by Mary Leo
Tonight’s dinner consisted of burgers, a few condiments, bottled beer, and three different kinds of corn chips. Reese could do better in his sleep, but he refused to take on yet another responsibility.
“If you’re referring to our dinner,” his brother Chase said, “I think it changes everything. We really need to learn how to cook if we’re going to continue on like this. This is our fourth night in a row of burgers.”
“Well, my dear brother, kitchen duty is all yours,” Shiloh told him. “See if you can do any better.”
Shiloh had never really took to cooking and barely to ranching. She could ride a horse as good as any of her brothers, and knew how to clean out a stall, and had bucked plenty of hay, but other than that, she had fallen in love with making jewelry, big bold silver jewelry that she sold at fairs and online. She’d been doing it since she dropped out of regular college when she was twenty, and had instead gone to an art school in Florence, Italy, for two years. Paying for it had been a hardship for Reese and his parents, but Shiloh was their dad’s baby girl, and nothing was ever too good for her. And besides that, she had excelled there, and had really seemed different when she’d come home. Following her heart suited her, of course, and he envied her clear path. He’d missed having her around, he discovered soon enough, and, once a month, the whole time she was gone, he’d sent her a handwritten letter, and draw a winged heart at the end, sending all his love.
She’d told him that she’d kept every single letter.
When she returned home, not only could she speak fluent Italian, but she stopped caring about anything other than her art. She let her hair grow long, had dyed it various shades over the years, the latest being white blond with purple streaks on the bottom, and just last week had added a tattoo of a winged heart on the inside of her right wrist that mimicked the one he’d drawn on his letters. It was like a tribute, he thought, and something about that had really touched him.
He shook off the memories and focused on the task at hand. It was time he addressed reality, not a time for sentiment.
“Food is not what I’m talking about,” he began. “What I want to say is, I’m sure you all know by now what’s going on . . . that I’m Chuck Starr’s biological son.”
No one batted an eye. “We’ve been wondering when you would bring this up,” Chase said, in that low baritone voice of his, appearing as though the news didn’t faze him in the least. “Mom told us the day of the memorial, after you stormed out and we asked her what was going on with you.”
“Reese, are you sure you want to bring this up now?” Shiloh asked. “Without Mom in the room?”
“That’s exactly why I want to bring it up now,” Reese told her. He and his mom still had not come to terms, and until Reese could resolve it in his own mind, he’d thought it best to simply avoid his mom as much as possible so every conversation couldn’t boil over into an argument. Tamping down that anger seemed the only logical strategy right now. “I figured you all knew, but I wasn’t sure how you learned about it. I think it’s time we cleared the air.”
Draven pushed back from the table. “I don’t think Mom is handling this well. First she lost Dad, and now this whole thing with Chuck explodes in her face. I’m worried about her health.”
“She had a complete physical right after Dad passed and she’s fine, for the most part . . . certainly there’s nothing serious going on with her health, I can assure you of that,” Reese told him. “Truth is, she’s avoiding me and I’m avoiding her. It’s the Cooper way, and you all know that. She and Dad chose not to confront this thing head on and tell me the truth once I was old enough to hear it. Instead, they waited until Chuck forced the issue, once again giving him all the power. That’s the part that’s affecting me the most and why I’m carrying a pretty serious grudge against Mom about this.” Reese felt better just getting it off his chest even though it made him sound downright bitter . . . which he was. “I can’t help it. This is how I feel at the moment. I’m hoping you guys can understand.”
Thing was, Reese knew exactly why his youngest brother would defend their mom, but he didn’t like it. What she did, what they all did was wrong on so many levels. But Draven had always been the quintessential “mama’s boy” and was doted on from the time he was born. Because he was the youngest, and more than likely the oops child, their mom had always indulged him. Reese had hoped Draven being in the military would have resolved some of that, toughened him up, made him more of a man, but he wasn’t sure it had. He was tougher physically, and could withstand anything the trail could throw at him, but when it came to his mom, he was a bowl of mush. Still, Reese understood, and part of him envied the relationship Draven had with their mom.
