"Drake, you've been the one so tore up about your father. We just had that talk not so long ago. I know you love Joey, but can you handle the fact that her family was responsible for your father's death?"
Drake's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that his mother was asking him that at all, especially in front of Joey. "Are you serious?"
Joey cleared her throat. "It's a legit question. I don't know how I'd feel if I knew your family had killed my mother."
"You had nothing to do with it," Drake retorted. "You weren't there. Hell, we knew more about it than you did. Of course I'm not going to blame you."
Joey fingered the pendant. "Should I take this off now?"
He pulled her close. "No, sweetheart. Your father gave that to you. You wear it as long as you want. I realize now why I was so obsessed with my father's death. It was because I was missing something in my own life. You. And now that I have you to love and to love me, I don't have that hatred in my soul anymore that led me to feeling responsible for what happened."
She kissed him. "I love you."
Vinia hurried over and group hugged both of them. "Welcome to the family."
Colton and Sarah walked in at that moment and stopped short. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the idol sitting on the counter. "Oh my God. That's it."
Drake snickered. "Captain Obvious much?"
Sarah ran a finger across it. "This is really it. Our ticket home. They have to let us back in."
Vinia shrugged. "They don't have to, and I'm not sure I want to go back after the way they treated us."
"I have to go." Sarah spun around and headed for the door.
"Whoa," Drake stopped her. "Where are you going?"
"Out." With that final word, she disappeared out the door.
Colton snorted. "Reminds me of old times where she'd be gone for days at a time."
Joey watched Sarah storm across the yard. "Where is she going?"
Drake sighed. "Who knows. She's so weird."
"Hopefully she knows what she's doing and won't be gone long. I need the bread baked," Vinia lamented. "I don't want to do it myself."
Drake and Joey walked to Percy's trailer. "Sorry about the mess," Drake apologized as she stepped over the broken desk. "Cole and I weren't very careful when we were trying to figure out where he took you."
"It's okay. I know where he kept all of his financial stuff." She pulled a black trunk out from the storage closet. "Well, I didn't expect this."
Drake peeked over her shoulder. The entire bottom of the large trunk was filled with stacks of bills. "That's a lot of money."
"It is." She sat back on her heels. "What do we do? Report him missing? Just continue on without him? We're supposed to be Denver in a day or so. There's enough here for the purses, but how long can we carry on?"
"What if you just stay here?"
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
Drake sat down on the floor with her. He was winging it because he had no idea what the future held, but all they could do was take it one step at a time. "I don't know what will happen if Ma decides to go back home. There's a lot of bad blood between her and the powers that be. But we still have the ranch. You can keep the rodeo here and run it yourself. We can finagle it that Percy sold it to you or left it to you. A little forgery never hurt anyone."
She giggled, and it was a sound that he wanted her to make all the time. "I like that idea. For now. We'll go do the show in Denver, and then come back here. We'll figure it out after that." She stood and held out her hand. "Come on."
They rounded everyone up in the main tent where they had shared so many meals. "So," Joey said at the end of her announcement that she was taking over the rodeo, "if you want to stick with me, we'll be making right here our home base. I know some of you have homes elsewhere, and please don't feel like you have to stay. I understand."
Drake had already told Joey that he could fly her back and forth to her mom any time she wanted. It was a matter of minutes with his speed. And she knew that Marcella was welcome at the ranch any time.
He stood up and moved next to Joey. "And just to show you how dedicated we are to making sure you guys are taken care of and keeping this rodeo active, I need to put a little formality into play."
