Divided Interests

by Kelly Elliott

  I didn’t bother responding.

  Oreo meowed, and Milo walked over to pet her. “Please tell me you’re not going to turn into a cat lady. You’re much too hot for that and way too young.”

  His cheeks turned bright red, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I didn’t mean it like that. That was not me trying to come on to you before you’d even had your coffee, I swear.”

  I smiled. “You’re a good friend, Milo. Let me get dressed, and I’ll meet you in the living room.”

  “Sounds good. However, I’m at least hoping you had fun last night.”

  As Milo stepped out of my bedroom, Lucas appeared. He must have come down the hallway from the attic. He looked at Milo, then me, then back to Milo. His eyes turned dark with anger.

  “You look like shit,” Milo said to Lucas.

  “I didn’t get much sleep last night.” He shot his gaze at me, and if I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn I saw hurt in his eyes. Surely not.

  “I just got here. I was supposed to meet with Paige this morning to pick out paint samples.” He lifted the wheel of paint samples to show Lucas. Maybe Milo had realized, just like I had, how it looked for him to be stepping out of the bedroom, me still in my pajamas. Thank goodness they weren’t the sexy ones, but my oversized comfy pants and shirt. Not that Lucas would care, but I understood how Milo felt, with him being friends with the stupid jerk standing in the hallway.

  “I told you we didn’t need your help painting.”

  That caught me off-guard. When had he told Milo that?

  “I called Paige yesterday when she hadn’t gotten back to me about colors. She asked to meet with me this morning to pick out some.”

  Lucas glared at Milo. “Did you think I’d want to be a part of this little meeting?” Lucas said, his words dripping with ice as he looked at Milo, then me.

  “Give me five minutes to change, and I’ll meet you both in the living room,” I said, trying my best to smile and not act like my heart was thundering in my chest. I had no idea why I was suddenly in a panicked state.

  Lucas walked past Milo and down the steps. Milo raised his brows and pursed his lips.

  “He never was a morning person,” I said in a joking manner. Lucas grunted, and Milo laughed.

  “See ya in a few,” Milo said, following Lucas down the steps.

  Rushing into the bathroom, I quickly brushed my teeth and looked at my hair. It was a mess. Pigtails today.

  I changed into jeans, a T-shirt, and slipped on a pair of pink Keds. I made my way downstairs. I could hear muffled voices, but they didn’t sound like they were coming from the living room. I followed them and stopped outside William’s study, which Lucas had made into his home office.

  “I don’t understand the problem, Lucas.”

  A loud bang made me jump. “You know the goddamn problem, Milo.”

  “No, I honestly don’t. And to be frank, I don’t know you anymore, man. I don’t think you know either. Why are you here, dude? If you don’t want the house, just give it to her. Let her have it, let her rent your part from you. Why are you so desperate to sell this place? Once upon a time you wanted to live in this house.”

  “With her!” Lucas shouted.

  Milo sighed.

  “I don’t want to sell the fucking house anymore. I already told you that.”

  My hand covered my mouth.

  “Lucas, calm down, dude. You know I would never do that to you. Nothing happened. I knocked on the front door and no one answered. It wasn’t closed all the way, so I walked in. I figured she was still asleep.”

  Lucas made a noise and then said, “I don’t give a shit anymore. If you want to ask her out, ask her out.”

  My heart dropped, and I dug my teeth into my lower lip to keep the instant flood of emotions at bay.

  “I’m not asking her out, Lucas. Anyone with two eyes can see you’re still crazy about her.”

  Before I could hear Lucas’s response, I decided I was done eavesdropping. Probably because I was scared to death what his response would be. I knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” Lucas barked.

  With a wide smile, I walked into the room. “Thought y’all would be in the living room, but if you want to repaint this room, we can certainly pick a color. The cost to paint it will fall on you, though, Lucas. Since you’ve claimed this room.”

  Milo smirked, and Lucas stared at me. He gave me a once over before he stood, grabbed his keys and wallet, then quickly walked out of the room.