“You sound a little hostile, bro’,” Draven said. “You know Mom doesn’t need you to be confrontational right now. She has enough on her plate without her oldest son giving her a rash. It’s not right. You need to make peace with her.”
“Not right? I just learned that my parents have been lying to me my entire life. I think that entitles me to be a little hostile.”
“Maybe they had a good reason for not telling you . . . or us,” Shiloh said. “Have you asked Mom why they didn’t tell you?”
“She told me some of it, but her reasoning didn’t make much sense to me. Besides, it doesn’t really matter now. It’s done.” Though he had to be honest with himself, that, hell yeah, it mattered.
“Have you talked to Chuck yet?” Chase asked.
Chase wasn’t much for getting involved in family drama, as a rule, and Reese knew this was way over the top for him and making him uncomfortable. Chase, with his clean-cut look and his slicked-back black hair, liked to keep his head down, do whatever was asked of him, and stay out of the fray. He’d had a bad motorcycle accident when he turned twenty-five and nearly died. Someone hit him from behind, and kept right on going, leaving him broken and bloody. If it hadn’t been for two teen boys coming across him on their bicycles, he might have died. As it was, he walked with a slight limp, and had a scar on his right arm that started at his wrist and went up to his shoulder. He never liked to show it, and wore a long-sleeved shirt even in the dead heat of summer.
“No. Tried to last night, but was talked out of it by his lawyer.”
“I’m surprised Norm Bentley wanted to get into this mess. He’s more of the corporate type, dealing in land, and exchanging big money,” Hunter said, right before he took a big bite of his messy burger, ketchup and mustard dripping off the sides, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and jalapeños stacked so high he could barely get the thing into his mouth. Nothing stopped Hunter from chowing down when he was hungry . . . which seemed to be constantly. Hunter could out-eat all of his siblings, but he never gained an ounce.
“It wasn’t Norm. It’s his new lawyer, or at least the attorney he hired to handle this . . . whatever this might be. Avery Templeton, the woman you met today at the auction. She’s staying out at his place,” Reese told Hunter, amazed at his unabashed gluttony.
Hunter looked up from his meal, still holding his burger. “That’s his lawyer? The woman you kissed?”
“You kissed Chuck’s live-in attorney?” Draven asked, as he loaded his plate with various kinds of chips. “That’s convenient as hell, don’t you think? Maybe if you get her into bed . . . oh, wait . . . is she living with Chuck or just visiting? Because if she’s living with him, he may not want to share, even if you are his only son.”
“It’s nothing like that. You’re jumping to conclusions,” Reese said, suddenly feeling defensive of Avery even though he suspected Draven was just teasing. Still, she didn’t deserve the implication Draven was suggesting. “She’s not sleeping with Chuck,” he added.
“Yeah, don’t bad-mouth her,” Shiloh offered in defense. “I talked to Avery this morning, and she told me her dad has been friends with Chuck ever since she was a little girl. I think their relationship is purely platonic. Besides, she already set up a meeting between Chuck and our big brother he
re, who will attend, even if I have to drag him there myself.”
“I’ve already agreed to go,” Reese said. “Not that anything will come of it. I’m a Cooper, and according to Mom, Dad adopted me, so Chuck Starr has no claim on me or anything else that has to do with this family.”
“Except maybe some of our cattle,” Hunter said. “He bought all of our feeder calves today at auction. Paid more for them than what they were worth. Is this just the beginning? Maybe he’ll start giving you his millions—after all, you’re his only son—at least that we know about.”
“Or maybe he’ll buy us out one of these days when we can’t pay back our loans,” Draven countered.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Chase said, in a steady no-nonsense voice. “That’s the one place I draw the line. That prick will never own Cooper Ranch as long as I’m still breathing.”
