He nodded.“I know, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be disappointed or mad.”
“Agreed.I’ll hear coach out and then talk to your mom.”
“Thank you.And for the record it’s not me you need to worry about getting hurt,” Jeremy said, with a cocky grin.“It’s the other team.”
“Okay, hotshot, this is exactly what I’m worried about.Your ego won’t be as big as that defensive line, and you won’t see them coming.”
Instead of arguing, Jeremy pulled out a bunch of wildflowers from behind his back.
“Did you think you could bribe me with these?”
“That depends—is it working?”
Pulling her brother into her side she gave him a squeeze and listened as he talked about practice and his favorite plays.If she could bottle his enthusiasm and confidence, it would probably guarantee she’d secure several stud contracts in the upcoming breeder auctions.She just needed to make enough sales to keep the ranch afloat until several of her mares produced their first foals this summer.She hated feeling so uncertain about her future, but these sales would be the last chance before she’d have to do something drastic, like marry a man she didn’t love for money.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Renn
On the Wind
After a longswim in the ocean, Renn headed back up to the Hart house.He’d come by to talk with Mrs.Hart, but she’d encouraged him to take a walk on the property, saying a quarter of it was his birthright.He walked through the grass out to the beach and wondered if that was what had been pulling him to this town.But he still didn’t feel any closer to the answers he needed.He may have a legal right to some of this land by blood, but it didn’t feel like his.He was a poor kid who grew up in a loaned-out small cabin on the ranch where his mama worked, not a landowner.
Walking up to the front door of the Hart house, Renn couldn’t help but feel out of place, like he was a fraud.Which could be a metaphor for his entire life the last few months.This was his father’s house, a man he never knew but the same man who’d given him at least half of what made him who he was.The same house where his brothers grew up, and where his grandmother lived.The two-story southern country-estate-style home was huge, well maintained, and beautiful with large windows, a fresh coat of paint, and mature landscaping complete with a hundred-year-old weeping willow in the front yard blowing in the wind.It stung a little to think that maybe he should have grown up in a house like this.
“Renn honey, you can always come on in through the kitchen door—you don’t need to ring the doorbell.This is your house too,” Mrs.Hart said, appearing on the side of the long wraparound front porch, wiping her hands with her half-apron tied around her small frame.
He removed his hat.“I really appreciate your hospitality, Mrs.Hart, but I don’t think I can just let myself in.”
“Sure you can, because I told you to.And you can call me Gran.There’s no denying I’m your paternal grandmother.So, you best just get used to it.”
Dalton appeared with a big grin.“You can fight her all you want but she always wins.”
Renn shook Dalton’s extended hand and was struck again by the jolt of energy he felt.Brothers.
“I was just stopping by on my way to the hospital for my shift to check on a few things.We’re expecting a big thunderstorm,” Dalton told him.
Renn looked out at the wind pushing all the greenery toward the beach and could smell the rain in the air.“I saw that.”
“This house is fifty years old and won’t be blown down by some rain, but your brothers like to remind me I’m too old to be living out here all alone.”
Renn didn’t know what to say and Dalton just laughed.
“Since you all planned to visit, I thought maybe we could count on you to keep an eye on things out here for us?I’ve got the generator over there in case the power goes out and Wes will swing by after his shift, but if the storm gets real bad it’s best if everyone just sits tight,” Dalton said.
“No problem.We can play cards or something until the storm passes,” Renn offered.
“Your brother is worried that a tree will fall on the house with me in it,” Gran said, pointing to a large, thick tree in the middle of the front driveway.
“These storms usually come in fast,” Dalton warned.
“Got it.”Renn felt a little put on the spot, but if his half-brother was asking him for a favor, he had to think that was a good sign.
“I wish I could stay to get to know you more, but I’m off this weekend if you’re free?”Dalton asked.
“Great—I’d like that.”
Dalton nodded and started to head toward his truck but then turned back.“I swear the second I saw you I knew you were my brother,” Dalton said with a seriousness that left Renn with no doubt his brother would never turn his back on him.
