Page 27 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

“Thanks, Bird.” They headed inside.

“I’ll always have your back. I guess I need to find a new wingman.” As they walked past the two-story gathering space, heading for the dining area, she said, “Since you’re off the market, maybe I’ll work on finding Dwight a woman.” Dwight Cornwall was a retired navy commander and a Dark Knight. He’d worked at the ranch since Doc was a teenager.

“Maybe you can lay off your matchmaking missions, since they never seem to work.”

“Where have you been? Sasha and Ezra would never have gotten together if I didn’t push her to kiss him.”

“I don’t even want to know,” he said as they walked into the dining area.

Laughter and conversation rang out from around three large farmhouse-style tables and the buffet, where people were filling their plates and chatting. Between Doc’s family, the men and women who worked and lived on the ranch, and the clients who were going through their programs, nearly every seat was spoken for. Doc couldn’t remember a time his family hadn’t eaten a meal with the people they worked and lived with. This was all he knew, and after the summer he’d lost Juliette, it had become his saving grace. This place, these people, his family, was all he’d ever wanted.

Until last night.

Juliette had claimed such a big part of him when they were younger, he’d felt like a piece of himself was missing ever since. As overjoyed as he was that she was back and they had a shot at a second chance, he couldn’t shake the feeling that another piece of himself was missing. But while he’d always known exactly what Juliette’s missing piece looked and felt like, this new missing piece was elusive. Like a shadow, undefined yet present. Leaving him unsettled and desperate to fill in the blanks, aching to spread his wings and gather his son and Juliette beneath them, so nobody could ever hurt them again.

“Who missed me?” Birdie called out, drawing him from his thoughts.

Several people shouted greetings, Gus’s chirpy voice rising above the rest. “Birdie!” He ran over and threw his arms around her. “Did you bring me any chocolate?”

“I sure did.” She handed Gus a chocolate, and he tugged her over to the table where Sasha, Ezra, Dare, Billie, Cowboy, and Sully were sitting with some of the ranch hands.

Tiny looked over at Doc and lifted his chin in a silent question. Any news?

Doc shook his head, and his father gave a curt nod.

Doc headed up to the buffet and grabbed a plate and a bowl, stepping into line beside his mother, who was perusing her options. Dwight never failed to make something for everyone. Tonight they had beef-and-sausage chili, homemade biscuits, vegetarian lasagna, and an array of salads and other vegetables.

“Hi, sweetheart,” his mother said with a compassionate smile. She looked pretty in a green blouse and jeans. “How are you holding up? Any word from Juliette?”

“Not yet.” He put some chili in his bowl.

“They have a lot to talk about. It could take all night before you hear something.”

He looked at her with new eyes. She had been there for him through his roughest times and shittiest attitudes, had taken his late-night phone calls when he was at his wit’s end over one thing or another during college and vet school, and had never once made him feel bad about unloading on her. She had a knack for listening and for easing him off the ledge without pushing or preaching. It was that innate ability that drew the truth from him now. “The wait is killing me. I want to be there for them, and I can’t if I’m not physically with them.”

“I understand why you feel that way, but giving Juliette the space she’s asked for is being there for them. The hardest things in life are the ones we can’t control, and Juliette has had to deal with more than her share, and from what you’ve said, it doesn’t sound like she’s had anyone other than Hazel to help her through in a very long time.”

“And that relationship was tainted by her father.” That truth tasted bitter.

“That’s right. I’m sure a big part of Juliette would love nothing more than to hand over tough conversations like the one she and Lucas are dealing with and let you handle it. But it sounds like she’s too strong of a mama bear to do that, which is a good thing. Parenting is hard, sweetheart, but as difficult as this is for you, it’s even harder for them.”

“I know, and I hate that, too.”

She put some lasagna and a biscuit on her plate. “I’d like to throttle her father for the crap he pulled.”

“Throttling is too good for that bastard.” He grabbed a biscuit, but he didn’t think he could stomach anything. As they stepped away from the buffet, he asked the question that had been eating away at him. “I remember what it was like to be a teenager. Those were confusing years, and sometimes anger would come out of nowhere. What if it’s been too long? What if I never get a fair shot with Lucas?”

“Oh, honey. With patience, understanding, and love, there’s always a way. It might have felt like your anger came out of nowhere, but it didn’t. It came from thinking you knew best and wanting to do whatever you wanted, rather than what you had to do. That’s typical teenage behavior. Lucas’s world is going to be turned upside down. He may not want to hear the truth right now, but one day he will, and when he does, that’ll be your chance to show your son that what that awful man did is not how we treat our own.”

“I hope I get that chance. What if I fuck it up?”

“You’ve never messed up anything that you cared about.”

“Yes, I did. When I saw Juliette’s engagement announcement, I believed it. I should’ve known she’d been forced into marrying someone else. I should have fought harder.”

“Do not fool yourself into believing that. We were all given those facts, and we all believed them. We were grossly deceived. And I know you, sweetie. You won’t screw this up.”

He wasn’t so sure. “I know nothing about parenting.”