Page 44 of Cowboy Needed

They were Vic’s kids. His grandbabies. Full stop. Rick needed to get his shit together.

His phone beeped, Ichabod’s name popping up.

he texted back, waiting at the bar for his box. He could feel Rick glaring at him, but when he glanced over, his brother had both beers sitting in front of him, so he was set for the afternoon, Ellis guessed.

Yeah, he’d already had some problems. But he wasn’t going to call Ichabod about it. He was going to call his dad.

Which he did as soon as he was back in the truck so he could drive to the other end of town to the City Market.

“Hey, bud. How’s it going?” his dad said by way of answer.

“Good. How are you, old man?”

“Fair to middling. I can’t complain. How’s cowboying going for you?” Dad’s voice was like old smoke—raspy and rumbly—and it soothed his soul on a deep level.

“Good. I have a great job right now. It’s Vic’s old ranch, Dad.”

“No shit?” His dad sounded surprised as hell. “Who has it now?”

“His son-in-law has it in trust for the grandkids. I’ve hired on as foreman.”

“Well, good deal. I always liked old Vic, even if he did marry Barbara, which made him kind of dumb.” Dad choked out a laugh. “Speaking of Barbara, how’s your brother?”

At least Dad didn’t say, “Speaking of Barbara and dumb.”

“Mad as wet hen. I tried to have a beer with him, but he wants me to help convince Ichabod to sell, and I won’t do it.” He turned off on the main road. He should go to the vet center first.

“Uh, who’s Ichabod? And what’s he selling?”

Ellis rolled his eyes and explained, top to bottom. Dad got more and more quiet. Finally, Dad cleared his throat.

“You okay, Dad?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m all right. I have to tell you, I never did like that boy.”

“He’s your son.”

He could almost see Dad shrug in the back of his mind. “That’s the rumor. But whatever’s going on, it ain’t right. Vic was not that man’s daddy. And he didn’t owe him a damn thing. If Vic wanted to leave that land to his grandbabies, and that land belongs to his grandbabies. No question.”

“That’s my feeling too.” And Dad’s words made him feel better. He’d needed to hear it out loud from someone else.

“You don’t worry about your brother. I’m sure he’s gotten his ass into some sort of trouble. That’s my problem, not yours. You keep doing your job and being true to yourself and good to those people. You ride for the brand, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Dad sighed softly. “I don’t know, son. I don’t think there’sa bit of me in him sometimes. There’s something off; his moral compass is a little too well-oiled for me.”

“Yeah. I reckon that’s always been my problem.” He sighed. “I guess that’s up to him, but you’re wrong, you know. He ain’t your problem either. Sooner or later, he’s got to fall flat on his damn face.” He parked at the vet center, sitting for a moment.

“Now, son, who’s the dad here?”

“You are, but none of us are getting younger. You got to take care of you.” He wanted his dad to have everything he needed, not worry about Rick and his wheeling and dealing.