Luke handed over the pitchfork and let Jason try his hand at it. His mind drifted to Doug and his family. He’d become attached to the kid over the years, and his absence would leave a real hole in Luke’s life, but he knew Doug would find happiness (or more accurately create it) wherever he went. Still, Luke would be left with one situation he hadn’t asked for.
“Hey, you don’t know anything about chicken hatching, do you?” Sure, it was a long shot …
Jason rested the pitchfork against the fence and shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
Luke nodded. “If I were a different sort, I’d pile up the eggs in that incubator, toss them out in the trash, and be done with them,” he grumbled, feeling guilty for even speaking it. “I just don’t have the time for it, you know? That was supposed to be Doug’s project. He’s the one who talked me into doing it.”
“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “That sucks. I’ll try to help if I can. You’re talking about the thing Doug set up in the mudroom?”
Luke rolled his eyes, hating that he now had an entire incubating station in his very own home. “Yep.” He looked over the horses as they ate, noted they were good on water, and motioned for Jason to follow him back to the ATVs.
“We’ll figure it out, I guess. Just like this thing with your sister,” Luke said. “How long before she gives up and lets your parents deal with you?”
Jason shook his head, an unexpected grin tugging at one side of his lip. “Payton doesn’t give up. It’s not in her nature.”
“Well,” Luke said, preparing to start up the four-runner, “then I guess we’ll find out who can outlast who.”
“Would you like another drink?” the flight attendant asked. It was a gal Payton hadn’t met yet. Tall, blonde, and curvy—just the way Archie liked ’em.
Payton handed over her glass. “Sure. I’ll have the same. Thanks.” She moved her gaze back to her phone. Not the text Chloe sent, for heaven’s sake, but to the family group text. With her phone on airplane mode, she couldn’t be sure it was up-to-date, but as of an hour ago, it had been two and a half weeks since Jason had replied to that particular thread, so she scrolled up and started there.
Mom: Jason, what you’re doing is just selfish and childish and wrong. Get your butt on a plane and come home, please.
Dad: I’m about to donate your college funds to someone who’ll appreciate them, young man. Are you prepared to kiss your comfortable living goodbye?
Payton: Please, Jason. Just listen to Mom and Dad. Come home and we can talk about it when you get here.
Mom: He’s not going to come home because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
Dad: Obviously he doesn’t care about himself that much either, since he’s ready to throw his life away.
Jason: If you really want to know how I feel about all of this, you’ll scroll up and read what I sent you after I’d been here a week. And after I’d been here a month. Then two months. Please go back and read what I sent you. Sorry that me making decisions for my own life hurts you all so much. But it’s my life. And I’m finally figuring out what I want to do with it.
Payton scrolled down to read what seemed to be repeats of what her parents had just said. Did anyone scroll back up and read Jason’s old texts? She knew she hadn’t. But Jason was too young to know what he wanted. And all he was doing was hurting Mom and Dad. She was starting to wonder if that was his real objective. To get back at them somehow for being so preoccupied with their jobs.
Jason was being selfish, though. Here Payton had an entirely different crisis on the horizon, and she was stuck taking some side trip to Montana while Archie … nope. That wasn’t official yet, and she wouldn’t think about it. At all. She pictured a stoplight. Green meant go, yellow meant slow, and red meant put on the brakes. Since Payton was already heading toward Crisis One, she’d have to halt any forward movement with Crisis Two. May as well put the brakes into action where it came to the wheels turning in her mind as well.
Payton continued to not think about it all the way to Billings, where she got in her rental car, blasted her music, and headed out on the open road toward Fort Benton.
Okay, so maybe California didn’t hold the market on blue skies, but she didn’t like how … quiet it seemed to be in certain parts of Montana. Practically vacant.
The thought hit her after the sun went down. Way down. Blackness came at her from every window the rental car had. She eyed the navigating system on the dash. Heaven help her if she lost internet service; she’d be a goner. Jason didn’t even know she was coming. And this wasn’t looking like a place that had service, or electricity, for that matter; she hadn’t seen a house light or streetlamp in miles.
A glance at her navigation system said she had another forty-six miles to go on the deserted road before she could turn onto an even more deserted road. And so it would go until she wound up in the middle of nowhere.
Hopefully she had the right address.
Hopefully Jason would come to his senses.
Hopefully Mom and Dad wouldn’t kill each other while she was away.
And … and hopefully Archie didn’t really do what it looked like he’d done.
Chapter 7
A high-pitched ding worked its way into Luke’s sleep. Another came, this time the fullness of the sound more like the chime of a doorbell. He shrugged onto his side, barely working his way into consciousness, when a knock came, loud and alarming.
Luke shot straight up from his bed and tossed off the sheet. His room was nothing but shades of gray as he blinked, trying to gain his bearings. He didn’t want Doug or Jason to answer his door in the middle of the night. Wait, Doug wasn’t there. It was just Jason. Luckily the guest rooms were positioned on the opposite end of the large rambler home. Hopefully it hadn’t woken him.