  “I don’t give two shits what color you paint any of the rooms. I’m leaving.”

  I watched him storm past us like a five-year-old. “Will you be coming back, or have you decided to sell me your half of the house?”

  Lucas stopped abruptly and walked back over to me. He leaned down, let his eyes search my face, then let out a long breath. Through gritted teeth, he slowly said, “Will you please stop wearing the pigtails. For the love of God and all that is holy, just stop with the pigtails!”

  Then he stormed out again, leaving me stunned into silence with Milo holding onto his side, laughing his ass off.

  I faced Milo and shook my head. “What in the world was that about?”

  Lifting both hands, Milo said, “I’m staying out of this.”

  Lucas

  I PULLED THE saddle down and made my way out of the tack room. When I rounded the corner, I smiled.

  “Morning, Dad.”

  My father stood before me, wearing his worn-out favorite Stetson hat, work gloves in hand, and a smile on his face.

  “You have no idea how good it is to see you in this barn, son.” His eyes swept over me. “And dressed like a goddamn man for once.”

  I chuckled. “It’s good to be here, Dad. You need me to do anything? I need some hard labor.”

  He laughed. “That’s a loaded question. This ranch always needs something done. I need to head into town later for a meeting with the city council.”

  After I tossed the saddle onto my favorite horse, Ranger, I looked at him. “The city council? What’s going on?”

  “They want to look at restoring some of the store fronts on the square. I offered to give them some numbers to crunch.”

  I nodded. “Paige is looking at buying or renting a place to open a flower shop.”

  “Lou told me.”

  My heart stopped at the mention of granddad’s best friend. For a moment, I debated going there, but my curiosity won out. “Dad, did Grams ever date Lou before granddaddy?”

  Putting on his work gloves, he reached for a bale of hay. I walked over and helped him.

  “Not that I know of. They were thick as thieves, the three of them.”

  “Did Granddad and Grams ever break up?”

  He laughed. “I’m sure in the beginning they had their arguments, just like any couple.”

  We tossed the hay bale onto the back of the ATV.

  “Did Grams and Granddad ever date other people?”

  He looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read, but then it was gone.

  “Yes.”

  I looked at him with a shocked expression.

  “Don’t look so surprised, your grandmother was a beautiful woman. There were other young men who had their eyes on her, not just your granddad.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck and grinned. “She was beautiful, no doubt about it.”

  He stopped what he was doing and faced me. “Why are you asking?”

  With a sigh, I leaned against the barn wall. “This whole thing with Paige… Granddad leaving her half of his house and me the other half. He has us on some sort of treasure hunt, if you will. I guess the reason he did it is in some chest or something.”

  My father laughed. “Sounds like your granddad. He adored Paige and knew how much she loved that house. I’m sure he would be upset if he knew you wanted to sell it.”

  The guilt in my chest made me look away.

  “You want to talk about that? You once lov
ed that house, son. Talked about raising a family there.”

  “Yeah, everyone keeps reminding me of that.”

  “So, why the sudden urge to sell it?”

  “I thought I wanted to sell it. Guess I was having a moment.”

  He lifted a brow. “And now?”

  I pushed off the wall and walked back to Ranger, who was patiently waiting on me to finish saddling him up.

  “Now, I don’t know what in the heck I want. I will admit my reasons for wanting to sell it might have been wrong.”

  “Wrong? How so?”

  I tightened the saddle, adjusted the reins, and walked Ranger out of the barn, my father walking next to me.

  “Paige. It all comes back to Paige. I was angry, mostly at myself. For giving up on us, for my damn foolish pride. For hurting her. For her hurting me. Hell, I don’t know. A part of it was knowing Bianca would have an absolute fit, I know that.”

  “And now, do you still want to sell it?”

  I looked at him. “No, Dad. I would never sell that house, just like I would never sell the ranch.”

  “Then why keep this charade up?”

