“Why do you want to be a vet?” Jessie asked. I reached under the table and squeezed her hand again. She was more apt to answer Jessie.
Addie shrugged. “The ranch could use a vet on location. It would cut down on expenses.”
“The ranch is doing fine with the local vet, Addie. If you don’t want to be a vet, why the hell are you going to school?” Carson barked.
“Well, I can’t just stay here and do nothing all day, can I?” she shouted, tossing her fork on her plate. She was on the verge of tears, but Addie was one of those women who cried more when she was angry than when she was sad.
“Addie, you don’t do nothing all day.” My own eyes widened when Tyson joined in. “Who would cook and clean if you’re taking care of animals all day?”
“What the fuck, Ty?” Addie glared at Tyson.
“That came out wrong.”
Garcia came to Ty’s rescue when he chuckled, then added, “I think what your brother means is that you do a lot of things here in the home that would need to be outsourced if you were working full time. Now, granted, that wouldn’t cost nearly as much as I am sure you pay in vet fees yearly. But it also wouldn’t have the same feel as someone who does it out of love.”
“Yea that’s what I meant!” Tyson agreed, pointing at Garcia. “Jessie apparently can’t cook,” he mumbled.
“Ty!” I growled.
“Grayson, he’s right.” Her hand squeezed my arm in an attempt to calm me down. It wasn’t working. “I can’t cook. I hate cooking. My mother tried to teach me, but it just never stuck.”
“Understatement,” Jamie scoffed with a grin.
Jessie narrowed her eyes at her brother before turning back to Addie. “If being at the ranch and cooking and cleaning and taking care of your brothers is what makes you happy right now, or forever, then that’s what you should do.”
“I need to contribute the way the others do,” she whispered.
“Addie, you are contributing,” Carson insisted. “You think these yahoos would eat this good without you? And you know they won’t clean the damn house.”
Addie smiled, and I put my arm around Jessie, pulling her close so I could kiss her temple. I was thankful she had brought this to my attention.
“Addie, drop out of school if that’s what you want to do.”
“Yeah, come to the dark side, baby sister.” Hudson grinned. “It’s lonely being the only college dropout.”
Hudson might joke about walking away from college, but I knew something had happened. It wasn’t just our parents’ death. Now wasn’t the time to ask about that, though.
“Okay. If you really mean it.”
“I really mean it, Addie.” We shared a smile, and conversation returned to lighter topics, until Tyson brought up my horse.
“Jessie, you’ve spent some time getting to know the hands. Have you found the man you spoke to?”
“What man?” Garcia asked.
Jessie explained about the man in the barn who yelled at her. “I have not. But the thing that bothers me most is that he got in and out of the barn without anyone seeing him.”
“Maybe he’s a ghost,” Tyson offered with a sneer.
“Are you callingmi sobrinaa liar?” Garcia asked, his voice dropping a few octaves.
Tyson’s head popped up, and his face paled as if he’d forgotten Jessie’s uncle was there and that he was the head of the cartel. It didn’t go unnoticed that Dario, Jessie’s father, didn’t speak much when his older brother was around.
“No one checked the trapdoor?” Pops asked.
Everyone at the table turned to stare at my grandfather. “What trapdoor?” I asked.
“The one in the barn.”
