Page 40

I pass by Maya in Freckles’s stall when I go searching the ranch for Cooper.

She’s brushing the horse down with a gentleness I wouldn’t have expected from either of them.

It brings a smile to my face. She’s still been at the studio before Elsie in the mornings and has worked harder than any other student while rehearsing for the recital, but I’ve found her at the ranch most days also, even when I don’t have time to spare to give her a riding lesson.

It makes something tug in my chest, and I know Elsie is feeling relieved by it.

She feels like she’s finally made a difference as a teacher.

And I want to celebrate it.

Which is why I’m looking for Cooper. He’s nowhere to be found on the ranch grounds, but I have a suspicion he may have slipped inside the big house for lunch. Cheyenne stopped by earlier today and dropped off sandwiches from the café where she started working a couple weeks ago.

Sweat beads across my brow from the summer heat as I make my way up the porch steps to the big house, and I lift my hat off my head to wipe it away before entering.

There are hooks by the door for me to hang it, and I kick off my boots.

Mom doesn’t like us wearing our work boots inside, and I got punished enough as a kid for it to be drilled into my brain now as an adult.

The house smells like it always does. Like wood polish and fresh air, since Mom always keeps the windows open when the weather is nice.

She reserves the AC for the hottest of days.

There are slightly wilted wildflowers in a vase on the entry table.

I can imagine Ruby picking them while she and Cooper walked over for breakfast one morning.

Deep voices filter down the hall from the kitchen, and I recognize them as Dad’s and Cooper’s.

I find them sitting at the breakfast table, one much smaller than the dining table, but still large enough to fit all of us.

Cooper has a mostly unfinished deli sandwich on his plate, and Dad’s is full of crumbs.

They look up when I walk in, their conversation stilling, and I look between them, feeling like I just walked in on something. I raise my brows, but Dad just smiles. “Hey, son. Cheyenne’s sandwiches are good. You here for one?”

I nod at my brother. “I was looking for Cooper,” I say. “But I’ll take one.”

Dad’s chair screeches across the floor as he pushes back from the table. “Good, I’ll leave you two to it. I need to get back to work.” He sends Cooper a meaningful look, something tender and even a little proud. “I like your idea, Coop.”

Cooper, to my surprise, flushes the slightest bit, his ears going pink, and he looks down at his hands where they’re folded in his lap. “Thanks, Dad.”

I look between the two of them as Dad exits the kitchen on socked feet. “What was that about?” I ask Cooper when I hear the front door open and shut.

He waves me off with a flick of his wrist and takes a bite out of his sandwich. “Nothing. What’s up?”

I want to press him on it, but his cheeks are still pink and he’s avoiding my gaze, so I let it drop and grab a sandwich from the fridge before sitting across from him at the table. “I need your help.”

He rolls his eyes. “When don’t you need my help?”

Ignoring him, I press on, “Elsie has a big recital coming up in a few weeks. Her first one since becoming a teacher, and she’s been working nonstop.”

“I’m not going to help you convince her she needs to quit working now that she’s in a delicate way, Beau.”

“Would you shut up?” I ask..

This makes him smile. “What do you need?”

My gaze drifts to the table, my heart feeling too full for my chest. “I want her to know we all support her on this,” I tell him, and lift my eyes back up to his.

He’s watching me intently, reading every emotion I’m not bothering to hide.

“It’s been hard for her to transition into teaching, and her parents have been no help, but she loves it. And I just want her to know we’re proud of her.”

He nods in understanding.

“So I was thinking maybe we could all go,” I continue. “To the recital. And then I could have a party at the house after, just something small to celebrate.”

A small grin tilts his lips. “Let’s do it.”

It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. “Thanks, Coop.” I unwrap the sandwich in front of me and take a bite. It’s extraordinarily good, and I wish Cheyenne sticks it out at this place so we can have more of them, but I don’t have high hopes.

“Who do you want to come?”

“Just the family, probably. Can you check with Willow and Jesse? I’ll ask Morgan and the Dawsons.”

“Can do.”

My chest rises and falls with a deep breath. “I’m going to ask Elsie’s parents too.”

He makes a face of distaste, and I can’t help but agree.

“I think it would mean a lot to her if they’re there,” I tell him. “But I think I need to have a frank conversation with them first.”

Cooper’s brows lift. I don’t blame him. Confrontation has never been my strong suit. I’m still trying to figure out when to push and when to stay. But I know this is a time I need to put my foot down, make a few things clear.