  With a grin, I replied, “Well, now it’s just fun, getting Paige all worked up. Seeing her get angry every time I mention buying her out. She’s not going to give up her half, I know that. That woman is more stubborn than a damn mule.”

  “She always was a stubborn girl. Gets that from her daddy. Her brother Tom is just as stubborn, and a word to the wise: her daddy is pretty pissed off at you. Tom as well.”

  With a nod, I replied, “I’m sure they are. They both think I’m trying to take away the house from Paige. I’ll stop by the Millers’ ranch in the next few days and talk to them.”

  “Something else is on your mind, son.”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore, Dad. Seeing Paige in that house, being around her again… I knew things with Bianca had been over for a while, and I didn’t want to admit defeat, but this whole chain of events gave me a good excuse to break up with her.”

  “What excuse is that, son?”

  I looked around the barnyard and swept my hand across it. “This. Home. The life I once wanted. I love my job in Austin, but damn, I’ve missed being me. Missed this place. Missed my family.”

  “You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that. I know your momma has been tickled pink since you, uh, broke up with Bianca.”

  This time I laughed. “I know y’all didn’t like her.”

  “It wasn’t that we didn’t like her. We just knew she wasn’t the girl for you. Hell, everyone in town could see you were only dating her because she was the polar opposite of Paige.”

  “I won’t disagree with you on that, sir.”

  “Figured as much. Now, let’s get back to the real reason you’re here. Is it Paige? The house? Your job?”

  I faced him. “All of the above. Mostly Paige, I guess. She said some things last night that hit a little too close to home. I was up all night, thinking about it. She has this crazy notion that I’m comparing her to Bianca. That I don’t like her and that I’m only wanting to sell the house to hurt her.”

  “There is a bit of truth in that one statement. You did want to sell it to hurt her.”

  Swallowing hard, I had to look away from him.

  “I raised you to be a gentleman, so I know you’re not comparing her to Bianca. I see the way your eyes light up when Paige is mentioned, so I know you don’t hate her. That leads me to think she’s spot on about the house, and she figured it out, which I’m guessing hurt her just as much as you’re hurting now, son.”

  Shame bubbled inside, and I couldn’t look at him. “I guess, at first I wanted to sell it because of Paige, but not to hurt her. It was to erase the past. To erase my mistakes.”

  He scoffed, then climbed into the ATV. “You of all people know you can’t change the past, Lucas. You can grow from it, be hurt by it, heal from it, but nah, you can’t change it. The mistakes we make in our past shape us for the future. The way you two handled things with each other was back asswards. You have the chance to fix it. So it’s up to you. Do you want to fix it? Or move on?”

  I shrugged.

  “Did you ever stop for five minutes and think that maybe, just maybe, your journey was bringing you right back to the beginning?”

  “The beginning, sir?” I asked.

  My father smiled and started up the utility vehicle. “It’s your journey, Lucas. Only you can decide which way to go.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Did you and granddad get together and decide to teach me some sort of lesson with all this cryptic bullshit?”

  Tossing his head back, my father let out a roar of laughter. “Hell, I’m sure Daddy is up there laughing his ass off right now. Enjoy your ride, and if you happen to take a wander down the fence line over in the west pasture, see if those damn kids have cut into it again to ride their 4-wheelers. I’m gonna tan their behinds if I ever catch ’em.”

  “Will do,” I said as I climbed onto my horse. I was ready to be alone with my thoughts.

  As Ranger started toward the trail that led from the barn, I exhaled deeply and let the feel of being alone with my horse, on this ranch, in my hometown, settle into my soul.

  “I have no damn clue about anything anymore, Ranger. Not a damn clue.”

  The horse let out a nicker and started into a trot as we headed to open pasture. I could feel his body tremble with the need to run. He wasn’t the only one who needed to feel the wind on his face and to get lost for a bit.

  Once we were in the open pasture, I gave him a squeeze with my legs. “Let’s go, Ranger.”

