by Jillian Neal
Clearly, sisters could read each other’s minds or something. Grant had no idea how Sophie knew what to say when Kaitlyn had prompted her.
“Thank you, and don’t call me Kit-kat anymore. I hate that name.”
“You used to love it.”
“No, I always hated it. I just endured it because you all loved it, and I wanted to make you happy.”
Pride swelled throughout Grant’s musculature. His little hellcat finally located her voice.
“What’s going on with you and Josh?”
“Oh, basically I used him to get to you because I was terrified if you were really gone I was going to have to figure out how to deal with Mom and Dad on my own. I’m a terrible human being.”
“You’re not a terrible human being,” Kaitlyn sighed. “But I could use your help.”
“I’m too afraid to hope that Mom’s really making a comeback,” Sophie tried.
“Me too,” Kaitlyn lost a little of her wrath fueled irritation.
“I love you, Kaitlyn. I’m sorry I was a lousy big sister. I’ll be here from now on.”
“I love you, too, and I forgive you, but you better be here.”
Suddenly, Grant was stepping back because the girls were hugging and laughing and crying in a ball of insanity in the middle of the kitchen. Women. He shook his head. What the hell?
“You know, if I get mad at one of my brothers, I usually just hit him. He hits me back. We beat the shit out of one another. Then it’s over,” he commented, though he was fairly certain only the potatoes were listening.
Kaitlyn turned her head to give Grant the grin he was clearly after. It felt good not to be mad at her sister anymore. Sophie hadn’t been there, but she was the only other person who understood how much Keith’s death had forever altered their entire family.
“She’s pretty amazing, isn’t she?” Sophie released Kaitlyn and offered Grant a smile.
“I’ve been saying that since I first laid eyes on her. Pretty sure you all forgot that part though.”
“I did forget, and I’m sorry. Have you ever had her mashed potatoes? They’re delicious.”
Kaitlyn watched a wicked smirk form on Grant’s face. His left eyebrow lifted in challenge until he was certain both girls knew what he was thinking. It had everything to do with what he thought was delicious and nothing to do with potatoes.
All of the terror and sadness and anger the day had held and then the fresh air that had been swept into the house when her mother had come back to the land of the living suddenly came out in an eruption of hysterical giggles.
“Why are we laughing so hard?” Sophie joined her. Doubling over, laughing at the expression Grant sported for them both. They laughed until their sides ached, and Kaitlyn was quite certain she’d hadn’t felt this good inside her parent’s home in three long years.
When they wiped the tears of laughter from their faces, Sophie shook her head. “Okay, so we won’t discuss how good her cooking is or what you find delicious about my sister. But seriously, she always wanted to be a little mama. Look at her. It makes her so happy.”
“Little mama, huh? I can sure as hell take care of that right now.” Grant came right back, waggling his eyebrows this time.
“Oh, that was not better,” Kaitlyn continued giggling as she laid the steaks on her favorite iron skillet. The sizzling crack of the meat lit through the air. The sound thrilled her.
“Geez, when you wreck your car you really know how to do it, Kit … sorry. All I meant was I’m glad you’re happy, finally. God knows you deserve to be happy. And he’s clearly crazy about you. But you better take good care of my sister. I’m still plotting my revenge on Seth.”
“You need any help with that, you let me know.” Moving behind her, Grant wrapped his arms around Kaitlyn’s waist and planted a kiss on top of her head. “I can get you loads of horse and cattle manure if that’d be of any use to your cause.”
“Ohhhh, that is good. I’m with Mama. I like you, too. I’d say we could dump it in his precious car, but that seems a little redundant since Kaitlyn keyed the hell out of it already.”
“You two will do nothing else to him. God only knows how he’s planning on getting back at me. I don’t need either of you adding more fuel to the fire,” Kaitlyn ordered.
“He can’t get back at you. You have the text. He cheated. He’s screwed. You should forward that text to me and Mom and Dad, just in case, by the way.” Sophie pointed out.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.” Kaitlyn wished that would take care of everything. Seth never liked to lose. They hadn’t heard the last of him. She was certain.
