Ridge turns to me suddenly, and I brace for impact. Instead, he grabs my shirt by the fistful and shakes. “She left to visit her parents! What kind of bitch doesn’t even call and just sends divorce papers?”
I want to answer that one because most of us know exactly what kind of bitch Tiff is, but now’s not the time. She made my brother feel guilty for all the time he spent keeping the family ranch going, as if she didn’t know his responsibilities when they got married. Then she made him feel less-than because he didn’t come from family money like her. When asked to help in an emergency, she’d find half a dozen excuses to get out of it. Don’t even get me started on not being able to give her a simple nickname without her biting our heads off. She just…didn’t fit in.
“She got some fancy lawyer.”
Now that’s got my attention. Is Tiff gonna try to take Ridge to the cleaners? This ranch is our family legacy. I don’t know the particulars of whose name is on the deed for the land or the running of the business, but if that woman tries to take what’s been in our family for generations, she’s going to have to havemore than a fancy lawyer. We’ll all fight tooth and nail to keep what’s ours.
“Women,” Ridge spits. “Run, little brother. Don’t get mixed up with ’em. They’ll rob you blind and leave you humiliated.” He shakes his head, eyes wet. “Gave her ten years of my life and all I have are these papers.” He jabs his finger into the pile of papers on the ground between us.
“Were you happy for any of those ten years?” I’ve wanted to ask him that since the day they got married. He’s never seemed happy with Tiff, but it was never my place to point that out.
“Not sure I know what happy feels like,” he muses, staring hard at the dying flames. “Momma died. I took over the ranch because Pops was a mess. Then I married Tiffany Grace because we’d been dating for four years, and it was time to shit or get off the pot. I spent most days trying to convince her to stay on a dying ranch in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma.” He snorts. “I’m forty-five years old and not sure I ever had a day of happiness. How fuckin’ pathetic am I?”
Pretty sure that’s rhetorical, so I don’t say a thing.
His hand whacks me on the arm. “You got whiskey on you?”
I shake my head. “Nah, man. I didn’t know we were having a breakdown today.”
I spent my morning getting ready for my grand gesture at the fair. Not that I want to tell Ridge about that. Then again, misery loves company. Hell, he may not even remember this conversation tomorrow when he sobers up.
“I told Shelby I love her today.”
Ridge’s expression doesn’t change. “No shit?”
I shrug. “Yeah. At the fair.”
“And?”
“And…she didn’t say anything back.”
Ridge winces. “Fuck. That ain’t good.”
“Yeah. That’s what I was thinking.”
He shakes his head and sighs. “Man, you had it good too. Best friends for years. Why’d you gotta go and fall for her and ruin things?”
My head falls until I’m staring at the dirt. “I don’t know what to do now. She probably hates me. At the very least, I’ve made things uncomfortable. Maybe I should do the public breakup thing we always planned on. Let her move back to her place. I can’t imagine she wants to stay with me and Ryder, knowing how I feel.”
Ridge just stares at the smoke drifting up into the sky. Thankfully the temperature has come down as the sun sets and the flames die down. The fire is mostly gone, just a smoldering pile of ash left in its wake. There’s a metaphor in there I don’t want to analyze too closely right now.
“Least you didn’t give her your last name and share your finances. Your house.”
I wince, remembering how I offered to give Shelby a baby. That’s a hell of a complication. Good thing she was smarter than me and never took me up on that.
“I always knew Shelby would be the one woman to bring me to my knees.”
Ridge grunts. “Yeah, we all saw it. She’s the only woman who ever meant something to you beyond the physical.”
That just makes the pain in my chest ache that much more. We sit side by side for another hour. The sun starts to sink into the horizon, giving our land that golden hour glow that always takes my breath away. I could never leave this place like Houston.
Then again, now that Shelby’s broken my heart, I might need to take a temporary trip. Any ol’ place to get away from her for a bit. I just need some time to drop this stupid love thing. I can get back to my free-spirited ways, right? I just need a trip to thebeach or something. Some sun, sand, and tanned bikini bodies. Surely that’ll do the trick.
When my ass is officially numb from sitting in the dirt, I stand up and brush myself off. “We can live without ’em, right?”
Ridge grunts, standing up and shaking his legs out. He sways once but catches himself. “Got no other choice.”
I nod once, then drop the subject. “Want a ride back?”
