Page 8 of Austin (The K9 Files #29)
“Ah, and that’ll just make Chris even angrier because an awful lot of kids around here have big stakes in large established ranches, and everybody knows everybody else’s business.
So the details of the families and how the money will go is fairly common knowledge.
So, if you were born into a family like this, generally you’ll stay with a family like this. ”
“In most cases, yes,” Jake conceded, with a nod.
“I’m not doing anything different by trying to keep my own ranch intact,” he declared.
“I know an awful lot of people might judge me for it, but I didn’t kick Chris out.
I offered him a place. He just doesn’t get to have it all.
” Jake shrugged. “None of us do, and that’s just life. ”
Austin woke the next morning bright and early.
He got out of bed, had a quick shower in the nearby bathroom, then headed downstairs to the kitchen.
He wasn’t exactly sure how to start his day, but he needed to get started on finding the War Dog, one way or another, and that meant going to town to make a few inquiries.
An ugly suspicion was already in the back of his head, but it would be a tough thing to even consider.
Last night’s scenario had opened up a whole pile of other options in terms of Cowboy, the War Dog.
As much as Austin didn’t want to contemplate those options, there really wasn’t a whole lot of choice when it came right down to it.
As he walked into the kitchen, he found Amie industriously frying up what looked to be pounds of bacon. He smiled and muttered, “That brings back memories.”
“Good,” she replied, without turning around. “I’m glad at least some of your memories are good.”
“Lots of my memories are good,” he murmured, studying her, aware that she didn’t sound great, as if she were at a breaking point. “I gather you didn’t get any sleep.”
She shook her head. “No, but that’s okay. I’ll have a nap later today.”
And that was likely a lie too, but he let it go because she was obviously still struggling with last night’s scenario. “Do you ever see him at all?”
“No,” she whispered. “He doesn’t come around anymore.”
“What about you? Do you go into town at all?”
“Not as often as I used to, and certainly not when he’s with that group.”
“Are you afraid of him?”
She turned to face Austin. “I don’t think so, but I’m not so sure I would give his friends the same pass.”
“Okay.” Austin admired the way that she broke that out. “That’s a good point. So, the others are not great for him, I gather?”
“No,” she agreed, her tone sharp, “they’re not a good influence at all.”
Austin had to smile because he wasn’t sure any mother ever thought anybody was a good influence on their children. However, with an already troubled son like Chris, she could be right. “I will head into town to talk to him.”
She froze and then turned around in shock. “Why?”
“Because I need to talk to him, just for my own peace of mind.”
She shook her head. “It’ll just make things worse.”
“I don’t see how,” Austin stated. “It must be pretty bad already if a conversation will make things worse. I used to get along with him, but I highly doubt he has any memories of me.”
“He does remember you because we were all upset when you left,” Amie replied, glancing around to see if her daughter was here.
“Right, and how did Chris take it?”
“He just laughed and said that Rox messed up.”
Austin smiled. “I always knew I liked Chris.”
She looked at him and laughed. It was awkward and sad, but it was a laugh. “He wasn’t the only one to tell her that,” she added. “We were all pretty upset about it.”
He ignored that subject. “So last night Jake talked about Chris living above a gas station. So whereabouts is that?”
She nodded. “I don’t know if you remember, but Carmichael has a gas station down just off the main street. You know, around the corner from Rubie’s.”
“Has Rubie’s still got pie?” he asked, frowning as he remembered the name.
Amie laughed. “Yes, Rubie’s still has the best pie in town,… outside of mine, of course,” she added.
“Yours is absolutely phenomenal,” Austin confirmed, “but I’m not against going in and seeing if theirs is still good.”
She shook her head. “You go do you,” she muttered. “I’m not sure I have the strength to do anything about any of this.”
“Not sure that you have to either,” Austin noted. “Let me talk to Chris and see what he has to say for himself.”
“Do you think he’ll even recognize you?” she asked him.
“I don’t know, but it’s a really good opening for me because I sure as hell recognized him in that truck last night,” he declared, with a smile. He poured himself some coffee and sat down at the table. “Is Jake gone?”
“Not yet. He’s out in the barn, setting up the day’s work, then wants to take a look where Chris was joy-riding to ensure that nothing was damaged, that none of the animals were injured out there.”
“Yeah, that would be a good thing,” Austin agreed, his tone hardening. “My talk would be a whole lot different if I thought Chris had hurt any of the cows.”
“There are also calves, and he likes to make them run,” she shared bitterly. “I didn’t raise that boy to do that. I just don’t know what went wrong.”
“That’s why I’m curious. I want to understand what went wrong. As Jake mentioned, if that talk of Chris’s inheritance is all there is to it, then Chris has got to think again because life doesn’t hand you ranches just because that’s what you want.”
She glanced nervously around. “And I didn’t tell him about his inheritance either,” she admitted, “so it would have blindsided him. It didn’t even occur to me.
I knew that Jake would keep Chris involved in the ranch to some degree.
I just didn’t think Chris was so gung-ho about the ranch.
It’s not his thing. Never really has been.
He’s much happier at the mechanic’s shop, I hear. ”
“Sounds as if it was probably an all-or-nothing deal in Chris’s mind somehow. It’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it?” she whispered, her shoulders hunching. “It sure feels like it is.”