“I need a little bit of whiskey for the sauce. Mom and Dad only have Gin and Vodka.” Kaitlyn searched her parent’s cabinets but came up empty. Neither one of them drank all that much.
“I got a bottle of Crown in my truck, sweetness. I can grab it.” Grant came to her rescue once again.
“Thank you, just never, ever, ever mention to my father that you had an open bottle of whiskey in your truck.”
“Your daddy wouldn’t last ten minutes in cattle country, but I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
She was giving the sauce one final stir when the doorbell rang. Another round of nerves twisted in her stomach. She prayed they weren’t about to witness some version of the Hatfields and the McCoys in her parent’s dining room. If the McCoys had been wealthy city officials who were largely unaware that beef came from ranches and not packages in the grocery store.
This is gonna be a shit-covered clusterfuck. Grant followed the ridiculous number of hallways in the Summerville’s home until he located the front door. His father, brother, and grandfather all looked just as uncomfortable as he felt.
“And the cavalry has arrived, I see.” Evelyn was trying, bless her heart. Grant offered her a forced smile.
“Mrs. Sommerville, ma’am, this is my daddy, Ev, my granddaddy, Henry, and my brother, Luke.”
“It’s lovely to meet you all. Come on in.”
“Ma’am,” Luke nodded and quickly jerked his Resistol off of his head. His father and grandfather followed suit.
“Let me get you all something to drink. Gimlets?”
“What the hell’s a Gimlet?” Luke spoke through his teeth.
“Beats me,” Grant mimicked his brother’s tone. “Beer’s fine, Mrs. Sommerville, or water. Water’s good.”
“Oh. Okay, I’m not sure we have beer, but I’ll ask Kaitlyn.”
“Next question, what the hell are we doing here?” Luke spoke with slightly more volume.
“Oh, it’s been a ride, trust me. Just try to go with it. Soon as dinner’s over we’ll all go home.”
“Kaitlyn too?”
“I ain’t leaving her here.”
“Good.”
Like a storm with something to prove, Kaitlyn’s father made an appearance in the living room they’d been directed to.
“Dad, this is Katy’s father, Chief Sommerville,” Grant sneered.
“Nice to meet you. It’s, uh, nice place you’ve got out here.” Ev gestured to the expansive golf course behind the house.
“Do you play golf?” For a moment, her father forgot to be an ornery cuss.
“Nah, I imagine it’d make the cattle real nervous like if we sent golf balls sailing out in their fields. They wouldn’t much like it.”
The Camden men, at least, laughed.
“How many acres you figure all that takes up?” Granddaddy Camden tried to smooth over the awkward silence that had ensued. He gestured to the golf course. Grant shook his head. You could take the rancher off the ranch, but you sure as hell weren’t likely to take the ranch out of the rancher.
“Golf courses are not measured in acres, they are measured in yards.” Mr. Sommerville retorted. “That is a par seventy-one Crenshaw and Coore course. It’s one of the finest in Nebraska.”
“I got no clue who Crenshaw and Coore are, but it seems to me you could run several dozen pairs out there, Pops,” Grant
wasn’t going to let Kaitlyn’s asshole of a father make his granddaddy feel stupid.
“That’s just what I was thinkin’.” Granddaddy slapped Grant on the back.
“Pairs of what?” Mr. Sommerville demanded.
“Cows, obviously, Langston.” Mrs. Sommerville returned with a tray of what appeared to be sparkling water with limes in it. “They’re cow-boys.”
“Actually, they’re cattle ranchers. There’s a difference,” Kaitlyn corrected as she made her appearance. “Hi, Mr. Camden,” she squeezed Grant’s daddy’s neck and then his grandfather’s.
“Good to see you again, sweetheart. Looks like my grandson’s been taking good care of you. That’s a mighty pretty smile you’re wearing.”
Kaitlyn’s smile widened. “He’s been taking excellent care of me.”
