Chapter 15
C aleb scowled into his beer. The bar was quiet tonight.
One of the perks of having an odd schedule.
He wasn’t restricted to Friday and Saturday nights, when it was too loud to talk.
And he was at the age where he went to a bar to talk .
Women weren’t on his agenda anymore. Not until this thing with Brigit died a slow painful death, which was the only outcome he could foresee.
“It’s been a few months now,” Jesse said. The guy refused Caleb’s money so all he could do was buy as many drinks—Sprite in Jesse’s case—and meals as he could. Jesse reached for a slice of the pizza they were splitting. “You and Brigit must be pretty serious.”
“Yeah, you’d think.” One of them was serious. He was afraid the other was biding her time.
“It’s February and you two still seem to be a thing.”
Caleb could rattle off the exact date Brigit had moved in, but that’d just look pathetic. “She’s heading to Phoenix for a job interview. Research market analyst. Market research analyst? Whatever.”
“Sounds exciting.” Jesse leveled him with a stare. He didn’t have to push to get Caleb talking. It wasn’t like he could go to Justin with these issues. He probably could, but Justin had ninety-nine problems. Caleb wasn’t going to be one of them.
“I’ve offered her my ranch, told her she could live with me. But she wants a job.”
“You proposed?” Thankfully, Jesse kept his voice down. There might not be a lot of people here, but it only took one with acute hearing to spread rumors that’d send Brigit running.
“No, I didn’t propose. I just…tossed the option out there.” He’d offered himself up as a possibility for her future. And she’d said they should go eat.
At least she wasn’t leading him on and making promises she didn’t plan to keep. Nope. She was applying out of state.
As if sensing that this discussion wasn’t the most uplifting, Jesse switched topics. “Farah’s dad gave you the award for best Christmas present ever.”
His mood lifted. Or he could pretend it did. “He liked the deer sausage?”
“Loved it. He hasn’t gone hunting since before Corinne’s stroke.”
His phone buzzed. The usual spike of excitement hit.
Was it Brigit? He’d had to work yesterday when she’d flown out, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d planned it that way.
A little awkward to ask your boyfriend for a ride to the airport for a job that’d probably tank the relationship. But whatever.
But when he saw the caller, his heart sank. Shit. “I’ll be right back.”
Jesse nodded as Caleb rose and answered, “What’s up, Mom?”
“Where are you?”
Hello to you too. “I’m in Moore.”
She cackled, the years of smoking obvious. “Smart-ass. Where at in town? I’ll swing by and see you.”
Mom was in town? Thanksgiving and Christmas had come and gone without so much as a text or email. She probably didn’t realize Valentine’s Day was next week. “Just you or is—”
“Fuck, no. I dumped his ass, but Randall’s with me and I want to show him the farm.”
“Who?” Dumped Russ’s ass? But Russ had been the one constant in Mom’s life.
The guy had been halfway decent to Caleb.
He’d been the one to drag Mom to his high school graduation on time.
And he’d answered his phone when Mom had lost or refused to answer her own. “What happened between you and Russ?”
“It doesn’t matter now. You’ll like Randall. He’s a cowboy too.”
Right. There was a difference between a guy who called himself a cowboy and a guy who actually worked the land and animals for a living.
Those weren’t the types of guys Mom was attracted to though.
She gravitated toward the men who might wear the boots, even the hat, but preferred hanging out in a bar for a living.
“I’m off tomorrow. I can take you both out and show you around.”
“ Psst . Caleb, I can still find my home.”
But it’s not yours . And there’s not a home there right now. “I don’t want you around there at night. It’s too easy to get hurt.”
“Caleb, I’m an adult and your mother, and that is my home. If I wanna take Randall there and show him around, I’m gonna do it.”
His grandparents had made sure the land, the house, the finances—all of it was in his name and his name only.
They loved Mom, but they’d had the foresight and the fortitude to make sure she couldn’t interfere with Caleb’s future any more than she had.
As for the ranch? Mom didn’t give two shits about the cattle or how to keep them alive.
Arguing with Mom was pointless. She didn’t see her own faults. Everyone else was to blame.
“If you’re going out tonight, I can meet you there.” And make sure you don’t plow down a fence taking a wrong turn into an approach. “Where are you staying in town?”
