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She grabbed a mug and poured it full of fragrant black liquid.
He barely remembered his dad. He had only been little when his mother left, but the beatings were still vivid in his memory. His father had never laid a finger on him, but he’d pummeled his mother like a ragdoll. The neighbors often called the cops, and one night when his father was taken away, Elaine packed up a suitcase and left. At first, they’d stayed in a women’s shelter. Then she’d met Ted.
“How’s everyone?” Jake asked, although he had already talked to his brother Josh that morning.
“Good.” Elaine sipped her coffee. “How’s the ranch?”
“Good, I’ve been out sowing the pastures.” He held up his crossed fingers. “Then I just have to wait and see.”
“Can you handle working on the site and running a ranch all by yourself?” she asked. Her forehead wrinkled.
“I only have six cows.” Another thing he hated. He worked for Ted now. He knew the job offer hadn’t been spontaneous or genuine, either. “I’ll be fine.”
She shook her head. “I know Ted appreciates having you at the site.”
“Sure, he does.” He laughed at how naïve his mother acted. She knew he had purposely been put on the crew and not in the office. Ted didn’t want someone like him to be the face of Ryland Construction. “All he appreciates is that he’s got another errand boy.”
He should’ve bitten his tongue. He didn’t know why he couldn’t hold back with his mom, but Ted made irritation percolate under his skin.
When he’d first returned home, his pride was too big to work for Ted and his little brothers. He’d felt like Thomas Hagen in the Godfather, someone who workedforhis family, not with them.
Before he graduated high school, Ted had told him he was on his own as soon as he turned eighteen. No summer fun for him, he needed to get gone. Not that he’d wanted to stay. He joined the Marines the night he graduated.
His brother Josh, on the other hand, started in the family business right out of high school. Ted then gave James a full ride at University. His sister Julia got anything she wanted. But no matter how well Jake did in school, or on the football field, or behind enemy lines, he would never be a son to Ted.
He couldn’t wait to be off the man’s payroll, but with the rent for the ranch, buying the cattle, seed to improve the pasture… well, it was all more than he could afford, if he wanted to continue eating. Ranching had already proved to be a bigger undertaking than his daydreams in the desert had suggested. That meant he needed Ted’s handout, galling as that was. The reality was that Jake felt like he was drowning.
His mom smiled and placed her hand on top of his. “I want you to know, I’m really happy you came back home.”
He nodded. He had promised to come back, for her. But now, he wondered if his presence was just stressing her out. In her view, Ted was the knight in shining armor. He’d saved them from the monster who hunted them, and even given her a castle on the hill.
His mother moved the conversation on to his siblings and what they were doing. She nattered on about inconsequential things, not mentioning Ted again. He didn’t talk about the other reason he came home, or how he couldn’t sleep at night. He sat and drank his coffee and kept his thoughts on the pretty girl behind the counter with the deep, fascinating eyes. Hannah.
* * *
Noon hadn’t come soon enough. Hannah untied her apron as she walked to the back of the store, making a beeline for the break room.
Troy then popped back into her head. It was sometimes a shock to remember that she was still technically married to him. Weeks sometimes went by where she never caught a glimpse of him. He was no more of a husband than her father had been, and that man had kicked her out when she was eighteen and pregnant, without a penny to her name.
Still, she had never been able to officially go through with pulling the plug on her marriage. She had been tempted many times, but beyond the cost of filing divorce papers, there was Emma to consider. Hannah knew what it was like to go to school every day and have to listen to the giggles and whispers. Darned if she would have Emma go through that too, if she could help it. She knew that if she divorced Troy, people would talk. So, she just kept her head down and tried to give the gossipmongers as little to talk about as possible.
She felt a new determination well up inside her. The moment she could afford it, she’d get the papers filed. He’d walked out of their marriage long ago, and only came around for cash. Now he was jeopardizing her living as well, and that she couldn’t tolerate.
She had been so naïve when they first got married. She’d actually thought it could work. He’d seemed so different before Emma was born. She’d thought he loved her, asking her to marry him when he found out about the baby, promising to change, to get a job.
But then Emma came, and he just couldn’t seem to grow up. He still hadn’t, more than a decade later.
“Hannah!” Troy’s voice called out from the other side of the store.
Her heart sank as she saw Mr. Hooley stand up in his office, folding his arms against his chest.
She kept walking toward the break room, ignoring Troy’s calls, hoping to get him away from her boss before she lost her job.
She knew he would follow, and she hoped to lure him behind the loading docks and let the truck’s engines roar over his ranting. But Troy’s short legs carried him to her before she could push open the door. He grabbed her arm and swung her around with more force than she expected. She stumbled.
“Why are you being such a bit–?”
“Let go of her!”
