Beau looks at his phone. “What time is that meeting?”
“Two o’clock. Can you still come?”
“Yeah, I don’t need to get down to the fire station until six.”
Jace downs half the sandwich and talks around his food. “What meeting?”
I scrub my face. “The one where I set aside my pride and beg Harlan Calhoun for a loan.”
He stops chewing. “Are things that bad? I thought with Beau moonlighting as a firefighter, we were doing okay.”
Leaning over, I grab the damn letter from the bank. “Between Dad’s nursing home bill, that second mortgage no one knew about, and my alimony payments, I’m drowning. Shady Pines was gonna sue my ass if I didn’t pay the rest of Dad’s nursing home balance.” It pains me to admit I can’t even buy my boys clothes this summer. Hopefully Amber will use the money I give her for the kids and not her nails. “Dad’s life insurance should’ve covered everything, but he canceled it.” I unfold the paper I stared at half the night. “We have thirty days before the bank forecloses.”
“Shit. Are you serious? You said things were bad, but you always come through.” Jace reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a few hundred bucks. “It’s all I have, but it’s yours.”
“Thanks, bro, but I need more than that. Keep your money. You earned it.”
He slouches in his chair. “Guess this means no ranch rodeos this fall.”
“Sorry. Can’t afford it.” Sure, we might be able to win, but ranch rodeos are more about bragging rights than payouts like the regular rodeo. And I can’t justify the expense of entering.
“Damn. I was really looking forward to kicking the McAllisters’ asses again.”
That’s always a highlight. “Maybe next year.”
“What about Zey? Is he coming home now? Can he pitch in again?”
Meaning, is our brother Isaiah returning now that Dad has passed? “I talked to him last week. He’s in some hellhole in Ecuador doing God knows what. Probably teaching people how to BASE-jump off cliffs into a kiddie pool. But he’s in the middle of some ‘personal crisis’ he was too cagey to explain and says he needs a little time to work through some red tape. Maybe he’ll be back before Christmas. Except we need the money now.”
I can’t be pissed at Isaiah. He’s pitched in financially more times than I care to remember. Considering our father disowned him, I’m just grateful he didn’t disappear altogether.
Jace makes another sandwich. “Too bad Mav has one more year of college. If he could get drafted, we’d be set.”
Our youngest brother Maverick is a hell of a football player. He’ll be a senior at Lone Star State this fall. “I don’t wanna take his money either, but yeah, a little liquidity wouldn’t hurt. We could pay him back.”
“Why didn’t he go for the draft this year? I mean, the Broncos just won a national championship.”
“He needs his degree.” I take a swig of root beer that reminds me of my best friend Danny, and the thought of him only makes me feel worse. I don’t let myself think about his little sister, who I haven’t seen in years. I’m failing in all the ways that matter, and Paige is just a reflection of that. “No one is guaranteed shit in the NFL. At least with a degree, Mav will have options if the pros don’t work out for him.”
I went to college for a semester, but Dad was too drunk to watch my brothers and keep the ranch going without my help.Maybe I’d have more options too right now if I’d gotten that degree.
Jace grabs the letter from the bank and whistles. “Assuming we survive this, we’re gonna put Zey back on the title of the ranch, right?”
“Damn straight.” Fuck what my father wanted. He got us into this mess.
“So what’s the plan?” Beau asks as he finishes his lunch and balls up his napkin.
I shrug. “What’s that saying? Beg, borrow, or steal? I figure I’ll try the first two before I become an outlaw.”
Beau chuckles. “You mean you don’t wanna add to the rich Wild Heart history of outlaws and bandits?”
Jace snickers as he chomps on his sandwich. “You know Rhett loves rules too much to take a walk on the wild side.”
My rules kept my little brothers alive when they were growing up, but I don’t bother pointing this out. “Before our bank appointment, we need to stop by the McAllister place.”
Beau nods. “Hell yes, we do.”
Jace shoves the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. “I’m game, but what’s going on?”
