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ONE
The longer Sunny sat in his car staring at the run-down house, the more dread pooled in his stomach. Seventeen years had passed since he’d left home, ten since he’d even been back to visit. Neither memory made him believe walking through the front door today was going to bring anything good.
He had to, though. His mother’s message still rang in his ears a week after he’d first heard it.
Rayford, your daddy ain’t doin’ well. It’s time for you to come home.
He wondered just what she’d been through for the last seventeen years, then dismissed that. She’d made her choice just like he’d made his. With a grunt of frustration, he cut the engine and threw open the door to the SUV.
Even in the early morning of an April day, the heat already felt as though it were pressing down on him. Or maybe that was just the house.
All the noise he’d made had someone in the house taking notice because the faded checked curtains he knew were in the kitchen window twitched, but nothing else moved.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he looked at the last text chain.
Eagle:I’m moving out to the ranch in a week. Want to come with me and make a fresh start?
Sunny:I don’t know anything about ranching
Eagle:I know enough. I just need hands. Please.
Sunny:Who else is coming?
Eagle:No one yet
Sunny:I’ll be there
This might turn out to be even crazier than going into the army to spite his father, but that decision had turned into a decorated military career. Maybe he could make something out of being a ranch hand, too. If not, at least it got him a job far, far away from Georgia.
The red dust stirred around his boots as he walked up to the house and knocked on the door. It flew open almost immediately.
“Rayford, honey, you ain’t gotta knock,” his mother said, her drawl thick.
“Just being polite, Mama,” he said, leaning in and kissing her cheek.
For a long moment, she just stared at him, then nodded and turned away. Sunny followed her into the kitchen, where she turned her attention to the counter while speaking to him. “I’m glad you're home. Your daddy fell down over the winter and broke his hip. He can’t climb a ladder no more and I need—”
“Mama,” he said, stopping her, and she turned to face him, her face expectant. “I’m not staying here. I have a job lined up out in Wyoming on a ranch.”
She waved a hand in airy dismissal. “You don’t need to go all the way out there to work on a farm. We’ve got plenty here for you to do.”
“I’m going to be with my team. I’m only here today to say goodbye.”
His mother froze, then started in on the food preparation again. “Well, you’ll just have to change that plan. We need you here.”
Sunny dragged a hand through his hair. “Mama, you know I can’t stay here with him—”
This time, it was his mother who interrupted him. “His memory is failing, Rayford. I can’t do this by myself—”
“Mama, I can’t,” he said, his voice firm and emotionless.
She gaped at him, opening and closing her mouth several times as though trying to find words. “You're my son and you have to. He ain’t so bad now, honey. He doesn’t remember much.”
“Does he know my name?”
Her faced softened, thinking he was giving in. “Of course, he does, Rayford. He named you after himself.”
Sunny’s face twisted in a grimace. “If he knows my name, then he still hates me, Mama.”
