Chapter One
“Momma, no. It’s Cowboy Christmas. The middle of the damn season. I don’t have time to come home.”
“Don’t you cuss at me, son. And you can come home after the weekend is over. You won Denver this year, and you placed third in the all-around in Houston. That gets you into the NFR no matter what.”
Cam clenched his jaw, holding in the string of curses that wanted to pop out. There were a lot of disadvantages to his mom being an old rodeo wife, dammit. She knew all.
“But I’m having a damn good season, Momma. I’m sorry Mitch is laid up, but I don’t have the time.”
Not only did he not have time, but he just didn’t fucking care. Mitchell Gonzales had people—friends there in town.
Hell, Cam had how many brothers and brothers-in-law who could go and help? Tons. They didn’t need his happy ass.
“Son, that man has got daughters under the age of twelve. One of them is just fixing to start kindergarten. They are just little girls. They need help.”
“Well, Momma, I’m not the one who got his wife pregnant.” In fact, if he and Mitch had stayed together, the chances of them having babies would have been zero.
Zero.
That hadn’t happened though, had it?
“Son, I’m going to pluck you bald-headed.” Momma was building up a head of steam now, her voice rising. “I did not ask you whether or not those little girls were your responsibility. What I said was the man has a dead wife, three little girls, and a broken back. The least you could do is?—"
Oh, he didn’t think so. “Momma, do not yell at me.”
“Fine. Just because I know I raised you better.”
He rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. “Momma, there’s an entire town of people there. I’m working.”
“You’re playing in the damn roping pen. Do not bullshit me! Leanne, come and talk to your brother. He’s being stubborn!”
He heard a rustling and a bunch of clearing of throats, and then Leanne’s more modulated tones hit his ear. “Hey, Bubba.”
“You talk some sense into her. There are a zillion relatives who could go help Mitch. You don’t need me.”
“You know this has less to do with Mitch and more to do with the fact that she misses you and wants you to come home. Susan’s fixin’ to leave for Mesa State in August.”
Leanne’s logic didn’t make him feel any better. “Sister, there are seven of us. Seven. She has five children there at her beck and call. Five children. Eight if you include in-laws. And how many grandchildren? There’s got to be at least…”
“Fourteen. My Elizabeth was number fourteen.”
He shook his head. Then he sighed and asked the question he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to. “So, what happened to Mitch?”
“He was working on a roof, fell off, broke two bones in his back.”
He winced. “That sucks.”
“Yeah. It took a little while for anybody to find him, and?—”
“What about his family? His wife’s family?”
“They both were disowned for being queer, then they got married and when everyone wanted to make nice again, they told them to fuck off. It was great.”
“Whoa.” That would have taken a lot for Mitch. He’d loved his folks dearly, and to just walk away? Damn.
“Yeah, it gets better. Mitch’s mom ended up getting early-onset Alzheimer’s, Brett ended up driving toward Leadville and killing them both.”
His eyes went wide. “What? You are not serious.”
