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That wasn’t true about Sam and Casey’s relationship. Sam loved Casey, but they had butted heads ever since Casey was old enough to state his mind. Annoying their father was something his brother lived for.
“And just what do you have to say about that, Sam? Now you have two sons who are—how did you put it? Oh, yeah. Whoring around.”
Sam’s face darkened. “And what exactly would you call your behavior with women?”
Casey grinned. “Enjoying what life has to offer.” He looked at Rome and winked. “I’m glad my brother has joined me in that pursuit.”
“It’s one thing to enjoy what life has to offer,” Sam said. “And it’s another to ignore your responsibilities.”
Casey’s smile faded. “If I ignored my responsibilities, I wouldn’t still be living here working my ass off every day.”
“I’m not talking about the responsibilities to this ranch. I’m talking about your responsibilities to our family. It’s time both of you settled down and had children who will carry on the Remington name. You won’t find the kind of woman who will make a good wife and mother at the Hellhole.” Sam looked at Rome. “Or in the Holidays’ hayloft.”
Like always, Casey stood up for him. “Well, you didn’t find Mama in either place and look how that turned out.”
Rome usually didn’t step into his father and brother’s verbal sparring unless blood was drawn. If the look on his father’s face was any indication, it had been. One of Sam’s strict rules was no discussing their mother. As a kid, Rome hadn’t understood it. After Emily left him, now he did.
“Casey,” Rome said. “That’s enough.”
Casey shrugged. “Just stating the truth. Glorieta came from a cream of the crop southern family. If she had come from lesser stock, she might have stayed.” He looked at Sam. “Or did you lie about the reason she left and it had more to do with you than wanting to go back to her pampered life?”
“Don’t push it, Casey,” Sam said.
Casey knew when to call it quits. He looked back at Rome. “So who is the hayloft gal? Anyone I know?”
Rome shook his head. “Not going there.”
Casey grinned. “I’ll find out soon enough. There’s no way to keep a secret in Wilder.” He yawned widely and scratched his bare chest. “I’m going back to bed. That was one wild wedding.”
Since Casey was the definition of wild, Rome wondered what had happened at the reception once he went into the hayloft. He started to follow his brother to ask when his father stopped him.
“Rome. I’d like to speak with you in my study.”
Sam’s study was a huge room off the main entrance, but with the dark décor and overly large furniture, it looked much smaller than it was. Wood was the main decorating element. The walls were paneled, the floors planked, and the furniture dark walnut. A stone fireplace occupied one wall; above its huge mantel hung a collection of longhorn bullhorns. The rest of the walls held original artwork from western artists—all of cowboys herding cattle on the Texas range. A bronze sculpture of a cowboy bronc-busting a wild mustang sat on the table between the two cowhide chairs that faced Sam’s huge desk.
Rome took the chair he always took—the one closest to the door—and waited for his father to sit down behind the desk before he spoke.
“I hope you’re not intending to give me a lecture, Daddy. I’m not sixteen anymore. You don’t have to worry about me getting a girl pregnant.”
“I’m not concerned about what happened in the hayloft—although there are still women out there who would love to trap a Remington into marriage.”
“I thought that’s what you wanted. Me to remarry and give you grandkids.”
“With the right woman.”
Rome sighed. “I told you I’m not getting married again. With the right or wrong woman.”
“I know you were hurt badly when Emily left, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again.”
Rome lifted his eyebrows. “You didn’t.”
“Because I already had you boys. There was no reason for me to remarry.”
“What about companionship?”
Sam shrugged. “Like I said, I have you boys and the ranch.” For Sam, that had always been enough. Over the years, he had dated different women in town, but he’d never brought those women home to meet his boys. Rome had learned about them through town gossip. There was a time when he had secretly wished for a mother. Not just for him, but for Casey. But as time went on, he’d grown up enough to realize his father was too hard a man to live with.
And maybe Rome was too. Maybe that’s why Em had left.
