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His phone rang through the cab speakers. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“I want to have a family dinner tonight. Are you and Jax around?”
“I am, but the buffoon said he might go fishing.”
“Be nice. He’s been trying and I can’t lose any more of my children.” Bennett winced. “Anyway, tell him the trout can wait, but his mother needs to talk so he’d better be there. And if you can convince him to shower, that would be nice, too. Smelling like cows and eating them don’t mix.”
“Sure thing. Everything okay?”
“It is. I just miss my boys and want to run things by you. See you at six thirty.”
“Okay, Mom. We’ll be there.”
She hung up without so much as a goodbye. That was Grace Marshall—busy as a bee in spring, but always carving out time for her boys.
Her boys. Two out of three of them had come back, but the third left a gaping hole in the family tapestry Bennett couldn’t mend no matter how much he tried.
Jackson jumped back in, and Bennett continued down the half-mile-long drive. The sun hit the dashboard in such a way it muted the vibrant colors and stark cliffs in front of him, but he knew them by heart. He might covet Newman’s corner of the valley for the promise and memories it held, but his first love would always be the first piece of property he’d purchased—the former Schultz Ranch they were on now.
“Mom just called. She wants us to have dinner with her. Six thirty sharp and a shower first.”
“Those are some steep requests. She realizes we’re running a ranch and the sun won’t set till seven, right?”
“You wanna tell her that, be my guest. My plan, because I value the air I breathe, is to show up at six twenty-five with a shave and shower.”
“Fine. Why’s she wanna meet?”
“Didn’t say.”
Jax was quiet for a second longer than Bennett was comfortable with. It meant he was up to something.
“You ever think Maggie and Matt did the right thing?”
Bennett’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly enough his knuckles turned white. “No. They ran away,” he said.
He hated the growl building at the base of his throat. He didn’t believe in living in the past, but Jax had shoved him back there with the mention of Maggie and their brother.
“Maybe,” Jax whispered. He was a lot of things, but quiet wasn’t one of them. Awareness raced across Bennett’s exposed skin. “Or maybe they were running toward somethin’ else. Something they wanted more.”
“How do you figure?”
“I dunno. I just wonder sometimes if tryin’ as hard as we do for the little we get back is worth it, that’s all.”
“Where’s this coming from?”
“Never mind. Just overthinking shit, per usual.” Jax whacked him on the shoulder. “So, you wanna tell me more about her? How’s she look?”
Bennett shot Jax a scowl that said drop that line of thinking now or risk losing a limb. His brother had always been slow to pick up on social cues, though.
“Well?” Jax just smiled, his backward hat high on his head. His brother looked a decade younger even though Bennett only had a year on him.
“Well, she’s…” Stubborn. Polished. Stunning. “Nice. She grew up nice.”
“Mm-hmm. Nice. The look in your eyes says she’s probably just as fine as the day she left. That ought to add some drama to your boring days, huh?”
Bennett grumbled, “My days aren’t boring. I just have a job to do, and I do it well. It might not leave time for the kind of frivolity you’re into, but it’s a full life.”
A shadow passed over Jax’s face but left as quickly.
