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“Amelia, why don’t you take Chloe to the barn,” my mother said.
My sister took Chloe’s hand. “We’ll take a little tour and then head to the barn.”
“Okay!” Chloe said as she turned back and waved to me. “Later, Dad.”
I stumbled back and clutched my chest. “She called me … Dad. What in the hell? We’re here five minutes and she’s grown up enough she thinks she can call me Dad?”
My father hit me on the back. “Come on, let’s go make a drink and you can tell us all about your trip down from Oregon.”
“Better make it a strong one,” I mumbled.
I followed my father into the den as my mother wrapped her arm around me. “I’ve already registered Chloe at the school. They only need you to sign a few things and provide a copy of her birth certificate and proof of immunizations.”
I hadn’t given my parents much notice before moving back to Texas. The divorce was quick and easy, and I’d gotten an offer on the house within three days of listing it. I’d given Kim half of the money I made on the house, even though she never put a dime of her money into it; it felt like the right thing to do.
Kissing my mother on the cheek, I said, “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate you taking care of all of that.”
She grinned. “I’m just so happy you’re home. Now if we can only get your sister, Waylynn, to move back.”
Dad handed me a rum and Coke, and I asked my mother, “Is everything okay between her and Jack?”
My parents both frowned. Neither of them had liked Jack Wilson. In their eyes, he stole their oldest child away and forced her to give up her dreams. “She’s unhappy. I hear it in her voice when I talk to her. Amelia is going to New York in the spring. She’ll let me know if our Waylynn is happy or not.”
I took a drink and laughed. “Sending in the spy, huh?”
Mom lifted her brow and gave me an inquisitive look. My parents had seven kids. Each of us meant the world to them. If they had it their way, we’d all live on the ranch. Under one roof.
Waylynn, my oldest sister, was supposed to be a boy. Dad was certain of it and had planned on naming his first son after his favorite country singer, Waylon Jennings. When the baby came out a girl, he insisted on keeping the name Waylon. Mom agreed to it but changed the spelling. After Waylynn came my brother, Tripp. As a kid, he took everything seriously. One reason he makes a good lawyer. Next came my brother, Mitchell, and me. The twins in the family. The only thing we ever had in common was looking like each other and even then, there were differences. While he always does the right thing, I seem to be the polar opposite. My mother stresses day in and day out over his job as a Texas Ranger. Mitchell loves being a cop, though.
Then you have Cord. My bar owning, rebel brother. And the one person who knows my deepest, darkest secret. Cord’s dream was to open a bar and, to my father’s disapproval, he owns a country western bar in town. Of course, he still works the ranch when needed. It’s in all our blood and none of us could ever walk away from it.
The baby boy in the family was Trevor. He grew up to be one hundred percent my father’s son. Loves the ranch. Loves being on top of a horse…and a woman.
Last but not least, Amelia, the baby in the family, and what my father likes to call his gift from God. My mother was told she wouldn’t have any more kids after a hard pregnancy and delivery with Trevor. But two years later, our baby sister was here. She is the apple of my parents’ eyes.
“Steed, did you hear anything I just said?”
My eyes lifted to my mother. “What was that, Mom?”
“Is Chloe excited for school?”
“Yes. I had to explain to her that the school wasn’t going to be like her pre-school. It’s going to be smaller.”
My mother lifted her brows and asked, “Well, how big was her pre-school?”
I laughed. “Mom, I lived in Portland, Oregon. Hundreds of thousands of people live there. How many people live in Oak Springs? Six hundred?”
“We’re getting closer to twelve hundred…if you count the outskirts of town,” my father said as he took a drink.
Lifting her glass to her lips, my mother gave me a smirk that hinted she was up to something. “I have a feeling Chloe is going to love Oak Springs elementary much better than she would love some overcrowded school in Oregon.”
I sighed. “I hope so. Hopefully Mrs. Bagnet isn’t still the kindergarten teacher
. That woman was mean as hell.”
My father and mother exchanged glances. Dad acted like he was about to say something when my mother cut him off. “Oh, no, she retired four years ago. We have a new kindergarten teacher who’s been there a few years.”
“Thank God,” I mumbled as I finished off my drink.
