“Have you ever known me to do something because I feel like I have to?” I say as I roll my eyes and move to the feed bins. “Like I said, I can use an assistant, and he wants to learn it. Not only will him learning it help you in the long run, but he will also be helping me with these ranchers who all think that I’m the scum of the earth for following my own path.”
“Well…” he starts.
I narrow my eyes and shake my head in disgust.
“Y’all are so quick to judge me for following my dreams. Did it ever occur to any of you that I chose my profession so I could come back to this God-forsaken town and give back? This…what I’m doing right now was always the dream, but dreams change when the very people who were supposed to love and support you no matter what don’t.”
I don’t wait for him to respond. I was already finished with everything I needed from his herd today, anyway. I grab my things and storm back into the barn.
Chapter Ten
Wade
“You have a way with words,” Benny teases from behind me.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to in that moment. You’ve said it a million times before.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “That girl is as loyal as they come, so think about what had to have happened for her to turn her back on her family.”
I inhale sharply and look back at Benny.
I guess I hadn’t thought of the bigger picture. He’s right, the Sutton I used to know sacrificed a social life for that ranch, for her family. I’m embarrassed by the way I immediately judged her without even pausing to take a second and think logically about any of it. So many people turned their backs on her without asking questions or trying to understand her motives.
I’m just as big of an asshole as her dad.
“This entire town thinks she’s flaky and whatever else. But I remember that little girl in her prom dress, up on a horse,corralling cattle for her family and yours when the river flooded. She skipped her own prom.”
“If I remember correctly,” Tommy interjects from behind us. “I’m pretty certain she showed up late to graduation because she was delivering a breached calf.”
“At the same time those floods came through, she jumped in the river after the Childers’ baby when their car got away from them. Stupid thing to do, but she missed her scholarship interview with the University of Montana,” Dad adds from behind me.
I whip around and raise an eyebrow at him, surprised that he’s standing up for her, too.
“I didn’t know that.”
“Caroline told your mother. Your mom and Caroline both told the committee why she missed it, but it was too late.”
“Wait…you knew they were still talking?”
“My beef was with Frank, and Caroline had nothing to do with that. Besides, your mother would have left me had I told her that she couldn’t speak to her best friend,” he chuckles. “You can’t control a woman and expect her to thrive.”
I nod slowly, and my eyes flit back to the barn where Sutton is. I chew the inside of my cheek, deciding on whether I should go in and say something to her.
I guess I don’t know anything at all, really. I shake my head in disbelief. All this time, I thought Dad was going to have an aneurysm about Sutton on the property helping out, and he seems not to hold a grudge against her.
Was I wrong to turn my back on her when the fight first started? I thought I was doing what I was supposed to for my family. Turns out, I didn’t need to.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Dad chuckles as he shakes his head and walks off, almost as if he were answering the question I just internally asked myself.
I stride into the barn. Sutton is in there muttering a slew of curse words under her breath. I’m pretty certain I can hear her say my name and ass several times in a row.
“I don’t mind if Caleb goes with you,” I tell her.
Her head snaps up, her eyes narrowed as if she’s ready for a fight.
“He loves to learn, especially if it means helping the ranch. He’s incredibly intelligent, and school is boring to him because of that. He’s been burying himself in research to help us figure things out, and…him following you around, learning things, will be good for him,” I continue.
She stares back at me in shock.