She laughed again and dissolved into a fit of coughing. “We’ll stay at the house, silly Billy.”
He no longer warmed at the pet name. It was a smokescreen. Her way of making him and everyone else think she cared much more than she did. But her words hammered the last nails on the lid of “Mom only cares about herself” box. “The house was demolished last year, Mom. Remember? The tornado?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I sent you a message. And a picture after the house was demolished.”
“When?”
“Last summer. The big tornado that went through Moore and over my place.” Had stressing my been too obvious? Probably not if his message of “a tornado flattened the house” and a photo of a big gaping hole where their family home used to be hadn’t gotten the point across.
“And you didn’t fucking call? Caleb, my house is gone and you didn’t even call?”
“I tried, but it just rang.”
“That’s right. I lost my phone and got another one. Must’ve been during that time.”
It was plausible. Mom was always losing her phone and getting new ones, and she was on her third phone number in five years.
It was the one time he hadn’t called Russ when Mom went into radio silence.
Life had been too crazy for Caleb at the time.
If he’d gotten ahold of Russ, he might’ve learned about the breakup.
A gusty sigh traveled over the line. “I dragged Randall all the way here and there’s nothing to show him. Story of my life.”
Caleb squeezed his eyes shut. Nothing to show Randall? Mom had dragged her new man here to see a house that she’d barely spent any time in once she’d turned eighteen.
“Yeah, it sucks. I’ve been living at Justin’s.”
“The Walkers? Do they make you cook and clean?”
“I cook and clean up after myself because Justin’s letting me stay there for free.
” Why did he bother arguing? Mom would think what she wanted.
He searched for a subject change—and a way to keep them from driving through his yard in the dark.
Mom wasn’t known for passing up getting behind the wheel after she’d had a few.
“Want to meet me out there tomorrow? I can show you what the tornado did, and you can see what it looks like without a house.”
“I guess we’ll have to get a motel.” She couldn’t sound more inconvenienced. “Yeah, why don’t we do that? We’ll check out, grab lunch, and see you about one o’clock.”
There was no yeah, I’d like to see you, son, it’s been awhile or why don’t you meet us for lunch , but she’d agreed to meet, and he couldn’t deny the little boy inside of him wanting to see his mother.
It shouldn’t be this warm in winter.
Brigit stepped through the revolving glass door and squinted into the sun.
Traffic buzzed over the busy street that ran in front of the office center she’d just interviewed in.
Heels clacked on the concrete from passersby.
Many were dressed in business attire more expensive than what she’d donned, and others were dressed like she would be at home right now. A sweater and jeans.
When she’d arrived in Phoenix two days ago, she’d had to go shopping yet again.
Her sweater dress might’ve worked, but for a Minnesota girl suddenly finding herself in temps in the lower seventies in the middle of winter, she would’ve been red-faced and sweaty while she met with her prospective employers.
Market research analyst.
The job sounded…not exciting. Deskbound.
Full of water-cooler conversations and reheated leftovers eaten under bright fluorescent lights.
Hours staring at a computer screen. While they’d covered what her duties would be if she landed the job and given her a tour of cubicle hell, she’d questioned what the hell she’d been thinking when she’d gone to business school.
What else had she thought a business job would entail?
Her heels mingled with the rest of the foot traffic as she hustled to a coffee shop on the next block over.
Once inside, she rattled off the same low-fat, low-carb drink she always used to get.
While waiting, she sent Dad a message. Mom hadn’t been able to ask for time off.
But she must enjoy the job. Most couples her parents’ age moved to Arizona to retire and escape the bone-aching cold, but Mom had scored a decent job and often commented on the benefits.
Dad sold used cars and never complained either.
Maybe it was the promise of a steady paycheck, or maybe retirement equaled boredom for them, or maybe the change in climate was enough.
Her drink was ready. She threaded through the full tables, out the door, to the side street Dad had arranged to pick her up on.
Taking a cautious sip, she wrinkled her nose as ultrasweetened nonfat coated her tongue.
Blech. How quickly her taste buds had adjusted to real cream and sugar.
Each drink reminded her that skinny wasn’t always as good as great-tasting food.
Nursing the cup just for something to do, she was happy to trash it when Dad pulled up.
“Hey, kiddo. Mind if I drop you off at home and head back to work? A guy’s gone today, and they need me on deck.”