He stretched and yawned as he took the hallway, figuring Taylor was on the other side of that door. Trying to get Luke to come out for a late-night coyote hunt; they’d been pestering the cattle for weeks now. He flicked on a light as he entered the front room, just so his brother wouldn’t get impatient and start knocking again.
He twisted the knob, tugged open the door, and peeked through the two-inch crack. A sliver of light illuminated an equal portion of the girl who stood on his porch. A fancy heel with fancy pants and some silky blouse.
What in heaven’s name? He flung the door open wide and pushed the screen open next. “Are you in trouble, miss? Do you need help?”
The light shining on her face showed him just how pretty the woman was. Perhaps he was still dreaming.
“Sure, you can help me.” The woman unfolded her arms and stepped right inside. “You can go get Jason and tell him it’s time to come home.”
“Jason?” But then he saw it—really saw it—the long trail of red hair hanging in front of one, slender shoulder. She was a Keller. No wonder she looked like she’d just stepped off a magazine ad. High cheekbones, full lips, and wide, brown eyes accented by flecks of gold.
“Yes. Jason Keller.” She looked him up and down as her cheeks went from pale to pink. “You … you hired him on for the summer, but now he has to go back to school. Will you go get him for me?”
Luke glanced down at his bare chest and boxer briefs before looking back at her. An unrepentant grin came to his lips. “Guess this is what happens when you go knocking on doors in the middle of the night.”
She folded her arms and leaned on one hip. Her posture said shut up and get my brother as if she’d actually spoken it aloud. But when Luke met her gaze, his late-night visitor seemed to be taking inventory on the details of his face, arms, and chest. A dash of warmth formed low in his belly as she surveyed him.
“Are you going to go get him?” she asked before glancing at her watch. “We have a flight to catch.”
Luke tilted his head. “Are you his mother?”
“No, but I’m pretty sure you knew that already.”
“What makes you think he’s actually going to go home with you?”
She moved to her other hip now. “I wouldn’t mind searching your home myself, you know. If that’s what it takes.”
Luke folded his arms now. “And I wouldn’t mind calling the sheriff and having you escorted off my property either.”
She gulped. Then grinned. “The sheriff? That’s who you guys call around here? Wow, we really are out in the country, aren’t we?”
Her mocking tone put a scowl on Luke’s face. He let his arms drop and took a step toward her. “That’s right, sugar. We’re in my neck of the woods. Right where I like it. And right where your brother likes it too.”
Payton held his gaze, those brown eyes narrowing in a heated glare.
“I’ll get your brother, Ms. Keller. Feel free to make yourself at home. Kick back on the couch. Grab a cold one out of the fridge. Whatever you’d like.”
“No thanks,” she chimed. “I won’t be staying. And neither will Jason.”
Luke shook his head as he stepped out of the room. “Whatever you say.”
Payton watched as the rude cowboy strode out of the room. An absent hand-wave to her face had her wondering just why she felt so flustered. Because the guy’s a jerk, that’s why.
Right. He was a little more attractive than she’d pictured Jason’s boss. Younger, too. Not that she’d had an actual vision of him in her head before then. The house wasn’t bad either. Surprisingly, it was a modern, newly built home with decent materials. Was that a granite countertop in the kitchen? She could only catch a glimpse from where she stood. But even the front room was decent. Mainly because he’d stayed away from color.
At her left, a set of French doors led to what looked like an office. And though the doors were glass, she couldn’t see much more than the outline of a desk and chair. It occurred to her then that the guy who’d answered the door could be married. She glanced over the rustic-looking fireplace—not one knickknack. Unlikely. Any woman would have that plastered with wedding pictures and candlesticks.
“You better just be messing with me,” she heard Jason say from around the corner.
“I wish I was,” Luke grumbled. “Look for yourself.” The handsome cowboy appeared first and waved an arm into the room. As soon as Jason stepped in, Luke gave Payton a curt nod. “It’s been a pleasure. Please lock up behind you.” He patted Jason on the back. “See you in the morning, man.”
He disappeared down a dark hallway. A door slammed shut.
Jason smeared a hand over his face and yawned. “Payton, what are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you too,” she said, fighting a sudden onset of emotion. “That’s the hello I get? I thought I was going to die out there, not a sign of life for miles in the dark of night.”
Jason shook his head and shuffled over to her, scratching the back of his neck before stretching his arms out to hug her. Thank heavens he knew how to wear pajamas when he slept. Even if it was just a T-shirt and gym shorts, it was more than that unruly cowboy wore. “No one asked you to come out here, you know?”
She hugged him back, resting her chin on his shoulder, and sighed. “I know. But you know me.”
“Yeah,” he said, dropping his arms and stepping away. “I do know you, Payton. But this time it’s not going to work.”
“What’s not going to work?”
“Uh …” Jason chuckled under his breath. “Trying to tell me what to do like you’re some third parent.” He ran a hand through his messy waves. “I’m not coming home with you, Payton.”
“Third parent? I’m like your first parent, Jason. I practically raised you, with as much as Mom and Dad were gone.”
“I know!” He shot a look over his shoulder after the outburst, down the dark hall where the cowboy had gone. “Listen,” he whispered. “I don’t want to be the kind of parent those guys are. Don’t you get it? I’m not aiming to be like Dad. I love him, but I don’t want to be like him. I don’t think any dad should.”
