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Pop is forever altered. You can see it in his eyes.
His smile is sadder. His sharp tongue is softer. He’s quicker to hug.
In hidden moments, when I see him with Colt, his smile is wistful. His acceptance of Emberleigh and Willa is all him. His pride in Exton and Braxton in how they love those women, though, that’s my mom. It’s a shadow of what she’d offer us though, but he’s trying.
Her spirit is still on this land, though. It’s in the plants and trees. It’s in the traditions we hold like Monday Night Football watching Layton and his teammates.
It’s in the rain that’s falling this morning, rain that started again not long after Pop’s “lucky” wound. The drought we experienced—one of the worst in this century—started right after she left us. Day after day of record heat was met with week after week of no rain. It’s a disastrous combination when you’re breeding and feeding animals.
Pop was still in the hospital when we got our first measurable precipitation in months. It’s as if the mourning ended or her fiery personality burned off over the course of six or seven months.
There was drought and then there was rain.
It’s true feast-or-famine.
I’ll complain about that later. For now, our horses are safe. More so, our family is safe.
And we’ll be together today—well, except Mom. Elias and his mom are coming. Willa and Exton are in town to celebrate—not for a funeral or an emergency hospital visit. Emberleigh and Colt, fixtures in our lives and on this ranch for months now, will be here. Hell, Layton didn’t have a game—no small wonder—and has a couple of days at home.
We’ll honor Mom today. And maybe, just maybe, the dull pain with each pulse will be tamped down as we celebrate our family.
I leave the barn and head to Pop’s house toward the chaos of every member of my family trying to cook at the same time. Platters, dish warmers, Crock-Pots, and huge metal trays full of sides litter the kitchen. There’s enough food to feed us for a week… or Layton for forty-eight hours. It’s traditional Thanksgiving with turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes, but made Texan by the addition of brisket, jalapeño poppers, macaroni and cheese, and sweet tea.
So much food… there’s not room on the table for all of it and our plates.
Our family has grown.
It’s wonderful to behold.
We gather and are solemn at Pop’s sweet thoughts on the last year, on his growing family, and togetherness.
At some point during lunch, Willa and Exton announce they bought a place in town. My heart is full, and something in my soul settles. Exton left when I was fourteen. We haven’t lived in the same city since before I started high school when he left for college. He’s always been easy to talk to, but not necessarily easy to know. He left for the Army as I was heading off to college.
We’ll have him back and will get Willa too. It makes Thanksgiving perfect and our small-town life even sweeter.
“You’re next.” I point to Layton. “Rangers always come home.”
“Not if I can help it.” He pushes food around on his plate, not engaging with anyone.
“When you’re ready, bro, we’re here,” Exton says. “In the meantime, your cheering section is getting smaller on the East Coast and concentrating in the Hill Country.” He lifts a glass to Layton and smiles like a man who has it all.
Layton nods. He lifts his fork and circles it in my direction. “Now I know I haven’t been around in a while. And I’m no body language expert like Exton, but I’m not blind either. So, Brighton, Eli? How long have y’all been a thing?”
Layton aims a cocky grin at me, no longer the object of scrutiny or discussion. Asshole.
A shiver runs down my spine as my skin goes molten and my blood runs cold.
A tap on the top of my thigh under the table forces me to look up to Eli before staring into the questioning faces of everyone at the table. Everyone but Pop, who’s scowling at Layton.
But Braxton…
My older brother is red-faced, livid, and glaring at the man who’s warmed my bed for months.
* * *
Elias
Braxton stands so quicklythat his chair scrapes across the floor and topples backward. He doesn’t take his eyes off me. “Outside. Now.”
