Page 118

“Lauren said I needed to make more of an effort. So she dragged me here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to watch Maple kick some ass.”

I looked around, in search of his wife.

“She’s outside gossiping.” Ernest Palmer was the kind of grandfather who sent a card with money and a message saying from Grandpa scribbled inside. He didn’t do extracurricular activities—he’d only shown up to Maple’s birthday this year because it was at the ranch.

“I know Ozzie will be happy when I tell him you made the trip.” His presence was odd, like watching a deer stumble around a grocery store. Just out of place, knocking things over, as confused about how he got here as everyone else.

“Maple is quite the spitfire.”

“She certainly likes to try everything. When she said she wanted to enroll in taekwondo I expected her to lose interest quickly, but she’s locked in.”

“That’s good.”

If uncomfortable were a person, it would be Ernest Palmer in this moment.

“Ozzie was sore about having to miss this, but your being here makes up for it,” I added.

“Well, Ozzie will have to get used to missing things.”

“What do you mean?”

“With Texas, he’ll be busier than ever.”

“Yeah, but he’s gotten pretty good at making the time count on the weeks he’s here.” One of the things I admired most about Ozzie was how intentional he was. Even though he was gone almost every other week, he never used it as an excuse to be absent. He called Maple often, sometimes reading her a bedtime story over videochat.

“I’m sure Maple will miss her father, but I told Ozzie you have to sacrifice now to benefit your family in the long run. And with you two back together, there’s even more reason for him to step up.”

“Maple always misses Oz when he’s away, but she’s gotten used to the weeks he’s gone.”

“A year is a whole lot longer than seeing him every other week.” He narrowed his eyes as if waiting for my reaction.

I released a nervous chuckle. “I’m sorry, Mr. Palmer, I don’t think I’m following.”

“I’m talking about Oz moving to Texas to run the new facility. He’s there now getting his long-term house rental and other odds and ends sorted. I’m sure he’s told you all about it.”

With the dumbfounded look on my face, Ernest knew good and damn well this was the first time I was hearing about a move to Texas. Ozzie had been keeping this from me, and his father seemed all too happy to divulge his secret.

Doing my best to fix my face, I said, “Yep, he tells me everything, so I’m in the loop.”

“Good, great… I’m glad you get it. Texas is where he belongs. It would be a shame for sentimentality to keep him from reaching his true purpose.”

“Which is?”

“The ranch. When I retire, all this will be his, and Texas will be the perfect opportunity for him to prove to me he’s capable.”

“Prove to you? There’s no one more dedicated to that stupid ranch than Ozzie.”

His expression soured at my blunt words. “I beg your pardon?”

Ernest would absolutely push Ozzie off a cliff if he thought it would make him richer. Work was the only thing that mattered, unless we were talking about his precious daughter. I figured that was part of the reason Fancy and I were always on shaky ground: Ozzie had to eat shit while she got to prance around in a field of sunflowers. None of this was Fancy’s fault—the blame was one hundred percent on the patriarch.

“It was good seeing you again,” I said. “I’m in need of some air.”

I wanted to burn down the world, but for the next hour and a half I was forced to put on a brave face, laugh at stupid jokes, and entertain mundane chatter about the weather. Was Ernest’s revealing of the Texas news a slip of the tongue? It felt more like a well-placed bomb, ready to implode my life. I was certain Ozzie hadn’t greenlit his father’s telling me the news.

But what was more upsetting was that any time I brought up Texas, Oz quickly changed the subject. How long had he known about the relocation? And why had he thought it was okay to hide it from me?

To describe me as pissed would be a gross understatement. My world was coming undone. I’d finally leaned into the reality of Oz and me, and now this was like a flashing red light warning me to proceed with caution.