“Your guess is as good as mine.” We pulled up beside the massive camper and got out of Austin’s truck. We both checked out the big hunk of metal as we passed it before making our way upstairs and inside. It occurred to me before, when I heard Grams and Gramps’ voices, that they’d planned on buying one, but I hadn’t thought they meant this soon. Something wasn’t quite right with the picture in front of me. Before I made it to the dining room, Gramps met me in the hallway.
“Walk with me, boy.” He nodded to the front door and I followed after him. “We need to have a talk you and me.”
Something was definitely up. “Everything okay, gramps?” I asked when we reached the barn. Gypsy poked her head out of her stall and neighed when Gramps picked up a carrot and fed it to her.
“Pull up a seat. We’ll be here a while,” Gramps instructed, and then did exactly that.
The moment us kids moved in with Gramps and Grams, we lived a regimented life. We woke at the same time; we did our chores; we did our homework; we ate dinner at the same time and then we worked the same times every day. To some, it would be hell, but to us, it had given us something to focus on while our world changed so drastically. When Gramps said we needed to talk, I knew it was serious. I took a seat on the bale of hay opposite him, and suddenly, exhaustion hit me. His eyes bounced to my bandaged hand and he shook his head slightly.
“Where’s the pretty girl?”
“She left town.” His eyes narrowed in at me and I knew I couldn’t lie to this man.
“She went back to the city to finalize some things.”
“Well, she will be moving in at the perfect time then.”
“She won’t be coming back Gramps. She has a fiancé back in the city, who I didn’t know about.” Just saying that word made me ill. The girl, who had barged into my life, turned it on its tail and completely overtaken my heart, had a fucking fiancé. I dropped my head into my hands, flinching at the contact with my bandaged hand, and sighed deeply. Every time I closed my eyes, images of her flooded my mind. I remembered the way she tasted, the sweet noises she made when I was balls deep in her, and the look that would take over her eyes when I knew she was thinking about us. The way she glistened with sweat when she worked, the way her hair shone in the moonlight and the way her laugh made me want to fall to my knees and worship her for the rest of his life were memories difficult to escape. They were now just painful memories.
“You going to fight for her or what?”
My head shot up as the question left his mouth. Gramps stared at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.
“She has a fiancé, Gramps. She lied to me, and she came in here pretending to be something she wasn’t.”
“Have you asked her why?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to speak with her. I don’t know what to say to her.”
“Do you love her, boy?” He stood from where he was sitting and moved to sit beside me on the hay bale. “You wouldn’t be reacting like this if you didn’t. She deserves to tell you her side of the story. If this girl is messing you up like this and making you punch trees, then, my boy, she deserves to have you to fight for her.”
“But she has a fiancé, Gramps,” I repeated softly, desperately trying to ignore his question.
“Grams had a fiancé when I met her, Destry. She was meant to be marrying Willie Mason from the next farm over. They had the date, the plans; they even had a house bought for them. I met your Grams at the school dance; she was the prettiest girl I ever did see. I knew the moment she first held my hand when we had that very first dance, that I would fight for her and I would marry her. Look where we are now. We have this farm; we have you boys and Ellie-May, and I am damn proud of who you have all grown up to be. I got your grams, Destry, because she was who I wanted; her fiancé was just a road bump. If you want the pretty girl, get her. Listen to her. The farm will need a woman to run it when we leave any way.”
“When you leave?”
“What? You think we bought that home on wheels just to park it out front. Grams and I are traveling, Destry. This is your place now. You are the man of the house now. You are the manager of this farm; everything around us is now yours. I couldn’t be prouder to leave it to you. I want you to live here, start your family here, love her, make this your family home and make sure that pretty girl is with you. Don’t lose her, Destry. One’s like that just don’t fall in your lap often. Remember how she made you feel; that’s what you need to focus on. I love you, boy, but I know you have a temper on you and I know you are a stubborn ass. Now, isn’t the time for that.”
Without another word, he stood, patted me on the back and left me in the silence of the barn. They were leaving? Grams had been engaged? Starting my own family? Fighting a rich man for his fiancée? My head was swimming with admissions and I felt dizzy with the overload of information. Rubbing my uninjured hand over my face, I groaned at the clusterfuck I found myself in. I couldn’t just forgive and forget, could I? I needed answers. I needed to know why Amelia had chosen to string me along? I needed to know why she had decided to give herself fully to me when there was some asshole in the city waiting for her to come home. I needed to know if I meant anything at all.
X X X
Gramps and Gran spent some time after dinner telling everyone their new plan was and all the details before they retired to bed, leaving the rest of us sitting around shooting the breeze.
The summer air of Texas swirled around us; this was my favorite place: just the four of us sitting on the veranda with the world zooming around us. The four of us hadn’t had it easy, but we didn’t have it that hard either. That was because of the two people who just told us that they were leaving. To say I felt nervous was an understatement. I always knew the farm would land in my lap one day, but I didn’t think it would be happening so soon.
“So what does this mean?” Ellie was the first to break the silence. My head shot up to look at my baby sister, such an amazing woman she was growing in to. She looked back at me nervously, with the look of the world on her shoulders.
“It means that things will be a little different here but nothing with change for the four of us.”
“Will you want to make this yours and Amelia’s family home?” Austin questioned from beside me. What the fuck? My eyes narrowed in on him as I tried to comprehend his words. Amelia? Family home?
“This is our family home. The four of us.”
“And Amelia.” Brax decided to jump in. What the hell was happening? It was like they were having some kind of intervention.
“Well I know this will always be our family home but I’m sorry but I’m not going to be living here my whole life. Ill be shaking up with a girl one of these days and having my own farm.”
“Austin Reeves, did I really just hear you mention, god forbid, settling down?” Ellie scoffed with wide eyes.
“Not for a very long time sis. A very long time.”
“Well I don’t want to leave. I couldn’t imagine leaving you guys. You three have been the only people I’ve loved.” Ellie’s soft voice broke under the honesty of her words. “It scares me the thought of this kind of change.”
“Ellie bug would I let anything happen to you? This is your home forever and it will be always here. Nothing is going to change between us. I just might need some more help around here now that gramps and grams are leaving, that’s all I mean.”
She nodded and moved so she was sitting beside me and her small hand took mine. I had always been so protective of her and now as she sat beside me I felt like she was a baby needed protecting all over again. When mom passed I knew I had to provide. Ellie was our mom all over. The same eyes, the same flowing hair, the same button nose. She was perfect and I would protect her until the last breath I took.