“Uh, I didn’t know what you wanted done with that dress that was in the bathtub. It kinda started to stink, so I put it out with the trash.”
“Oh, I completely forgot. I’m sorry. The trash is right where it belonged,” Kaitlyn assured him.
“Your wedding gown?” Her father fumed.
Panic broadcast from Kaitlyn, and Grant drew her back into his arms.
“It was ruined, Daddy.”
“That gown cost me eleven-thousand dollars.”
“Holy shit,” Luke spat the water back in his glass. “Sorry,” he cringed.
“It was a ridiculous gown that you picked out,” Kaitlyn came to Luke’s defense.
“Why don’t we eat?” Sophie came to her sister’s rescue this time. “The food smells amazing.”
As everyone headed to the dining room, Ev stared at his water glass. “Fancy golf course house comes with fancy bubbly-water with limes, I’m guessing,” he whispered to Grant.
“Suppose so, Dad.”
“Wonder how long he’ll scour the earth looking for shiny things that don’t mean a damned thing. Assurances don’t come with a price tag, and we all end up in the same sized box at the end.”
They made it through the salads Kaitlyn had prepared. Grant raved about it, though he was itching for the steak.
“All right, Grant, if you’ve decided to date my daughter, I feel her mother and I deserve to know a little bit about you. Where were you educated?”
Kaitlyn watched shame darken Grant’s eyes. Her father already knew he hadn’t graduated from high school. She was certain every kind of background check available had already been run on him.
“He’s a rancher, Daddy. He works harder than any man I’ve ever met, including you,” she spat. She debated hurling a tomato from her salad at her father.
“Yes, but I’d like to know where he went to school, Kaitlyn, and you mind your tone with me, young lady.”
Tension weighted the entire room. Luke glanced constantly from Grant to his father. “Uh, Grant went to UN with me,” he lied.
Kaitlyn’s eyes closed in defeat.
“And does he also lie outright like you do as well, Mr. Camden?”
“Come again?” Luke huffed.
“He already knows I dropped out.” Grant rolled his eyes. “He’s just being ornery.”
“I agree.” Kaitlyn’s mother narrowed her eyes. “Langston, they are not here for you to give them the third degree. They are not criminals. Clearly, you’ve already checked him out thoroughly, because you’re you, but I will not sit by and allow you to treat our guests this way. If you can’t be polite, go eat in the kitchen. Grant, darling, why don’t you tell us all about being a cattle rancher. I’ve never even seen a ranch.”
Clearing his throat, Grant managed a nod. “Uh, we mostly run a cow-calf operation. Biggest ranch in Lincoln county. Third biggest in the state. We got a lot of stock and several dozen prize bulls for breeding. Occasionally, we also background some calves. That means we turn ‘em out in a good pasture with good hay and grain to fatten ‘em up before we sell ‘em off to a lot. When the market’s up we’ll lease a wheatgrass property down in Oklahoma for the purposes of backlotting. Other than that, I’m pretty sure we’re mostly in the business of selling grass.” He attempted a joke but her family had no idea what that meant.
“To feed the cows,” Luke explained.
“It’s beautiful there, Mama. I’ve honestly never seen anywhere that’s prettier. It’s peaceful and quiet. The baby cows are adorable. Maybe you could come out there one day when I go.”
“I’d love that, sweetheart.”
“Me, too,” Sophie offered sweetly. Kaitlyn had no idea how her mother was managing to be so strong so suddenly, but she’d never been more thankful in her entire life.
“You’d all be welcomed most anytime.” Ev smiled.
“You will not be returning to that ranch,” her father huffed.
“Oh, yes, I will,” Kaitlyn came right back.
“Langston.” Her mother glared viciously.
“No college degree, not even a high school diploma, no military service. Your entire life has been spent on a horseback and yet you seem to somehow believe that you’re good enough to date my daughter.”
“Daddy, please.”
