Bob’s face flushed with color, and he narrowed his eyes as he stared across his desk at Brett. “What’s going on with you? With all these questions?”
Brett sighed. “I just worry about you,” he admitted. “You’ve been so sad since Mom died.”
His dad nodded. “Yes, I have been. But it’s getting better. It actually has really helped being back in Willow Creek and getting close to my family again.”
“We would have never stopped being close if you had let us know what was going on with Mom,” Brett said.
“I know that,” Bob said. “But to tell you about her illness…” He sighed. “It wasn’t my decision to make.”
“So you would have reached out had Mom let you?”
Bob sighed now. “I’m not blaming your mother. And I actually don’t know what I would have done then. Now… I think a little differently.”
“If you knew how it would end, would you have done it all over again?”
Bob’s forehead furrowed with confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Falling for Mom, only to lose her like you did, would you do it over again if you’d known?”
Bob shuddered. “Losing her was hard. But I would still do it even if just to have you and your brothers and sister.”
Not for the love? That was a question that Brett couldn’t bring himself to ask; it was too personal, even for a child to ask a parent.
“You’re in a strange mood today,” Bob said. “Did you drive all the way into town to ask me all these philosophical questions?”
Brett chuckled. “No. I didn’t even know I would ask them.” But he couldn’t help wondering what his dad thought now of marriage and loss. Of the risk…
“So why did you make the trip?”
“I came to talk to you about Mom’s engagement ring.”
Bob gasped, his dark eyes going wide. “You want her ring? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.”
“I’m not.” But the woman he saw every time he closed his eyes popped into his mind again. Trish with her soft curls, her beautiful eyes and face.
“Then why do you want the ring?”
“I don’t want it,” Brett said. “I want you to know that you can give it to Blake—that he’s going to ask you for it.”
“Oh…” Bob nodded. “That makes sense.”
“More sense than me ever needing that ring,” he muttered.
“What? Why do you think that?”
Brett shrugged. “Marriage isn’t for me.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve seen too much suffering because of it,” he admitted. “You, Grandpa, Frank Dempsey…” He shook his head. “It’s just not worth it.”
Bob frowned. “I don’t agree.”
“Because of us, of me and my siblings, you feel the need to say that,” Brett said, and he was only partially teasing now.
“Love is scary,” Bob said. “It’s hard. But if you ever let yourself fall for someone, you would realize that it’s worth it.”
A sudden yearning in his chest, in his heart, took Brett by surprise. But he shook his head. “No. Not for me.” Once again Trish popped into his mind. “And it’s not fear. I made the decision long ago to focus only on the ranch. Ranching is hard work, long hours, and I don’t want to split my time between it and a family. And I don’t want my brothers’ relationships to suffer for the ranch. So when Blake asks, you can give him the ring.”
