Page 4 of Colt

I love how it’s assumed that I’ll be the one to help. That fact has always grated on me. But tonight, it bothers me more than usual. Maybe because Mom’s clearly in a mood and is taking it out on me. I understand where she’s coming from. It’s her birthday, for crying out loud, and no one seems to give a shit.

Still hurts, though, being her chosen punching bag. I didn’t used to hate coming home. Now I do.

I clear the table, put the leftovers in the fridge, and pour myself and Mom some more wine. Only when the sink is empty and the dishwasher is running do I go sit on the couch across from Dad.

Collapse is the more apt word for the way I flop onto the cushions with an exhausted sigh. Closing my eyes, I stretch out my legs.

“You still haven’t answered my question about the interview,” he says.

I keep my eyes closed. Yes, Dad, because I was cleaning up from dinner. The one I helped make.

“Well…” I open my eyes. “Long story short, I just don’t think I belong in private equity.”

Dad gives me a look. “I thought you were set on landing at a PE firm. I was just bragging about you to my coworkers. They were so impressed you got all those interviews.”

It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes. Like impressing your coworkers is what’s important.

“But really, what are you going to do, then?” Mom appears in the family room, a laundry basket on her hip. She sits in a chair beside the coffee table and sets the basket down on the floor. “You do know you need to get a job.”

Exactly what I knew she’d say.

I let out a mirthless chuckle. “Of course I know I need to get a job. We’ve talked about this. That’s always been the plan.”

“The reminder can’t hurt.” Mom snaps a white undershirt straight before beginning to fold it. “We did pay through the nose to send you to all that school.”

As one of eight siblings—eight!—she never had the opportunity to go to college, much less graduate school. While I know she’s always wanted better for me, I also get why she’d be bitter about not having the opportunities I did.

“I’m trying my best.” It’s all I can think to say.

Dad sighs. “You have to get off the payroll, Lainey. Our payroll. It’s time you supported yourself.”

“I want that too, Dad. Believe me.”

I also really, really want to get the hell out of Fort Worth and back to Austin. But once I’m there…I mean, what do I do next?

“Welp.” Dad folds his hands over his stomach. “I might actually have a solution to your problem. A temporary one. But it’s something.”

I raise a brow. “Oh?”

“A client of mine—he’s been with me forever—owns a big-ass ranch down in Hill Country. They breed horses there.”

I blink again. “Horses? A ranch?” Now I’m laughing for real. “Dad, you know I’m not the least bit outdoorsy⁠—”

“Listen. He’s getting ready to retire. But before he does, he wants to rebrand the family ranch. New look, new logo, new website—the whole shebang, so that the ranch is in tip-top shape when he passes it down to his kids. I immediately thought of you, of course. But you were in the middle of your private equity interviews, so I haven’t said anything.”

My chest lifts, just a little. Okay. So I’d be doing my indoor thing for an outdoor-type client. Not ideal but not terrible either. It’d give me something to do at the very least.

Still, the idea of setting up camp in the middle of nowhere doesn’t excite me. Hill Country is only three hours from here, but it might as well be on another planet for how different it is from Fort Worth or Austin.

Then again, taking this job would give me a great excuse not to visit Mom and Dad for a couple months. Judging by how this particular trip is shaping up, I’d be saving myself some real headaches.

Dad lifts his fingers. “Like I said, it’s a temporary gig. Dale would bring you down to the ranch, all expenses paid. Room and board included. You’d do some research, come up with a few concepts, and then launch a new site. Honestly, sounds like easy money to me.”

“I’m listening,” I say slowly.

“Really, think about it this way: You’d be tackling an incredible project for an incredible ranching dynasty,” Dad continues. “You could really make an impact. Shake things up in that world. The Wallaces’ operation is enormous.”

“The Wallaces?” I furrow my brow. “I’ve never heard of them.”