Chapter 12 #2
The simmering smells of beef, tomato, and chili spices made my mouth water before I reached the dining room.
Chastity and the kids sat with bowls in front of them.
Even her four-year-old, Lanie, was downing what I knew to be well-spiced chili.
My sister was still a Texan at heart, and she cooked like one.
“Smells great, Chas.”
“Of course it does. I made it.” She waved toward the kitchen. “Help yourself. There’s plenty.”
“Thanks.”
I went to the cupboard and pulled down a bowl, and my sister followed me in. “Can you believe Dylan already downed a bowl and wants another? Kid is going to eat me out of house and home.”
“Just wait until he’s fifteen,” I said. “I became a black hole of hunger.”
“I remember,” she said. “I could never have any snacks because you’d always eaten them all! It was so annoying.”
I picked up the ladle left in the pot and filled my bowl with Texas chili. My sister had done it up right with beef chuck cut into cubes, ancho chilis, serrano peppers, and not a single bean in sight. Hell yeah.
Chastity held out the bowl in her hands and I refilled it, too.
She turned to go, but hesitated. “You and Dad were sitting in the driveway for a while.”
“You noticed that, huh?”
“Yeah. I opened the door. I was going to give you a hard time, but your conversation looked pretty intense.”
My muscles tightened, and I stared down at my chili to avoid her eyes. “Yeah.”
Dad wasn’t the only one I’d be letting down by moving to Riverton. I hadn’t really thought about Chastity and the kids. I should have, though.
“Hold that thought,” she said. “Stay put. I want to talk, but I don’t think the kids need to hear.”
She took the full bowl of chili back to the dining room. When she returned, she opened the refrigerator and pulled out two cans of Blue Moon, the fruity beer she liked.
She set one on the counter by me and popped open the second. “Okay, talk.”
I shook my head. “There’s not much to say.”
I filled my mouth with chili, and hot damn, the spices lit up my tongue. I hummed in appreciation and shoveled another bite in. The fact that it delayed this conversation was even better. I set my bowl down and opened the beer, chugging down half of it.
“Okay, enough stalling,” Chastity said. “Let’s hear it.”
Damn. I shoveled in one more bite before I could no longer avoid the topic at hand.
“I decided to go back to Redemption Road,” I mumbled.
“Good! You never should have left.”
That caught me off guard. “But you needed me here.”
“No.” She frowned. “I’m a grown woman, and I made my mess. It wasn’t your job to clean it up.”
I swallowed hard. “I thought I helped.”
“You did!” She stepped forward, squeezing my arm. “Obviously, you did. Luke backed way off. I still don’t know what you did to scare him away. I should probably ask, but I’m a little afraid…”
“Nothing illegal.”
She flashed me a smile. “Good. I was so afraid you were going to get yourself sent back to prison. I didn’t want that for you.”
“Luke was dangerous. He could have hurt you. I’d risk prison anytime to prevent that.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes a little. “You’re the little brother. I should be protecting you, not the other way around.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not kids anymore.”
“No, we’re not.” She tilted her head. “So, you’re going back to Redemption Road, where you belong. I take it Dad wasn’t happy?”
I hadn’t ever thought of Redemption Road as the place I belonged. But when she said it, it sounded right.
“Dad’s not happy. He’s got all these ideas about this landscape business.”
“Oh, I’ve heard,” she said. “Dad loves a good idea. It’s the follow-through that’s the problem.”
“I’m supposed to be the follow-through, and I’m bailing on him. I can’t go back to Riverton and work for him. I’ve got people there counting on me…but Dad was counting on me, too. I fuck up no matter what I do.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Go back to Hollywood and Ruby,” I said without even having to consider. “I don’t want to run out on him again.”
“Again?”
“Long story.”
My sister gave me a speculative look. My stomach flipped. Had I given too much of my feelings away?
“I didn’t consider that I’d be bailing on you and the kids too, though,” I said quickly. “Maybe I should—”
“Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening. I will boot you out of this house myself if I have to.”
