Page 27

Bennett laughed as his brother’s smile fell.

“Take these to the table,” she ordered Bennett.

He obeyed, nearly losing the plate when he tripped over Gander. “Out of here, bud. I’ll sneak you a cut later when Grandma’s not looking.”

Once they were seated, Grace eased into the night by extolling the good work the brothers had done on the barn cleanup. High praise from their mom didn’t come easy, so when she bestowed it, she meant it. Bennett laughed when she barely took a breath between her delight over the new barn doors and diving into Jax’s habit of fishing and leaving the administrative ranch duties to his older brother.

“You’re more than capable of working with the numbers as much as you do the animals.”

“Your turn,” Bennett teased his brother under his breath.

“But he likes this kind of stuff,” Jax said. “I do it to help out, but it doesn’t mean I love it.”

“Careful, Jax. You’re starting to sound like Matt,” Bennett teased.

“Except who’s here actually doing the work and who wandered off never to be heard from except at Christmas?”

Bennett’s lips twisted into a scowl. There were three people he knew who fit that description. Matt, who his brother was likely referring to, Jenny, his ex-girlfriend and the only other woman he’d dated after Maggie, and Maggie herself. Seemed the people he loved were always gonna leave when the goings got tough out here. And in the ranching business, tough days were as common as spring winds.

“Jackson Howard, you hush. We don’t talk poorly about Matt at the table. Nor do we mention she-who-shall-not-be-named.” It went without clarification that Grace didn’t mean Maggie.

Jenny had crushed Bennett’s heart when it was already shattered. Grace could forgive a lot, but hurting her sons wasn’t something one came back from easily. The only reason Maggie escaped Grace’s wrath was because of her youth and connection to the family.

That, and Bennett was pretty sure his mom blamed him for asking her such an important question right before he took off to pursue his own dreams. She wasn’t wrong there. If he could go back and do it over—hell, a lot of things would top that list.

“Shoot. Sorry, Bennett. I didn’t mean anything by that.”

Bennett shrugged and plated himself a healthy portion of grilled veggies and a rib eye. “It’s fine. Not like you’re saying anything I don’t already know. But talk to me about your role here. ’Cause I just figured you needed breaks every now and then. I didn’t realize there isn’t any joy in this work for you.”

Jax’s mouth was full, but that didn’t stop him from jumping in with a reply. While he talked, Bennett cut off a sliver of medium-rare meat and slipped it under the table to Gander, who waited at his feet. The dog snatched it up.

“I like being outside enough, but I could skip the day-to-day admin stuff for the operation. I’d rather ride fences and shore up the property lines or maneuver the cattle from one field to the next than all the MBE stuff.”

Bennett let that simmer while he enjoyed a few bites of his hot-off-the-grill dinner.

“So, lemme get this straight. You like ranching but not managing a ranch.”

Jax shrugged, his wavy, long blond hair brushing against his shoulders. They’d looked so similar back when they were teens—now they couldn’t be more different in appearance and countenance.

“Pretty much sums it up.”

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“You’re turning this place around, no thanks to—” He shot their mom a classic half-smile that worked as a half apology. “No thanks to certain people who weren’t around to help.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure how that looks, if I’m being honest. But I’ll give it some thought.”

Jax took a long pull from his bottle of local beer. “Sure. Whatever.”

It wasn’t whatever to Bennett, though. Jax leaving meant a pretty damn dynamic shift in the way he did business. It also added one more person to the list of who’d left him behind.

“Okay, now that Jax is sorted, Bennett, we need to talk.”

Bennett swallowed a groan. Maybe Jax was right, and they should’ve skipped this little family dinner.

“If it’s about the wedding and how you want to order BTM beef, I’m all ears. I’ll even chat with you about helping coordinate the event. But if you want to talk about Maggie—”

“I’ll thank you for not telling me who and what I can discuss at my dinner table. Now, tell me about her. Everything you know.”