snickered.
“Regardless,” he said. “It has nothing to do with anything. I’ll treat her the way I would anybody. I might be more willing
to get on board with this because of the circumstances but I’m not going to give her free rein. I am very much in control
of what is happening on my ranch.”
“What’s the ranch called again?” Arizona asked.
“Shut up,” said Denver.
“No, it’s a question that I have, for real.”
“King’s Crest,” he said.
“King’s Crest. And I believe everybody in here is a King, by blood or marriage.”
“But I’m the oldest,” he said.
“I wasn’t aware that made you the de facto leader.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said. “I’ve always been the leader.”
“Sure,” said his sister, rolling her eyes.
Whatever Arizona thought, though, it was true.
But where his father had been the kind of man who demanded obedience from those he felt were less than him, from his wife
to his children, to the underlings who did work with him, Denver believed that to be a leader meant more than just making
the decisions. It meant taking accountability.
“The financial risk will be mine. If I get screwed over, then I get screwed over. Nobody else does.”
Because he was in charge. And that meant that it all rested on his shoulders.
At least, that was how he saw it.
“Well, I for one can’t wait,” said Bix. “Throwing axes seems right up my alley.”
“You’re not supposed to throw them at people,” said Daughtry.
Bix grinned. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“I guess that’s why you also serve beer.”
All right. So maybe everybody was enthusiastically on board. But he didn’t need their enthusiasm. This would work. Because
it felt like the right thing to do. The right moment to make real amends to Sheena. Whatever she said. He was going to put
all that money she was trying to give them back and put it in an account. And when she left, he was going to give it back
to her. Because he didn’t want a damned thing from her. No.
Denver was trying to buy his way out of hellfire. And if this would help him do it, then he was all on board.
Sheena moved quickly around the kitchen, stuffing food into her mouth as she went, checking herself in the mirror to see if
her makeup looked good, and her boobs were looking perky. While she did her best to keep her phone held out, on speakerphone
so that she could still hear her sister talking.
“Anyway, so there’s this guy . . .”
“You’re taking birth control, right?” Sheena asked.
“Sheena!” Abigail screamed so loud her voice warped over the speaker.
“Well, it’s a valid question.”
“I use condoms with new partners, thank you,” Abigail said.
“Great. Double up.”
“I take my birth control,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Good. Because I know you’re going to tell me how great this guy is, but in six months we may find out he’s not so great and . . .”
“Your paranoia is deeply instilled in me, thanks. He really does seem nice.”
“Good,” said Sheena. She was happy for Abigail; she always was when Abby felt like she was in love.
More power to her and all of that. Sheena didn’t get what all the fuss was about, but she definitely didn’t want to keep her sister as lonely and bitter as she was.
Not that she was actually lonely. She just .
. . did things differently than some people did.
“Are you on your way to work?” Abby asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you ever going to quit working the bar?” her sister asked.
“Yeah, when I can no longer tie a cherry stem with my tongue and I can’t get tips anymore.”
“I’m serious, Sheena.”
“So am I.” But she wasn’t. She grabbed her keys and headed out to the driveway, unlocking her car as she got in and jammed
the key into the ignition. “Okay. I actually got something. I’m quitting the bar in two weeks. I’m giving my notice tonight.”
“Really? Are you going to come down here?”
“Not right now. I’m not planning on staying in Pyrite Falls. I don’t know if Fresno is meant to be my final destination. But
I figure I’ll wait and see where Sarah and Whitney land. Maybe I can figure out how to be close to all of you. As much as
I can be.”
She was reluctant to let her sister know everything. Let her know her dreams. In case she thought they were silly.
She wasn’t sure why she thought of it that way. Only that she did.
It was just the whole thing felt like a big limb she was going way out on. And until it was somewhat established, she was
just . . . Well, she was a little scared.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m helping with the expansion at King’s Crest.”
That was met with a resounding silence, and she set her phone down in her cup holder with it still on speakerphone, and through
her car into Reverse as she headed down the dirt driveway.
“Go ahead. Judge me.”
“I’m not judging you. Not really. I know that Denver gave us money. I know that he’s the reason I got to go to college. That
we all did.”
“Well. It was his money, and your ability to get a good enough GPA to get scholarships.”
“Still,” Abby said.
“But you’re surprised that I’m working with him.”
“Yes. Because you definitely seemed to want more distance from the King family than not.”
“Can you blame me?” Sheena asked.
“No. I mean, I can’t blame you for that at all. Not given everything you saw. You . . . you protected us from a lot.” That
was an understatement. But she considered it a win that her sister could make such an understatement. If she was aware of
everything, then that would’ve meant that Sheena hadn’t done that good of a job. It would mean that absorbing all the impact
wasn’t worth it.
“So what made you decide to get involved now?” Abby asked.
