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“There’s financial aid available,” he pointed out.

“Great. I know about as much about how to get that as I do about going to the moon.”

He hadn’t really thought about that before. But he supposed she was making an interesting point. Thatthat sort of thing was only helpful if you knew how to navigate the system. And Bix made it very clear that she didn’t. That her dad had put her in a position where she knew nothing about the system, and was in fact barely in it.

“I could help get you some information on that if you want.”

She waved her hand. “It’s not necessary.”

“Okay.”

But he decided that he was going to anyway.

“And I would get to go eat,” he said.

She looked happy about that, and they walked out of the barn, and everybody was already making their way down the tables, filling their plates.

Bix started with pie. He appreciated that about her. She was unorthodox, even when she was being human. “Dessert first?”

She shrugged. “I don’t play by the rules.”

“No. Of course you don’t.”

His family naturally gravitated together; he knew that they had a reputation for being insular. And maybe they were. Most people would say that they were assholes. But he didn’t think that was true at all. Their dad had been an asshole. And they understood each other in a very particular way. He thought it was one of the more amazing things about his family that they had banded together and made something that looked functional in light of what they had grown up with. He supposed that was true of everybody on the ranch.

The Garrett family patriarch had been weak more than anything else. A charming man who was ableto get women to procreate with him, but couldn’t get them to stay, because he was just such a neglectful, unpleasant son of a bitch. Seamus McCloud was infamous. He had been cruel. He had beaten his wife; he had beaten his children. He had very nearly killed his oldest son, Gus. For years, the rumor had been that Gus had actually killed his father, and that was how they had finally taken control of McCloud’s Landing. But Daughtry knew that wasn’t the truth. They all did now. Because his wife, Alaina, had made it very clear that she didn’t want her husband being tarred with the same brush as his father.

Fia’s father had simply abandoned them. He had been like the light version of the Kings’ dad. He had scammed a neighboring rancher when he’d been vulnerable, but luckily, that guy had been able to land on his feet. Some of the people that Daughtry’s father had swindled hadn’t been so lucky. Like Dan Patrick, who had gotten embroiled in his shady practices, and had gotten shot trying to go to collect a debt from someone else.

Denver, Fia, Sawyer and Gus had all banded together to make this when their parents had left. And if the Kings stuck a little closer to one another, that was just because they were making the most out of what they had.

“What do you think, Bix?” Denver asked.

“Amazing,” she said, taking another piece of pie and eating a couple of bites.

She looked down the table longingly.

“Go off and get more food,” said Daughtry.

She did, a near hop in her step as she went back toward the tables.

“I’m surprised she’s still around,” said Justice.

“Me too,” said Daughtry honestly.

“She looks good,” said Denver. “Much better than she did when she got here.”

“She looked like a half-grown piglet,” said Landry.

“Mean,” Fia whispered.

“But true,” said Arizona. “It isn’t her fault. She was clearly going through a really hard time.”

“I think she’d like to get to know you better,” he said, directing that at Arizona and Fia. “She told me she’s never had friends before.”

Even Arizona softened at that. “Oh. Poor thing.”

“Don’t look at her like that,” said Daughtry. “She’s liable to scratch your eyes out. She’s too prickly to want anybody’s pity.” It was strange, because he pitied her more often than he didn’t, but he also wanted to protect her from that in some regards. He couldn’t quite explain it.