Chapter 29
It only took a few words to turn a world upside down. Abby knew this from experience, and yet Clayton’s words sent her spiraling.
“He didn’t do anything,” Clayton quickly added.
Abby rolled onto her back and tried to get her breathing under control. “He was going to shoot somebody.”
“I don’t know what was going through Brice’s head,” Clayton said as he pushed up on an elbow to look down at her. “I told you what I saw.”
She turned her gaze to him. “I didn’t even know he knew how to handle a gun.”
“Don’t go down that road. Focus on the fact that he didn’t fire the weapon. You can talk to him later about it.”
“Where is he?” she asked, sitting up.
“Back at the bunkhouse.”
“Oh, my God,” she said and scooted to the other side of the bed where she got up, wincing as she accidentally used her bad arm. She walked to her bag of clothes that her brothers had packed for her. “I need to go see him.”
“Abby,” Clayton said, suddenly beside her.
She jerked in surprise. “How the hell do you move so fast?”
One side of his lips lifted in a grin. “Habit. Listen, please calm down.”
“I can’t calm down. These people broke into my house, shot at my brothers, and then shot at me. Now you tell me Brice was there with a gun!”
Clayton began to grab her shoulders then dropped his hands. “I looked for him before I returned last night. He didn’t do anything. Now he’s back.”
She lifted her gaze to the ceiling, praying for patience. “Once Brice sets his mind to something, he’ll continue on whatever path that is until he succeeds.”
“That’s different than taking another person’s life,” he argued.
“Unless those people attacked his family.”
Clayton’s brow furrowed in a frown. “Dammit,” he muttered before turning on his heel. “Stay here. I’m going to talk to him.”
“I’m coming.”
She’d only gotten two steps when he whirled around. “Abby, do you think he’ll talk to you about it?”
“No,” she replied. Her brother liked to keep things bottled up.
“And if he’s gone back?” Clayton asked.
She nodded in understanding. “You’ll take off to go find him, and I won’t be able to keep up.”
“Exactly.”
“But I have to know either way,” she insisted.
Clayton hesitated, a muscle in his jaw working. “Can you be dressed in five minutes?”
“Give me two.”
He gave a nod and was gone. Abby hurried to her clothes, discarded her nightshirt, and found a pair of jeans. She bit her lip when her arm began to pound, but she had no choice but to use it because there was no getting up a pair of jeans with one hand.
She chose an oversized sweatshirt that was the easiest thing she had to put on but it left her covered in sweat and shaking from the agony. Then she decided against socks as she pushed her feet into her slightly used gray Ugg boots she’d gotten at Goodwill.
When she reached the door, Clayton was walking from his room completely dressed. He looked at her, his lips thinning. “You’ve hurt yourself.”
“I’ll survive.”
They walked side by side down the stairs to the back door. Clayton paused and helped her into his mother’s rain jacket before he put on his coat and hat. As they left the house, Abby pulled up the hood of the jacket in an effort to keep the rain off her.
It wasn’t the precipitation she didn’t like. It was the cold and the rain. The temperatures had plummeted overnight, leaving her chilled to her very bones. She clamped her teeth together and practically had to jog to keep up with Clayton’s long strides.
He directed them to the UTV. She climbed into the passenger side and closed the door, grateful to be out of the rain. He started the engine and pointed the vehicle toward the bunkhouse while she held her arm, trying to will the pain to lessen.
When they pulled up to the side of the building, Clayton shut off the engine and turned his head to her. “Stay here. I’m going to check to see if he’s in there.”
Clayton had no sooner opened the door than a figure stepped from behind the bunkhouse. When Abby saw it was Brice dripping wet with a rifle slung over his shoulder, she started to get out of the SxS. But Clayton’s hand on her leg stopped her.
“Let me,” he whispered.
Somehow, she stayed put, wishing that she’d made her brothers stay in the main house last night. But before dinner, Caleb had asked her if he and Brice could sleep in the bunkhouse. She hadn’t had the heart to deny them.
Her gaze moved from Brice to Clayton and back to Brice when her brother walked beside the UTV before climbing into the bed. Clayton got into the vehicle and started the engine.
As he drove off, Clayton said, “He won’t talk to me. But I did convince him to come back to the house with us.”
She slumped in the seat. But no sooner had her mind grasped that he was fine than Abby knew she had to think of something to say. The problem was that she didn’t know how to handle this situation or even what to say to Brice.
Back at the house, the three of them filed inside. Clayton walked Brice upstairs for a hot shower and a change of clothes. Needing something to do, Abby went to the kitchen, but she could barely move her arm.
As she stood there with tears clouding her vision, wondering what to do, a soothing arm came around her. Justine pulled her close and held her.
“It’s all right. Why don’t you sit down while I get breakfast going? My goodness, Abby, you’re shaking. Sit, sit,” she ordered as she removed the raincoat. “I’m going to get a blanket for you and start some coffee.”
Abby numbly sat at the bar while Justine draped a thick blanket around her. Within minutes, a cup of coffee with steam wafting up from the liquid was placed before her. She wrapped her hands around the mug, letting the heat seep through her palms.