I paused. “You want me to go?”
“You dropped everything and ran to my rescue once. Now it’s time to go live your life. You’ve tried working with Dad before. Look where that got you.”
I hadn’t ever told my sister explicitly that I was dealing weed to keep the business in the red, but she had obviously read between the lines. I chewed my inner cheek. “You don’t think I owe Dad something?”
“Respect, maybe. A son’s love. But you’re the one who pointed out we’re not kids anymore. You need to live for you, Tex. If that’s in Riverton, then get gone.”
I chuckled and drew her in for a hug, resting my chin on the top of her head. “Who made you so smart?”
“Must’ve been Mom,” she murmured. “You Larsen men are stupid as rocks.”
I laughed and pushed her away. “Just for that I’m eating a second bowl of chili.”
“Good thing you’re leaving soon,” she deadpanned. “I could never afford to feed you.”
I smiled, not fooled for a second by her teasing. My sister wanted what was best for me. Out of everyone I knew, she would never steer me wrong.
“Thanks, Chas. I was spun up. I just hate letting people down, you know?”
“Well, it’s not your job to pull them up, hon. It’s hard enough to keep ourselves afloat, much less everyone else.”
I nodded. “Guess so.”
“Dad’s tried to live vicariously through you for a long time. When he’s disappointed, it’s not about you. It’s about everything he never got to achieve. He shouldn’t put that on you.”
Maybe that was true with the football. I wasn’t so sure it applied now. “I wish I could have been what he needed.”
“Aw, Jedediah. Just be what you need. That’s enough. If you let Dad, he’ll pull you under and drown you in his pipe dreams. You know that, because it’s happened once already.”
“Yeah,” I rasped. “I guess you’re right.”
“Go home tomorrow. If I see you back here because Dad called, I’ll kick your ass myself.”
I grinned and picked up my bowl of chili. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And don’t call me ma’am, or it’ll be the last thing you ever say.”
I pushed a big bite of chili into my mouth and tried to look innocent. My sister picked up her beer and tipped back the rest, guzzling like a pro.
“Uncle Tex!” Dylan called from the doorway. “Hurry up! I want to play.”
I swallowed and reached for my phone. “Go get it set up! I’ll be right there. I just have to make a quick call.”
He groaned theatrically, but he dashed away, calling over his shoulder, “You better hurry!”
Chastity smirked. “Hard to believe you want to leave all this, huh?”
“Yeah.” I rinsed my bowl and set it in the sink, then threw my arm around her shoulders. “I really don’t want to leave all this. If I could be here and there at the same time…”
“Well, maybe someday it’ll work out for us all to be in the same town. Until then, visit when you can. Dylan and Robbie need a good male influence in their lives, and Luke sure as hell isn’t going to be one.”
I kissed the top of her head. “I’ll do my best.”
She gave me a push. “Good. Go call Hollywood. Check on Ruby. Then kick my son’s ass, because he’s always beating me at that game and I’m tired of hearing about it!”
“Not likely, but I’ll give it a shot.”
I tugged out my phone and called up Hollywood’s name in the contacts. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Tex,” he said, breathless. “How’s it going?”
“Okay,” I said. “Why are you so out of breath?”
“I was just playing with Ruby.”
I waited a beat. He sighed. “Okay, I was just chasing Ruby with a towel. Apparently our girl decided to air-dry.”
I laughed, delighted. As Hollywood continued to tell me about his day, Ruby’s antics, and the cute way she’d slurped up the spaghetti he’d made for dinner, my heart continued to lighten.
Like sunlight, he brightened my dark corners and made me smile like a fool.
Maybe it was selfish. Maybe I was being a bad son. But with Hollywood’s sweet voice in my ear, I couldn’t bring myself to make a different choice.
This man—this life in Riverton—was what I wanted. And I couldn’t let Dad convince me to throw it away.