“Would you stop accusing me of crap?” he groans. “I’m on the way to the airport to pick up your samples.”
“You’re coming here?”
“Yeah, is that a problem? Danny told me that your notes are extensive and that it’s rare you haven’t located the issue yet. I just want to make sure you’re not wasting government money on a trip home.”
“How about you stop accusing me of crap?” I hiss back at him. “I have never and would never. I can’t believe that you would even insinuate that bullshit with me.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose as I try to calm my breathing now.
He loves to get me riled up, and I’m giving in to him with this.
“I’ll see you soon,” he practically purrs.
I hang up before he can reply. I grab the steering wheel and put my head on it as I try to breathe through my nose.
He may say that he didn’t reach out to the ag officer, but I have my doubts. Ronnie loves to try and control me, and the fact that I left and didn’t stay in the office like he wanted is probably burning his ass.
At least Wade has let up on his asshole-ness, because having to deal with my dad, the ag officer, and Ronnie at the same time is enough to put me over the edge.
I’m not sure that I’m cut out for any of this, at least in the lab, I don’t have to deal with anyone I don’t want to.
Chapter Sixteen
Wade
“Ithink it’s time to put that thing out to pasture,” Dad chuckles as he stands on the other side of the old John Deere tractor.
The rhythmic clang of metal against metal echoes in the cool night air as I work on the tractor’s stubborn engine. I’ve been at this for hours, my hands greasy and my patience wearing thin, but I’m not ready to quit.
“We don’t use it enough to warrant that expense.”
“You know best.” He shrugs. “Sometimes it’s best to take into account how much time you’re wasting fixing things, though.”
“I hear you.” I smile as I look up at him.
“Caleb on checks with Sutton again?”
“Nah, they’re done for the day already. Caleb said she had some errands to run. He’ll go with her tomorrow. Man, he was wound up about it when he got home. I had to force him to bed last night. He was up before me this morning to get his chores done.”
“That’s a good kid you got there.” He grins proudly.
“You and Mom definitely helped with that.”
“Nah.” He shakes his head. “I’m glad she’s so open to his help. He’s getting hands-on learning. I saw Bob Nance at the feed store this morning, and he was raving about the both of them. Kept telling me that I have a genius for a grandson. Don’t know why anyone would be surprised by that.”
I chuckle. “He’s definitely in his element.”
“I was so angry at Frank back then, I don’t know that I really understood how our tiff affected everyone else. I’m glad things are good with Sutton and you. Your mom is tickled pink to have her at the ranch, too.”
He leaves the sentence hanging there as if he wants to say more, to ask more, but he doesn’t. After a few minutes of watching me continue to cuss at the motor, he chuckles to himself and walks into the house.
I hear the crunch of gravel under tires. I glance up just in time to see the beam of headlights sweep across the barn. Sutton pulls up in a cloud of dust, slams the door, and practically leaps out, her boots hitting the ground with a force that sends a clear message: she’s pissed.
I lean back against the tractor, wiping my hands on a rag as I watch her march toward the old barn where she’s quarantined the herd. She’s all fire and purpose, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her shoulders tight with whatever’s eating at her.
“Well, this ought’a be interesting,” I mutter to myself.
She disappears into the barn, and I go back to the engine, though my attention isn’t really on the tractor anymore. I’m too curious about what’s got her so worked up. Sutton doesn’t do anything halfway; when she’s mad, the whole world knows it. And judging by the way she stomped in there, something big’s gone down.