She stared at the quartz counter as Justine moved about the kitchen.
Every sip of the coffee helped to warm her.
Then, finally, Clayton returned. He took one look at her and went to the bottle of pain meds.
She shook her head when he lifted it. The pills clouded her mind and put her to sleep.
Right now, she needed to think. Later, she’d take one.
Clayton blew out a breath but relented. He returned, holding a cup of coffee for himself. “The gun hasn’t been fired.”
“At least there’s that,” she murmured.
Justine stirred the pancake batter, holding the bowl against her. “Clayton told me what happened. I’m not condoning what Brice almost did, but you are his world, Abby. He felt helpless when you were shot.”
“And he’s afraid of telling me anything in case Ronnie and his men get to you before I get to them,” Clayton said.
Justine shot her a sad smile. “So he tried to take matters into his own hands.”
“I don’t know what to say to him,” she admitted.
Clayton put his hand atop hers. “Just be there for him. Listen if he wants to talk.”
“And don’t push him if he doesn’t,” Justine added.
Mother and son shared a look that spoke volumes about the past. If they could get through Landon’s death, then she would make sure she, Brice, and Caleb got through this.
Another fifteen minutes passed before Ben walked into the kitchen beside Brice. Her brother’s dark brown locks were still wet, but he was no longer shivering. The too big clothes he wore were most likely Clayton’s.
Abby turned to Brice and opened her arms. He rushed to her, clasping her tight. She didn’t even care that he was hurting her arm.
“I almost did something stupid,” he said.
The last time Brice cried was when their mother left, but this was the second time in two days that she heard the tears in his voice. “But you didn’t. That’s all that matters.”
He pulled back, sniffing. “Damn, Abby. Your shoulder. I forgot.”
“I don’t feel it,” she lied.
He gave her a flat look, telling her he didn’t believe her. “I’m ready to tell y’all everything.”
“First, we eat,” Justine said and motioned for Brice to get the plates.
Clayton leaned close and said, “Mom always thinks things are dealt with better on a full stomach.”
“Don’t come between my wife and food,” Ben said with brows raised. “You don’t want to see what happens.”
To her surprise, Abby found herself smiling. She slid from the stool and carried her coffee into the dining room. Clayton held out her chair for her before taking his seat across from her.
Brice was silent as he put out the plates and utensils while Justine set the stack of pancakes and the syrup in the middle of the table. After the blessing, the food was passed around.
Once everyone had taken a few bites, Ben look to Brice, “You can begin your story whenever you’re ready, son.”
Brice set down his fork and swallowed the bite in his mouth. Then he turned his head to Abby, his pale blue eyes meeting hers. “I’m sorry. All of this is because of my idiotic mistake.”
“You owned up to what happened,” she said with a smile. “That makes me proud.”
He glanced away. “I met Ronnie at the feed store after school one day when I was trying to find a job. He hired me to help clean up the place he’d just bought. The pay wasn’t much, but it was something.”
“I had no idea you had a job. I thought you were staying after school for basketball practice.”
Brice shook his head, his shoulders drooping. “I was thrown off the team for my attitude and slipping grades. I was going to wait until Christmas to tell you about that and the job when I surprised you with the money.”
Abby set down her fork, no longer able to eat. “I don’t care about basketball or why you aren’t on the team. All I want is honesty between us.”
“I know. I hated lying to you,” he said softly. Brice then blew out a breath. “At first, I thought the job with Ronnie was a stroke of luck. It didn’t take me long to realize that he’d heard about the crowd I used to hang with and my brush with the cops.”
“So he went looking for you,” Ben said.
Brice nodded slowly before meeting Abby’s gaze. “Ronnie came to me with a plan. He said if I joined them, he’d give me five thousand dollars. All I had to do was help them steal some cattle. When I asked if it would hurt whoever we stole from, he told me ranches have insurance for such things.”
Her brother’s face crumpled as he struggled to get out the next words.
“I know you’ve always told me that the easy way out of things is rarely ever the right way, but I was tired of seeing you struggle to pay the bills and buy us food.
You were working yourself to death, and I wanted to give us all a cushion in the bank to get caught up on past-due bills.
And I really wanted to go to the grocery store and buy whatever we wanted. ”
Abby didn’t even try to stop the tears. She put her hand on his face. “Your heart was in the right place. I can’t fault you for that.”
“No,” Brice bit out. “But I made another stupid decision.”
Clayton shook his head. “Someone took advantage of you, Brice. That’s completely different.”
Her brother swallowed and swiped at his cheeks that were wet with his tears. “Ronnie told me if I said anything to anyone they’d kill Caleb and then come after Abby. I couldn’t take the chance of something happening to my family. Then they came, and I hadn’t said a word to anyone.”
“That’s on me,” Abby said. “I found something at work and pieced it together. I’m the one who gave Ronnie’s address to Clayton.”
“And I found the cattle last night. When I saw you,” Clayton said.
Brice looked between them, resolve forming in his eyes. “So we can take them down now?”
“Yep. Want to help?” Abby asked.
Her brother sat up straighter. “Please.”