AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s out fixing fences with Cole near Funches’s property.” That would explain why they were out of cell service. They were on the north side of the mountain.
Porter headed for the door. “I’m riding out to find him.”
“Tell your father that I’m frying up some catfish for dinner.”
Porter barely registered his momma’s message as he marched to the barn where his appaloosa waited for him. Gus poked his head through the slats of the gate, begging for a nose rub as Porter opened up the stall. He ran his hands down the horse’s thick mane. The horse seemed to sense his stormy mood as he threw on the saddle. He quickly cinched up the buckles in record time.
The next instant, the appaloosa’s hooves were pounding under them as they raced over the meadow to reach his family. They were killing him, especially West! He’d gotten them into this. Porter would bet his life on it.
He couldn’t figure out why West was so greedy. His older brother had everything—a private jet, a plush mansion, fast cars, exotic vacations, more money than he could ever spend.
He had enough money to get them out of this, too.
Porter’s ears rang at the implications.
If he asked for West’s help, what would that mean? Porter saw what West did when people owed him. Nash was a prime example, and he was paying for it with his soul.
Porter dug his heels into Gus’s side to reach his father faster. He passed the watering hole and saw Funches out flyfishing. Now who was trespassing whose land?
The whole world had turned on its head.
Funches lifted his arm to greet Porter. The old man had launched an old steel boat out onto the water with two of his buddies. They squeezed their cans of Fresca, looking like a bunch of rednecks in their overalls.
Porter felt a strange tug of sentiment. The country life was fast becoming a rare sight. He’d miss these hot summer days languishing under these lazy clouds floating in the sky. The city was always a glittering star miles away; it was never supposed to encroach on them out here. Porter wouldn’t have to leave like Nash to get the change that his twin craved. The outside world was coming for them whether they liked it or not.
Funches waved Porter over as he rode to the edge of the waterhole. “Get off your horse, boy!” Funches complained. “I can’t introduce you when you’re ten feet taller than the rest of us. Don’t you know it ain’t polite to sit atop your horse while making conversation?”
Porter slid off his horse’s side, pulling off his Stetson as he approached the water. Funches’s friends were both corded in muscle. They looked to be the old man’s age. Their eyes sparkled with humor, with no hint of Funches’s crankiness.
“This is Cam and Mac,” Funches introduced them proudly. “They’re my buddies from Division Swallow during my army days. Can you believe it? They’re lawyers now.”
Lawyers? He eyed the tough-looking fellows—one had more hair on his head than any woman that he knew. The other was bald and covered in tattoos. They both looked like they could more easily take down a man in a fistfight than in a polished courtroom.
They hailed him cheerily, but mostly ribbed him about having to put up with Funches as their neighbor. “My condolences,” Cam said. “He’s got a nasty temper, that one.”
“Right?” Porter said. Finally, someone understood. “He used to chase us down with his tractor when we came too close to his property. The guy’s as ferocious as a bull moose. He once had me treed for hours trying to hide from him.”
“That’s water under the bridge,” Funches said with a careless wave. “You bringing your girl over tonight? I’ve got lots of Fresca, and I’m cooking up some tinfoil dinners that you can throw all over each other.”
Porter felt grim amusement grip him at the memory of those more carefree days. “I don’t think we’ll make it. I’ve got a few pressing matters I have to figure out.”
“Does it have to do with my land?” Funches’s white brows snapped together. “You know, I’ve been thinking. I could sell a few more pieces off to you.”
The kind offer was unexpected. Porter found himself blinking at the uncharacteristic show of kindness. “Thanks, Funches, I don’t know what to say.”
There was no way he could take the offer now. He had his hands full fighting Lacy. The guy was notorious for cheating sellers out of the real value of their property. After his discussion with Nash, Porter guessed that there was oil at Harvest Ranch, or why else was Lacy salivating over these investments? How could Porter ever go up against a man with such deep pockets? Even his family was folding under the pressure.
He cleared his throat, deciding to come clean. “My father’s selling to WhiteBoulder too. I had no idea, but I’d just hoped that…”
Porter felt helpless against this Goliath. Their family’s situation was growing more impossible by the day.
Funches let out a deep growl. “Bunch of vultures. How much land is this company picking off, anyway? If I’d known they were land pirates, I wouldn’t have been so keen on selling.”
His army buddies adamantly agreed. Their hands shook on their fishing poles.
“I don’t think my old man has a choice,” Porter admitted, “with my momma’s medical bills, and now this surgery coming up. From what I saw from the agreement, I’m sure he thinks that he can rent the house and Momma’s gardens if he can, but… looks like life is going to change in a big way.”
His father had hinted at that the other morning. Porter would have to hire himself out to the other ranches or even more likely, try a whole new career change. More and more, it felt like Nash was the smart one to head out to make some money.