“The potential for more. You might’ve gone to college, but I didn’t.”
She hadn’t meant to say it like that. Because she didn’t want her sister feeling guilty, or like Sheena had sacrificed things
for her. She had. The truth was, if their father had never died, none of them would’ve had jack shit.
It was only his dying that had led to Denver paying the money. And it was only that money that had helped her sisters go to
school. And without it, none of them would have. So Sheena hadn’t been robbed of anything. Nothing had been available to her
that she hadn’t gotten.
When she told Denver she didn’t really feel like he owed her, she had been honest. What she knew about her dad was simple. He didn’t take care of anybody but himself. He didn’t care about anybody but himself.
And now he was off spending his eternity as a presumably narcissistic ghost. Sheena hadn’t wasted a tear on him. Never would.
So she really didn’t want to project some idea onto Abby that her not going to school was somehow related to Abby going.
“I just think that might be a path to something more for me. You just said you didn’t want me at the bar forever.”
“I didn’t say exactly that,” said Abby, sounding muted. “I’m not telling you what to do.”
“Good,” she said. “Because I can’t be told. Flat out.”
“Yes, yes. You’re a total badass.”
“I know.”
She drove on, her sister silent for a second.
“Do you know what you’ll be doing yet?”
“I . . . Not really. He and I are going to meet tomorrow to talk about some things.”
She felt guilty lying to Abby. But hey, she had to lie to her sister sometimes to protect her. That was the way of things.
And right now maybe she was lying a little bit to protect herself, but until she had all of this a little bit more settled,
she just wanted to keep it to herself.
“Are you taking your birth control?” Abby asked, and the question made Sheena hoot with laughter.
“Never miss a dose, thank you.”
“Just saying. If you’re going to be around Denver King . . .”
Sheena felt like she’d been punched in the gut. “Bite your tongue. He’s against the rules.”
“Ah right. I forgot that you have a policy against exchanging more than two civil words with any man you sleep with.”
“Damn straight. I don’t have time for that shit. I have enough on my plate without having to take on the care and keeping of some guy’s ego. I’m glad that you get joy out of relationships. I really am. It’s not like we had an example of them working or being any good at all.”
“No. But I just want to believe that since love and commitment seem to exist out there in the world maybe I can have it.”
“And I admire that about you. I do. But as for me, I have spent way too much of my life dealing with men. Their fragility,
their tempers, their expectations. It’s like Hank. I loved Hank.”
“You’re really talking about our dog now?”
“Yes. I loved him. Sometimes I’m a little bit bummed out I don’t have a dog anymore to make me feel secure at night. But I
have a 12-gauge, some pioneer spirit and no desire to have my heart broken again.”
“You’re still talking about the dog?” Abby asked.
“I am. When he died it was sad. I don’t want to have another dog, because that means losing another dog. As wonderful as the
dog was, he was also work. I don’t need to put that kind of work in. So I’m just saying thinking about having a relationship
feels a lot like that.”
“Like work.”
“Yes. Work and potential heartbreak. I don’t want either thing. If I want companionship I have no trouble finding it.”
“Right. Companionship being sex.”
“Yep. Don’t cry for me, Abigail, I am free as a bird.”
“Fine. Well. Have a good shift.”
“Thanks. You too.” And suddenly, her heart felt sore, and she felt just a little bit sad. “I really am happy for you. And
I hope . . . I hope everything goes well with your guy.”
“Thank you. I’ll be okay if it doesn’t. I’m always okay. But that’s because you taught me how to be strong.”
“Yes.”
She got off the phone with her sister, and felt swallowed up by the silence it left behind.
She had helped her sister become strong. And she was glad of that. But there could be a loneliness and strength too, and as much as she had just spent all that last bit of the phone call assuring her sister she wasn’t lonely, right now she felt it.
Not for a man. It was just that she had spent all those years caring for her sisters and they weren’t here now, and sometimes
the isolation, the emptiness in the house, did feel like a little bit much. Maybe she should get another dog.
But then she would have to bring him to the axe throwing bar every day . . . She didn’t actually hate that idea.
Maybe she should get a dog.
Now that she wasn’t working at the bar. She hadn’t liked the idea of the poor pooch being at home by himself all night, while
she slept half the day away. She was groggy, because she had gotten up ungodly early to go see Denver.
Nobody liked a groggy bartender, so she was going to have to get it together. Smokey’s was usually okay, but every so often
a fight broke out, and she did her best to make it clear that she didn’t put up with that kind of nonsense.
You had to be tough in a position like that. Because you had to teach the men who went to the bar that you wouldn’t put up
with their bullshit.
That was why she didn’t sleep with local guys. She didn’t want all the sharks circling any given week, thinking they might
have a chance with her. No, strictly out-of-towners for her. And never, absolutely never Denver King.