  I stepped into the kitchen and inhaled deeply. “Jesus, what is that delicious smell?”

  My mother swatted at me with the dish towel. “Lucas Foster, do not use that language.”

  Moving out of her way, I removed my cowboy hat and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “Whatever it is, it smells amazing.”

  “It’s chicken pot pie.”

  I groaned. “I have missed your cooking, Mom.”

  “You could stand to gain a few pounds. That woman only had you eating salad and tofu.”

  With a laugh, I took the bowl of salad from her hands and placed it on the table. “As you hand me a salad, how ironic.”

  “That’s not the same thing. I’m also giving you meat and vegetables.”

  “Bianca wasn’t all that bad.”

  She snarled, then gave me a sweet smile. “I’m glad you finally saw the light.”

  I inhaled a deep intake of air, then quickly let it out. “I think I saw the light a few months in. Took me awhile, but it feels good to be on my own again.”

  As she moved about the kitchen, I could tell something was on her mind. “Say it, Mom. You were never one to keep your thoughts in for long.”

  Shrugging, she faced me. “I’m just curious if you’re going to be staying in Johnson City or moving back to Austin. I mean, how long will they let you work from Johnson City?”

  I popped a cherry tomato into my mouth. “I can work from anywhere. As long as I get my projects done on time, they don’t care if I’m in Alaska or Australia.”

  My mother leaned against the counter and gave me a serious look. “Have you thought about coming and working alongside your father?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I have.”

  A look of pure happiness crossed her face.

  “If I decide to make JC my home again, I can help Dad with the ranch and the construction business.”

  She smiled. “If you decide? Does that mean you and Paige will be permanent roommates?”

  I rolled my eyes and reached for a biscuit. “I’m not sure how that is going to turn out, to be honest with you.”

  “Lucas, you can’t be serious. Selling the house? It’s been in your father’s family for over a hundred years. How could you do that?”

  “Not you too, Mom. Please.”

  “Well, I just can’t believe someone who
once loved everything about that house could be so eager to sell it.”

  Clearly, she hadn’t talked to Dad yet.

  “Do you think I should sell my half to Paige? If I did that, the family would still be losing it.”

  Without answering, she reached into the oven and pulled out a casserole dish. After placing it on the wire rack, she waved her hands above it to smell her masterpiece.

  “Whatever you decide to do, Lucas, your father and I will support you. I have to admit, I’m curious as all get out to know what you’ll find in this mysterious chest.”

  “Me, too. I tried to get into the attic this morning, but it’s locked. You don’t happen to know where Granddad would have kept the key?”

  The back door opened, and my father walked in.

  “I don’t, but I bet he does,” Mom said, pointing to my father.

  “I do what?” Dad asked, removing his hat and setting it on the counter before pulling my mother into his arms and kissing her. I couldn’t help but smile.

  “You’re all sweaty, Carl. Go clean up. Lunch is ready.”

  He nuzzled his face into her neck, causing her to giggle. I had missed this. Missed being around my family. Seeing the love my parents had for one another. A part of me avoided it because I didn’t want to be reminded of everything I had given up.

  “Go, before lunch gets cold!” my mother said, pushing my father out of the kitchen.

  With a wide smile on her face, she turned back to me. Tilting her head, she regarded me for a moment. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

  I cleared my throat and forced myself to give her a small grin. “I’m fine, Mom. Just a bit tired. I’ve missed being with y’all. Being home.”

  “We’ve missed you, too. I do hope you will think of staying in JC, Lucas. I cannot even begin to tell you how much better you look in your cowboy boots over those stupid city slicker shoes.”

  With a laugh, I pulled my mother into a hug. “It’s good to be home, Mom. Really good to be home.”

  My phone rang, and a part of me hoped like hell it was Paige. When I pulled it out from my back pocket, I was instantly disappointed.

  “Goodness, is it a bill collector?” my mother asked with a laugh. “You almost look afraid to answer it.”