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“You see that last heifer?” Jax asked as he strode over, a smile on his face. “She practically jumped the fence when I blew the horn. I’ve never seen an animal that weighs as much as our tractor move like that.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You okay? What’s up?”
Bennett rolled back on his heels and adjusted the Stetson on his head. Gander lay at his heels, one eye open and facing the stampede in the corral.
“I’m worried about the water levels. How long do you think we can feed off the stream like this?”
Jax whistled and shrugged before kicking at a clump of sun-scorched grass as if to make a point.
“It’s not the water but the fields that’re the problem. We can’t keep enough grass alive for the herd we have where we have ’em. Maggie’s almost depleted the south fields, too.”
Bennett frowned. “Okay. I’ll give it some thought and see if I can talk to Maggie about an irrigation plan for our properties.”
“Speaking of, word on the street is you two were canoodling last night.”
“Canoodling? What’re you, eighty years old? We were dancing. That’s it.”
“Dancing, huh? That’s what you kids are calling it these days? I have it on high authority that there was more than just dancing going on. Suzie told Mae, who told Ma that you were holding hands.”
Jax’s smile got under Bennett’s skin and pulled the muscles in his shoulders tight.
“It’s none of anyone’s business what is or isn’t going on between Maggie and me. And before you say another word, no I don’t want to talk about it, and no I’m not going to change my mind. I need to head over to Bill’s to help move his herd to the canyon along with ours. Can you keep this place afloat while I’m gone, or are you gonna be at Mae’s gossiping about whose daughter wore what to prom?”
Jax laughed and smacked his brother on the shoulder. Bennett grimaced.
“Not everything needs to be so serious, Benny. I was just happy to hear you were having a good time.”
“Not everything’s a joke, either.”
Jax made a show of wiping the smile off his face, but it was never really gone. He was the only guy Bennett knew who could put a smile and positive spin on anything that came his way.
“Got it. I’ll hold down the fort and try not to burn it all down.”
Bennett pinched his lips. His jaw ached from clenching it so tight.
“I’ll be back for dinner with Mom.”
Jax hummed a song and Bennett got in his truck, turning up the volume on the radio. He tore down the driveway.
“I get it,” he grumbled to himself. “Everyone’s so optimistic. I should just be the same.”
But he wasn’t. He was the one who’d held his mom together with duct tape and promises when Matt took off, again when their dad lost the ranch to the bank, then once more when he’d passed away. Jax was off lighting fires while Bennett was putting them out back home.
Bennett was the glue and determination for MBE. He was also the end of the Marshall legacy, and if he messed it up, well, there wasn’t anyone coming along behind him to pick up the slack.
Signs were up all over town about conserving water and watching out for chains on trucks that might make sparks and start a wildfire. Unease settled in Bennett’s belly. It wasn’t just the ranches in trouble.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled down Bill’s driveway. The archway read Harmon and Sons, and Marshall tipped his hat. Norm Harmon was Bill’s dad and one of the original founding fathers of Deer Creek. Bill was the last of the sons, so unless he and his bride-to-be were planning on having a brood of their own, this was another change on the horizon.
Bennett understood that on a cellular level.
When Bennett pulled around the barn, his heart sank deeper. A Steel Born tractor was parked next to the house, but the brittle gold of the dead grass in the field behind it added a foreboding backdrop. The hair on Bennett’s arms stood up, every fiber of his being on alert. If the valley went belly up, Steel Born would, too.
“Bennett, I can’t thank you enough for doing this,” Bill said, walking out of the barn. He removed a glove so he could shake Bennett’s hand.
“Not a problem. I mean it. We’ve got to look out for each other around here, right?”
