Chapter 7
“So did you have a nice time last night?” Mom asked me as I sat down in the rocking chair opposite her. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
I shrugged, taking a sip of the hot coffee, which was refreshing given the chill in the air. “I’m surprised you didn’t. I mean, I tried to be quiet, but the truck is loud enough to wake the whole county. Plus, Blaze and some guys were working horses.”
She pursed her lips, her eyes shifting out to the barn and corral, where Blaze and his help were once again working with more horses. “I took some sleeping pills.” Mom’s voice was quiet, and it was a little shocking, considering the woman never took anything—not even Tylenol for a headache.
“That’s okay,” I said, seeing the flash of guilt in her hazel eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with that. If it helps, then it helps.”
She nodded, her eyes stuck on the arena. “Just for now.”
“Yeah, just for now.” I glanced down at my cup of coffee, overloaded with creamer. I was struggling to find the words, knowing that she was hurting more than even I was in the moment. My dad had been her whole world, and while she was stronger than most—and hardened from the loss of Sam, I knew that this wasn’t easy for her.
I just wished that I knew how to be there for her. I didn’t even really know how to be there for myself, feeling numb and still reeling a bit from last night.
“So, Sarah is good?” Mom spoke up, her tone brighter. “I haven’t seen her in so long—well, I take that back, actually. I see her around town all the time, but I never have a chance to talk with her. You know how that goes, but I know Sam was close with Lucas at some point, I think.”
“Yeah, well, looking back, I should’ve just ducked and ran,” I chuckled, relieved to see a smile tugging at her thin lips. “But yeah, I think she’s good. Well, she says she is. She basically just left me at the bar in the middle of a conversation.” I couldn’t hide the confusion from my face. “That was kind of weird.”
Mom raised her brows at me. “Not very thoughtful of her.”
“Well, I don’t know that I would go that far with it,” I said quickly. “She seemed to be a little... agitated, maybe? I don’t know. Her phone just kept going off, and so maybe something was up. She talked about dating a lot of men. I can’t imagine that being an easy thing to balance.”
“Huh,” was all my mom said in response, her eyes flicking from me to the boys on horses.
I cleared my throat, shifting in my chipped wooden rocker. “Who knows. Drama probably.”
“Maybe.” She turned to me. “Did you see anyone else you know there? I figured that’s where all the kids are at these days.”
“Well, first of all, I’m almost thirty-four, so I don’t know if that counts as being a kid. Secondly, um...” my voice trailed off as a lump caught in my throat, Garrett coming back to mind. “No, I didn’t. I guess maybe I don’t know everyone in town like I thought I did.” I hated lying to her, but with dad’s death still fresh, I hated the thought of drudging up the past even more. We didn’t need to discuss Garrett. I wasn’t even sure I could right now.
“I always forget how fast the time goes by,” Mom commented, getting a distant look in her eyes. “You blink and the years are gone, though I was expecting to have some grandchildren by now.” She shot me a playful smirk to which I rolled my eyes, both of us laughing.
“Maybe someday when I actually find a man who’s not a worthless piece of shi?—”
“Language,” Mom warned me but then made a face. “But yeah, Jared was a piece of work. I’m glad that’s over. I never liked him all that much.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what I ever saw in him.” I let out a sigh, my mind flashing back to the past nearly decade that I had wasted on my ex-husband. There was a time that I had been severely broken up over the whole marriage ending, but not anymore. The heartache was replaced by a potent reminder of the fact I ignored all the red flags he brought with him, all because I was desperate to move on from my past. It had worked a while, but it wasn’t an actual solution.
“You know,” Mom gave me a cautious look, “Now that Dad is gone, I don’t know who’s going to keep up with Garrett. I’m sure you know that he was down there at that mechanic shop at least once a week. Well, I think I told you that.”
I nearly spit the coffee right out of my mouth at the mention. “Oh?” I croaked, before clearing my throat. “I knew he visited him, but not that often. ”
Mom took a sip of her own coffee. “He’s married now, but I don’t know how well it’s working out for him. I don’t think anything is working out for him.”
“Wait, what?” I jerked back in my chair, shaking my head in disbelief. “He was... Sarah mentioned that she was seeing him for a while—or something. It was hard to tell what she meant.”
Mom’s brow furrowed. “Oh... But he’s married to Brittany Romano. She goes to our church. Maybe something happened though. I don’t know. I don’t keep up with the drama. I haven’t seen any divorces in the paper though.”