Grant’s father stood. “I will not sit here and listen to you insult my son, Mr. Sommerville. Now, I’m real sorry life didn’t quite work out just the way you thought it ought to, but Grant had nothing to do with that. And it’s not your daughter’s job to make you happy.”
“He’s right, Langston. I’m very sorry to all of you. Please sit down and ignore him.”
But it appeared Grant had reached the end of his rope. He stood and tossed his napkin on his plate. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but ignoring him don’t change the way he feels, and I ain’t gonna sit here with anyone who thinks I ain’t even worth the gunpowder it’d take to blow me to hell. Katy, baby, I’m sorry. I tried. I’m done. Let’s go. I’ll get you dinner on the way.”
Disappointment scalded Kaitlyn’s entire body. Embarrassment clawed under her skin and clogged her throat, but she would not stay and give her father the satisfaction of thinking he won. No way. Not anymore. “Okay.” She hated how frail her own voice sounded. “Just let me pack a few things.”
“You are not leaving this house,” her father roared like a circus lion on a chain. He already knew he’d lost.
“Yes, Daddy, I am, and the sooner you understand that you don’t get to run my life for me anymore, the sooner we can move past all of this.”
She saw the gloating grin Grant tried to hide. Her father saw it, too.
“Well, Mr. Camden, it would appear you have not only my incredibly naïve child under your thumb, but my wife as well. So, why don’t you stay and enjoy a steak meal I doubt you could even afford. I’m leaving.”
“I am not naïve,” Kaitlyn matched him decibel for decibel, but this time it was her father’s ears that were deaf. He slammed the door to the garage on his way out. She barely made out the roar of his car engine as he drove away. “I’ll just get the steaks.” She bolted from the room, praying no one would follow her.
Grant was in the kitchen a half second after her, however. “I’m so fucking sorry. I had no business demanding you leave like that. I should’a kept my mouth shut.”
She fell into his arms. “No, you shouldn’t have. He should have. I’m sorry he set you up like that. I don’t know why he’s being so awful. He didn’t used to be like this.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Grant wondered if that were true or if Kaitlyn had ever really looked good and hard at her old man in the broad sunlight. In his experience, men rarely changed all that much. Once a shitlicker, always a shitlicker.
“I need to apologize to your family.” She lifted her head with that same determination alight in her eyes.
“You don’t need to apologize to anyone, sugar. He does. Now, come on. Getting good and pissed off makes a man hungry.” He grabbed the platter of steaks while she lifted a bowl full of potatoes.
Luke cut into his steak, clearly anxious to fill his mouth with something besides his own boot. Grant knew he
felt bad. He’d been trying to save him. But all of that would have to be communicated later, more than likely through a series of grunts and several shots of Crown.
“Damn, that’s good. You oughta go on and buy her a ring,” he moaned.
Everyone at the table laughed. “Might be a little quick for all that,” Grant winked at Kaitlyn.
“Taste the steak.”
Grant obeyed his brother’s orders, mostly to keep the momentary relief that Mr. Sommerville had left going. Luke wasn’t exaggerating. The meat dipped in the whiskey sauce melted in his mouth. She’d prepared it perfectly. The sauce was incredible. “Okay, maybe I should go on and get down on one knee. Best steak I’ve ever eaten, peaches, and that’s sayin’ something.”
“Thank you,” Kaitlyn’s beaming grin made his whole night.
“You know, I proposed to your grandmamma after she made me her lasagna. She made the best lasagna.”
“Maybe I’ll try that next time,” Kaitlyn teased. Grant wished she were ready for another ring, but he knew there was no way for that to be true. Three days ago she’d been engaged to someone else. Her life was still a mess and her daddy hated the scorched earth Grant rode in on. He was going to have to be patient and that wasn’t something that had ever come naturally to him.
With their bellies full of rib-eye and the best potatoes they’d ever eaten, Grant and Luke did the dishes. Kaitlyn and Sophie stood and watched them like they were some kind of science museum exhibit.
“What?” Grant finally demanded.
“Daddy never does dishes,” Kaitlyn explained.