“You don’t want to talk to him?” I ask Jade, feeling the need to press. Something doesn’t feel right. She seems off, and she has the entire time since I’ve been here.
She shrugs, getting off the bar stool and avoiding my gaze. “He’s only calling briefly to talk to Suzy. I don’t need to talk to him.”
I watch my sister for a moment, eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”
Throwing me a look from across the kitchen, her eyebrows clash together like my question caught her off guard. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Grady.” She blows out a heavy breath.
“Okay, but…you know you can talk to me, right? If you weren’t fine.”
“Why wouldn’t I be fine?”
Holding up my hands, I reply, “I’m just saying.”
Her eyes soften around the corners. “Well, thank you, but I’m?—”
“Fine,” I finish for her. “Yeah, you said that.”
Jade rolls her eyes and breathes out a laugh, flipping me off before leaving the kitchen.
I laugh too, but can’t help feeling like there’s something she’s not telling me.
2
Boone Stanton
My body aches after the back-to-back rodeos I did the last two nights. With every year that passes, competing only gets harder on my body. Bull riding isn’t exactly a breeze, but I feel it much more the morning after now than I did in my early twenties. It doesn’t help that we all stayed up way too fucking late and drank way too much last night, celebrating how well everyone did. Riding the high of consecutive wins will always bring out the rowdy in a group of cowboys.
After I popped a couple of ibuprofens for my throbbing head and sore back, and downed a bottle of water, I packed all my shit up and hit the road this morning. We all get to head home for the week, since our next few competitions are there. It’s the beginning of July now, and I haven’t been home since the middle of May. To say I’m excited to be home, to sleep in my own bed, and see my daughter would be an understatement.
Not having Jade and Suzy on the road with me this season has been weird. On the one hand, it’s been nice to not have todeal with the bickering and the fighting that always seems to come with being in such close quarters with Jade, but on the other, not seeing Suzy in person has fucking sucked. I’ve video chatted with her most days, but that’s not the same. Having her come on the road with me has always been fun. Sure, when she was a baby, it was a little challenging, but the older she gets and the more excited she is at getting to watch me compete is something I look forward to. I always knew her coming with me on the road wouldn’t last forever, though. Next year, she’ll be starting kindergarten, so it wouldn’t be feasible after that anyway.
Driving down the gravel road that leads to my house, my eyes land on a black Hyundai parked in front of my garage.Grady’s car.Annoyance flairs in my chest as I park beside it and climb out. I’ve got nothing against Jade’s younger brother. In fact, I’d even consider him somewhat of a friend, but she offered up our house to him without even talking to me about it. Then I had to hear the news from Suzy when it should’ve come from Jade. With the state of our relationship right now, the last thing I want to do is put on a fake happy face in front of her family for the sake of keeping our shit a secret. I’m only home for a week and all I really want to do is relax for the limited down time I have.
The front door to the house swings open before I even make it up the last step, and tiny bare feet slap against the porch as Suzy runs over to me. “Daddy!” Her little body collides with mine, arms wrapping around my legs. “You’re home!”
I bend down, swoop her up, and then walk us inside, shoving the door shut behind me with the heel of my boot. “Missed you, sweet girl.”
“Missed you too,” she murmurs back.
“Where’s your mom?”
“She’s out back with Uncle Grady.”
We move through the house and out the backdoor, where I find Jade and Grady sitting on the edge of the pool with their feet in the water and Mabel playing out in the yard. Jade glances over her shoulder as she hears us approach. Dark sunglasses shield her eyes, but she gives me a forced smile.
“Welcome home,” she offers, standing up and brushing off her backside with her hands.
Adjusting Suzy so she’s situated on my hip, I say, “Thanks.” Then I turn my attention to Grady, who’s now also standing. “Hey, Grady.”
He offers me a smile that looks less forced than his sister’s. “Hey, man. Bet you’re happy to be home.”
“You have no idea,” I mutter. And then, on second thought, add, “Well, you might, considering college and all that.”
Grady chuckles. “Yeah, kind of.”