“Well, it’s not true if it hasn’t made the paper,” I mumbled under my breath, my eyes dropping to the still mostly full coffee in my lap. There was a time that I thought I would always be here in Rustdale, starting a family of my own and letting the kids grow up on the ranch like I did...
But that was ages ago.
We fell into silence after that, and my mind ran back to last night, back to Garrett saying he would come see me today. Would he actually do it? And how would I explain that to Mom, if he did? I brushed a few strands of loose hair from my face, making a note to redo my hair when I got a chance.
“When do you think you’ll go see Greg?” Mom’s voice caught my attention. “I know that it’s pretty cut and dry, but you know how those things are, I just feel like it’s better to be lawyer to lawyer. I don’t have the stomach for it.”
I laughed softly. “I don’t think Dad’s will is very complicated, Mom. He probably just left everything to you.”
“No,” Mom said, her lips pursed. “That’s not what he did at all.”
“What? What else would he have done?” My stomach knotted up. “There’s no way that he would’ve put in a clause to sell it or something.”
“No, there’s not a clause to sell, but I know that he gave you partial ownership—and honey, we aren’t exactly doing well. There is a chance that we’ll have to sell. We haven’t been in the black in years. Savings floated us for most of the time, and then past that...I don’t know. We’ve had some big dry spells. There’s a lot you’re gonna have to look over. I should’ve told you before now, but it just…”
“It’s okay,” I told her, forcing a smile to cover the deep concern in my chest. “I’ll talk to Greg and we’ll figure it out… But what do you want to do, Mom?” I asked the question, my own emotions suddenly all over the place. I couldn’t imagine the ranch not being a part of my family, but if the finances were really that bad... The land was worth a lot—millions, probably.
“Oh, Beth,” she waved me off. “It doesn’t really matter what I want. I just want to set you up for a future that suits you. If that means sellin’ the ranch, then so be it. I can move to town. Lord knows I can’t keep up with all the management of this place without your dad. If it wasn’t for Blaze, your father and I would’ve drowned three years ago. He works here for much less than he should—and works part-time as a deputy for the county to make up for it.”
So, Blaze is a saint, too. Good to know.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, not even sure what to say to her. “I’ll just have to go in and look at it, but just so you know,” I paused, my heart squeezing. “I’ll figure out a way to keep you here on this ranch if possible. As hard as it is for me to be in this town, there’s no way I can handle moving you off to some house in town, just so I can put some cash in our pockets. ”
She gave me a grateful smile, however, it quickly faded as the sound of sirens filled the air. “What in the world...”
I whipped my head toward the ever-growing noise, which was quickly accompanied by the sound of tires on our gravel drive. My heart rate skyrocketed, my pulse thudding wildly in my chest. What in the world? My head whipped back toward the corrals, where the guys had ceased their training session, all eyes looking past the back porch to the front—which was out of Mom and I’s line of sight.
Oxygen felt as though it has been sucked right out of my lungs as a county sheriff’s truck came careening around the back of the house, stopping to park in the gravel, not far from the blue truck I had driven home. Mom and I watched in silence as Sheriff Myers stepped out of the vehicle. He had a grim look on his face as he adjusted his Stetson cowboy hat before heading in our direction.
“Do you know what this is about?” I turned to Mom, giving her a curious look. “Does he come here just to see you?”
“No...” Mom’s voice trailed off as she glanced over at me, and then out to where Blaze was opening the corral gate. “If anything, Sheriff Myers only ever comes by if it’s to talk with Blaze... But he would’ve seen Blaze out in the arena… I don’t know… I really don’t.”
My chest tightened as I took in the county sheriff, who I also hadn’t seen in years. He looked an awful lot like Garrett, though his hair was lighter in color and gray now beneath his hat. The tall, brawny sheriff gave us a nod as he approached the old back porch. He climbed the steps in a way that was almost painful to watch, the boards giving under his weight. “Good morning, ladies.”
“Sheriff Myers,” Mom said to him, her voice cautious. “What can we do for you? Blaze is right out there.” She gestured to the cowboy watching us from afar.
“Well,” he began, his gray eyes surrounded by matching dark circles on his weathered skin. “I was wondering if I could have a word with your daughter.”
“Me?” I asked stupidly, pointing to my chest.
He gave me a hardened look, like he hadn’t ever met me before. “Yep, you .”