“You’re talking like you’ve already got a kid on the way. You’re young. You don’t have to … be Dad once you’re done with school. Just come home and help me keep the peace for once, would you?”
“For once?” Jason leaned back and shook his head, his brown eyes narrowing in disgust. “That’s all I’ve done my whole life, and I’m sick of it. I’m not doing it anymore.”
His words held the dreaded ring of finality. Payton’s throat clenched as she pulled in an achy breath. It felt as if the jet she’d flown in on had just settled on her chest, crushing the air out of her lungs.
“Don’t you know what this is doing to everyone?” she pled. “This is ripping our family apart, and I’m not enough glue to fix it on my own this time.” Her eyes stung as the truth of that statement sunk in. She wasn’t enough.
“Maybe that’s because you were never meant to be everyone’s glue, Payton. It’s hard enough to clean up after ourselves half the time.”
What Jason said might be true, but that didn’t mean she had to accept it. “So you’re saying you won’t quit this job and come home?”
“No. I won’t.”
“Even though you know how much it’s hurting everyone?”
“I’m not going to keep looping through the same conversation all night, Payton. I’m sorry you don’t get it.”
“Well,” she said, an idea coming to mind, “I’m sorry that you don’t get how important this is. Hopefully someday you’ll understand why I have to do what I’m about to do.” And with that, she marched into the darkness.
Toward the ornery bear in his cave, her heart thumping with an odd blend of anger and anticipation.
Payton could barely discern the outline of a closed door at the hall’s end. She resisted the urge to barrel in and reminded herself about the whole honey and vinegar thing.
She took a second to compose herself, wiping the tears off her cheeks and smoothing a hand over her hair, and then knocked on the door. “Mind if I talk to you for a moment?” she said, voice unassuming and soft.
A groan came from somewhere beyond the door. “If you think it’s necessary, then come on in.”
“In? Into your room?”
“Yes, precious, into my room. Or you can turn around and go home. I’m not getting out of bed again.”
Payton’s jaw dropped. Barging in there unwelcome was one thing. Having him invite her in while he lay in bed was another. “Fine,” she said anyway. “I’m coming in, then.”
Jason groaned from his place by the entry. “You’re just going to embarrass yourself.”
Ignoring the comment, she twisted the knob and stepped inside. To some, it might be like waltzing into the lion’s den. But Payton had her ways; she could tame the wildest of beasts, and she planned to do just that.
The room was huge. Just how big did they build ramblers in the country these days? Not that she had any experience, but she expected some small, beat-up dwelling with a hand pump for water and a portable potty out back.
Slivers of moonlight crept in through the blinds, lending enough light for her to see the outline of a large bed centered against the far wall. It smelled like fresh laundry in there, which she also hadn’t expected.
She stopped within a foot or two and folded her arms. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I know your name.”
“Luke,” he said, voice raspy.
She nodded. “Luke. Okay, well, Luke, I hate to ask you to do this, but I’m going to need you to let my brother go.”
Her words got swallowed up by the dead air in the room. So much that she had to wonder if she’d really spoken the words aloud. She watched as the glowing green numbers from the digital clock on his nightstand switched from 1:45 to 1:46.
“Hello?” she urged.
“I hate to break it to you,” he said, “but I’m not your brother’s keeper. You think I’m holding him captive? He’s free to leave whenever he’d like.”
Payton shook her head and took a step closer to the bed. She could make out the outline of his muscled shoulders and arms now, he
r eyes adjusting to the low light. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, like an entirely different sort of beast. One not so easily tamed. “No, that’s not what I meant,” she said, hating the quiver in her voice. “I meant … you need to tell him that you will no longer employ him. You know, fire him, I guess.”
“No.”
The single word made her flinch. “I’m asking you to do this for a very important reason. I can’t go into all the details, but Jason really needs to come home.”
“Would you leave already?”
Payton gasped. “I can’t believe how rude you are.”
“I can’t believe how rude you are,” he said, suddenly sitting up in the bed. “You pound on my door after one in the morning, demand to speak to one of my employees, which I allow you to do—”
“He’s my brother.”
“And then instead of respecting what your brother has to say …”
“He doesn’t know what he wants,” she blurted.
“… You come knocking on my bedroom door, where you step inside and attempt to boss me around in my own home.”
“I’m asking you to do a favor.”
“Can you just shut up for one tiny second and let someone else speak?”
Payton forced her mouth to shut, angry tears welling in her eyes.
“You’ve been talking over me this whole time, which is probably what you do to your brother and anyone else who doesn’t do exactly what you want them to. Well, too bad. You’re not going to get your way here, precious, so you may as well just leave.”
She was tempted to do just that. Any other time, and she would have. But something was different about this day. This moment. She didn’t know what she’d be going back to. The failed attempt to bring back her brother. The whole thing with Archie that she couldn’t even think about, let alone go home to. For a moment, she almost gave in to the tears. A breakdown that might have had her pleading for help through choked sobs and a blotchy, tear-stained face.
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