“Might not be your decision, Chase,” Shiloh said. “Let’s face the facts. Mom and Reese get to make that decision. That’s the way it is, and the way it should be. Reese does most of the work. Besides, we all know this ranch is a losing enterprise.”
“I think Dad knew it as well, and that’s why he wanted to find out if we own the mineral rights on our land. I think he even had some geological studies run to see just what’s under our land,” Draven said, then guzzled down a good portion of a beer.
“What kind of studies?” Reese asked, perking up and wondering why in hell he didn’t know about any of this. Over time he had realized his dad wasn’t always forthcoming with what he was doing or planning. It had driven Reese crazy when he tried to balance the books, especially in the last six months. Money seemed to be draining out and Reese couldn’t understand from where. Now it made sense. Perfect sense. Geological studies came with a hefty price tag.
“I don’t know all the details, but I assume he wanted to make sure we own our mineral rights, and if we do, just what are they? Copper. Natural gas. Oil. Coal. Who knows? Not sure about which ones he checked on, but I know he’d been doing some research,” Chase told Reese in a matter of fact kind of way. He’d already eaten his burger, and reached for a second one from the stack in the middle of the table.
“Did you all know about this? Why in the hell didn’t someone tell me?” Reese asked, feeling even more in the dark.
“You’re always too busy working to actually talk to any of us about the business of ranching or to ask questions,” Shiloh said. “Even I heard something about Dad’s surveys and studies. I didn’t understand what it was all about, but he sure seemed serious about it.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Hunter said, “this is the first I’m hearing about it.”
Reese sat back in his chair, his appetite now completely gone.
Reese knew his sister was right about his not taking the time to ask questions. He’d grown a little resentful of all the work that had been placed on his shoulders, he had to admit, and instead of spreading some of it around, he just kept working harder and harder, hoping that if he kept doing what he always did, one day, when he looked up, everything would be okay. The ranch would be making money again, and he could take a long break.
Now he had to face the truth that it had never happened—and probably never would have—and now that his dad was gone, the work on the ranch had increased and his siblings seemed to be doing less. Something had to give, and soon.
Hell, they couldn’t even put a proper dinner on the table.
Fine. He’d start today, right now. He’d begin by enlisting all three of his brothers to help deliver the cattle to Chuck Starr. Then he’d stop in at the County Recorder’s Office in town to see exactly what his dad had been up to.
It was time to start filling in the blanks and solving some mysteries.
AVERY ENJOYED TAKING her favorite horse on the Circle Starr Ranch, English Rose, a blue-eyed, Classic Gypsy Vanner mare, out for a ride early in the morning when the world was quiet and she had time to herself. The stunning horse’s hooves were completely feathered in white hair, her white mane was kept extra long, her brown and white coloring was perfect for her breed, and English Rose was perhaps the smartest, and sweetest mount Avery had ever ridden. She’d fallen in love with her, and looked forward to spending the mornings in her company.
If and when Avery was able to get her old job back, she knew more than anything else she would miss the solitude of her morning rides on English Rose. She had such fond memories of her very first ride on the Circle Starr as well, of course. That first horse had been a Mini Gypsy Vanner named Priscilla’s Pick. She’d been as gentle as a kitten and Avery was sure she’d fallen head over heels with riding because of how sweet and smart Priscilla had been.
Her mom was feeling well that summer, at least well enough to begin to teach her how to ride a horse.
“In honor of your tenth birthday,” her mom had said, “it’s time you learned how to ride a horse. This is one of those life-changing moments, Avery. From this day forward, you will always know how to ride a horse. These are the kinds of things you need to do to celebrate a zero birthday. Learn something or do something that changes your life forever.”
“But I’m scared, Mama,” Avery remembered saying. “What if I fall off and hurt myself, bad. What if I break a leg, or do something even worse?”
