“You got fired from your job,” he snapped. “Word around town is that you couldn’t hack it.”
“Is that what we’re going by? The word around town?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him as my temper flared.
“Jack,” Mom whispered to my dad. “Maybe this isn’t the time.”
He huffed out a laugh. “It never is. It wasn’t the time when he threw away all that money on law school. It wasn’t the time when he decided to pack up and leave everything he knew behind. And it sure as hell isn’t the time now that he’s come crawling back with his tail between his legs!”
“And you wonder why I didn’t want to live with you?” I laughed. “You couldn’t just be proud of me, could you? I was the best in my law class. I was hired by a top firm!”
“And you’re here again, right back where you started,” he seethed. “You had a job here, a ranch that needed you!”
“You didn’t need me! You have your ranch hands for that. Jesus, Dad, the only reason you need me around is so you have a whipping boy!”
“Ryder!” Mom gasped.
“You know, maybe if just once I felt like you were actually proud of a single thing I did, I might have come home more often.”
“Don’t blame that on me,” he snapped. “You broke your mother’s heart when you refused to come home. Maybe one of these days, you’ll take some responsibility for your actions.”
“I have!” I shouted, pissed that he was bringing this up again. “I went to law school. I’m a lawyer, Dad. A damn good one!”
“And you’re out of a job,” he hissed. “Big surprise there. Couldn’t even keep the one good thing you had in your life. And what about Bella?”
“Bianca,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We broke up.”
He huffed out a laugh. I should have seen it coming. I never could do any right by him. You screw up one time, and that’s all it takes for your family to lose all faith in you.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Look, as great as this family reunion is, maybe we can pick it up another time.”
“Ryder,” Mom whispered, her voice cracking as she stepped to me. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. If there was one person I could never resist, it was my mom. I’d do anything for her. Even if that meant giving in when my dad was being an ass.
“I’m sorry. I just need a few days to adjust to being home.”
“Okay,” she said, stepping back with a small smile on her face. “Just let me know when you’ll be over. I’ll make a big feast.”
“You got it.”
The moment she turned around, my smile dropped. It was just Dad and me, and that was never a good thing. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything else as he walked out the door. Shutting it, I leaned back against it and sighed.
“Why did I come home?”
3
ELLIE
“Come on, big fella,”I grunted, hoisting Sawyer’s arm over my shoulder.
Normally, I wasn’t up for drunken gymnastics, but Josie was staying until close with JR, and it was clear that Sawyer couldn’t make it home alone.
“Big fella,” he laughed, but it stopped almost immediately. “That means I’m a big loser.”
“It does not,” I said, trying to maneuver his body to point toward the house. At least it wasn’t winter. There was no possibility of slipping on ice today.
“Big is what they use when they wanna make a guy feel this tall,” he said, thrusting his arm into the air high above his head. We nearly toppled backward from the sudden movement, but luckily, I steadied him.
“Big is a word that describes you,” I grunted, tugging him forward.