“I don’t want them coming if they’re not going to be supportive,” I say, pleased that my voice sounds steady, that none of the anger that’s been bubbling inside me since that disastrous meal with them manages to get out.

“They need to know that if they’re not going to be positive about this for her, then they shouldn’t be there at all. ”

My brother eyes me, and I think I see respect flit across his features. It settles somewhere deep in my chest. “Good, I agree.”

“Elsie would probably kill me if she found out.”

He flashes me a grin. “Makes it more fun that way.”

My truck never looks more decrepit than when I pull it up in front of the Huntzbergers’ house.

I didn’t call before heading over here. Partly because I didn’t want to give them time to speculate about why I was coming, but mostly because I didn’t want them to mention it to Elsie.

I wasn’t kidding when I told Cooper she wouldn’t be happy with me for talking to them.

She would think it makes her look weak, but I’m tired of them making her feel weak, and I’d drive across town any day to tell them that.

Still, my heart races a little as I make my way up to their front door.

Diana answers after one knock, her Botoxed face pulling into its best attempt at surprise. “Beau, we weren’t expecting you.”

I give her a smile. “I know. I was hoping to talk to you and James about something important.”

Alarm fills her eyes. “Is Elsie okay?”

Her concern pricks at me. Despite never learning how her daughter needed to be loved, Diana does love her daughter.

I wish she could figure out a better way to express it, that she could accept Elsie the way she is and not wish for her to be more, that she could learn that her daughter is more than enough as is.

Some of the tension leaves my shoulders, and I soften my voice. “Yeah, she’s great. Better than she has been in a long time.”

Diana’s mouth pinches shut, any tenderness leaving her expression, and she nods, opening the door wider. “Yes, of course. Come in.”

I follow her through the house, glad that I changed out of my work boots and into a pair that aren’t crusted with mud and horseshit as we make our way across the white marble, our steps echoing in the silence.

James is seated at the dining room table, a laptop open in front of him, and he looks up when we enter, a smile cresting his face. “Well, this is unexpected,” he says, pushing up from his chair and coming to shake my hand.

His is soft in mine, and smaller. The hand of a man who works at a desk and not on a ranch. The differences between us have never been more stark, and not for the first time, I wonder what Elsie saw in me when she was raised in a place like this.

“Good to see you, James,” I tell him.

“Likewise. What brings you to this side of town?”

Diana is looking between the two of us, and I meet her gaze. “I wanted to speak to you and Diana about something.”

She nods. “So you’ve said. Can I get you a drink?”

I shake my head. “I’m fine, thanks.”

James watches the interaction, and when I turn back to him, his expression is more solemn, the one I imagine he wears at the office. He motions to the table. “Let’s sit.”

We do, and he closes his laptop, then takes a drink from his steaming white coffee mug. Unlike at the big house, theirs all match, and the set costs more than my parents’ entire dining collection.

“So what’s on your mind?”

I look at them both in turn. “Elsie has a recital coming up.”

Diana’s eyes blow wide. “She’s dancing again?”

My jaw tightens hard enough that my teeth ache, but I keep my voice steady. “No, a recital for her students. She’s been working really hard, and I would love to celebrate it since it’s her first recital as a teacher.”

Elsie’s mom looks like she wants to say something, but bites her tongue. Beside her, James says, “Of course we should celebrate. What did you have in mind?”

I don’t meet his eyes, instead continuing to hold Diana’s stare. “I’ve talked to my family, and they’re all going to come. And I’m planning a small party at our house after. I’d love for you both to be there.”

“We wouldn’t miss it,” James says.

I can hear the sincerity in his voice, but it’s not him I’m worried about.

“I want you to be there,” I repeat. “But only if you can be fully supportive.”

Diana’s eyes narrow. “What is that supposed to mean?”

James shifts in his seat, uncomfortable at her sharp tone.

I look at them both in turn before finally settling my gaze back on Diana.

“We both know that you haven’t agreed with Elsie’s decision to start teaching,” I say.

When she opens her mouth to interrupt, I continue, “But it is her decision. And she loves it. She’s good at it.

” I let out a breath, imagining her in the studio with Maya, the way Tonya looks at her with nothing but pride.

“She’s better than good at it. And this is what she wants to do.

So if you believe you can support her in this, then I’d love for you to come. ”

When I look at James, there’s a tenderness and respect in his eyes that I haven’t seen before. I wonder if I’m saying the things to his wife that he wishes he could. That thought urges me on.

“If you can’t,” I say, meeting Diana’s eyes one more time. “Then don’t bother.”