“That’s human nature,” he pointed out, “but Chris was offered a sweet deal, with a place here, to live and to work, with a share in the whole ranch.”
“But it also meant working the ranch, and that’s not ever been something Chris was willing to do. All he ever wanted was the money that comes with it.”
“That’s too bad, isn’t it?” Austin muttered, staring at her. “We all want things we can’t have, but that doesn’t mean we can just turn around and take from others because we don’t like the options.” Austin frowned, as Amie looked older than he remembered.
She continued. “I’ve got to admit, since you left, there’s been some pretty rough days.”
He winced at that. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “And I’m sorry for any of the extra pain I caused you.”
She smiled. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry you thought you had to leave, but I get it.
I’m married too, and not all of it is easy, and ultimatums?
… They just make everything way worse,” she stated.
“My daughter had a lot of growing up to do, but I will tell you this. She has done a ton of growing up in the meantime.”
“Good.” Austin nodded. “That should make her all the happier in the end.”
Amie sighed, looked at him, and said, “If you do talk to Chris, I know you don’t want to tell him that I love him, but I really do.”
“Of course you do,” he said. “He’s your son, but he’s also a flawed human being, like all of us, and he’s messing up big-time, and that crap has got to stop.”
“But if you go in there like that, it’ll likely piss him right off, and he’ll get even angrier, and then he’ll be out here to cause all kinds of trouble,” she whispered. “I don’t think I can handle that.”
“You’ll handle it,” he declared, “just like you’ve handled everything else, with grace, compassion, and love.
If he’s not willing to accept any of Jake’s generosity or your love or Rox’s friendship, you can’t do anything about it, except to give him the space to deal with his own choices.
… However, if he’s breaking the law, he will have to pay for that. ”
She studied him for a moment and asked, “Ever think about going into law enforcement?”
He laughed. “I thought about it a lot, trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life now,” he admitted, “but I can’t say I’ve come up with any firm answers.”
“I don’t quite understand,” she said. “Aren’t you working for the War Department?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but this will be the only job I do for them.”
“Oh. What will you do after that?”
“I need to figure that out, but I haven’t gotten there just yet. I’m looking at options right now. I can always sign up for a desk job.”
“I can’t imagine you behind a desk,” she muttered, her eyes widening.
“Not sure I can either, but we all can do things we didn’t think we could,” he replied. “It depends on the options and what is really important to you.”
She nodded slowly. “I hear you there,” she murmured, “and I really appreciate what you’re doing here.”
“I’m not doing anything yet,” he pointed out, with a smile. “I’m here looking for a War Dog that’s in desperate need of some help, apparently. Other than that, I am heading home afterward.”
Amie winced. “That is your choice, but I still think you need to know that she’s not the same person.”
“Good,” he noted, “and neither am I.” With that, he dug in to a large plate of breakfast, looking up a few minutes later as Rox walked in. He glanced at her and asked, “Sleep well?”
She hesitated, then nodded with a shrug. “Well enough,” she muttered.
He smiled. “ Well enough , considering your world has just been flipped?”
She gave him a wry smile. “Something like that, yeah.”
“What do you know about your brother’s friends?”
“Enough to know that they are not people I want to hang out with,” she stated.
“I think one had a record as a juvenile, but I don’t know for sure.
” She waved her hand as she sat down to a full breakfast herself.
“A fair bit of drugs and booze are involved with that bunch,” she added, with a shrug.
“Small towns, you know? You can get into trouble pretty quick.”
“But not you,” he noted, with a hint of amusement in his tone.
“Oh, I got into plenty of trouble,” she admitted, “but you were always there to get me out of it.”
He nodded. “I missed that stage with Chris.”
“Yeah, he was older than me, so got out of high school before I graduated, but he spent a couple years going to a different school while living with his dad, then came back angry,” she explained thoughtfully, as she looked over at Amie, who nodded.
“Chris really wanted to live with his father for a while,” Amie confirmed.
Austin asked, “So… do you think Chris believes the reason why he’s not getting the ranch for himself is about living with his father?”
“I don’t know why he would even think that he could get the whole ranch. We’ve never hidden that from him,” Rox declared, eyeing Austin. “I’m not getting the whole ranch either.”
“What does that mean?” Austin asked.
Rox shrugged. “Chris was supposed to be part owner of it, but I don’t think Dad will do that now.
He can’t trust Chris, and Dad doesn’t want to risk the family property being sold for drug money or for money to escape this life.
You have to be part of this life in order to be on the title as the owner. ”
“Right,” Austin agreed, “and, once they’re on the title, they have voting power.”
“Exactly,” she muttered, “and it would break my family’s heart if I lost generations of history here because of that.”
“Of course,” he murmured, as he finished his breakfast.
She looked over at him and asked, “Do you need Charlie today? Are you heading out to see where Cowboy spent his last day here?”
“I will be in a little bit. First, I’ll head into town really quick, touch base with my boss, then stop in and see your brother.”
Her jaw dropped, and she stared at him. “Is that a good thing?”
“I don’t know,” he said, “but I sure as hell recognized him last night. That gives me an opening for a conversation, and I think it’s well past time somebody talked to him.”
“It’s not your job,” she warned.
“Yet the people who should have done it… didn’t,” he pointed out. “So who else will do it, if I don’t?”
And, with that, he got up and walked out.