“You might,” her mom had said. “But what if you learn to ride like the wind? What if you and the horse become one and riding is something you can’t wait to do? And what if you become so good at it that you can help Chuck on one of his roundups and save stray calves from getting lost? What if you save a calf that would have gotten hurt or worse out there on its own if you hadn’t shown up? The possibilities are endless. You might even decide to raise horses when you grow up, and be known for raising the best and most beautiful horses in the entire world. All you have to do in order to have any of those things is get up on that horse.”
“That’s it?”
“The first step is always the hardest.” Her mom had smiled at her then, a sweet gentle smile that pressed her lips up against her teeth, causing her mom to look even more beautiful. Avery’s stomach suddenly stopped hurting; her mom had that kind of power over her.
“And after that?”
Her mom’s face lit up with a big warm smile, and at once Avery felt as though she could do anything as long as her mom believed in her. “The world is yours, baby.”
“The whole world, Mama?”
“The whole world, my darling.”
Avery closed her eyes and tried to remember exactly how it felt to get up on that horse the very first time. She remembered the horse was smaller than her mom’s, and the color of a moonless sky. Just looking at that inky black horse, with its full mane, and big nostrils, had scared Avery down to her toes. Her throat had tightened and she’d felt sick to her stomach, and almost hurled her breakfast right there in the horse barn, the barn she stood in now, albeit it had been much, much more shabby back then.
Now it was state of the art beautiful, and had been added onto to hold several more horses. Still, this side of the barn had retained the same metal gates, and had a feeling of familiarity. Best of all, it still had that earthy smell she found herself missing whenever she’d been stuck in an office for days on end.
Chuck’s hired hands busied themselves all around her with the care and grooming of the first class steeds, and their stalls. Avery had learned that a few of the horses were past Derby winners, and one of them, Charlie’s Rose, a regal looking gray-colored Arabian mare, had won twice in a row.
Avery hated that she’d been put on leave from the law firm for something she didn’t do, but during moments like this, when her thoughts drifted back to a clear memory of her mom, she felt grateful. Grateful for this time, grateful to be back where she had made some lovely memories.
Truth was, she hadn’t really ever dealt with the loss of her mom. She’d been too young when it happened to understand what death meant, and as the years passed, she’d built a wall around her
self to shield the hurt she might feel whenever there was an event at school that included both parents. There had been plenty of times when she was a teen when she longed for her mother’s advice or to be held in her arms, but she always steeled those thoughts away telling herself she’d think about them some other time.
Then, by the time she was in college, nothing else mattered except getting her degree, then passing her boards, and getting her first job. At some point, she’d secretly admitted that she wasn’t sure if she’d truly wanted to be an attorney. More times than not, it felt as though it was something she’d done to please her dad . . . to get him to love her without limitations.
Over time she found she’d grown to like her career choice, and even enjoyed some of the aspects and perks of the job. But ever since she’d come to stay at Circle Starr, this time without her dad right there to judge her, she realized how much she missed ranch life.
But most of all, for the first time in her life, while she rode the beautiful horse and spent time alone out in nature and enjoying the quiet, she was able to admit just how much she’d missed her mom while growing up. She’d worked hard to keep all those feelings hidden away, so hard that it had become a habit. For the first time in her entire life—and it shocked her to her core—she was ready to see her mom’s grave. She desperately wanted to officially say good-bye to the one person in her life who had loved her unconditionally.
Now, watching Reese deal with the loss of his dad, and being back on the ranch her mother had loved so much, she finally allowed herself to grieve over the genuine tragedy of losing her mom before she’d gotten the chance to really know her.
It was in the quiet moments since coming to the Circle Starr, especially when she was riding, when Avery began to understand the deep, unshakable pain she’d been carrying around since she was ten years old. Though it was an ache she knew would never go away entirely, it felt genuine to be feeling it and acknowledging it. She wondered if Reese would be able to get to this state of mind sooner—she hoped so.