Page 10 of Roots of Redemption (Hicks Creek #4)

Chapter Six

Wade

“ D oc Sutton seems like a real nice lady. Smart, too,” Caleb says as the two trucks leave a trail of dust in their wake. “I think she’s going to be the one that figures this out. Who knows, maybe she’ll stay in town, too.”

“Why do you say that?” I ask with a chuckle.

“Mr. Frank misses her.” He shrugs nonchalantly.

“How would you know that?”

“You may have beef with Mr. Frank, but I don’t. Granny brought me over there when Miss Caroline died, and we brought him some dinner. He was so sad and…I kept going back. When Morgan Wallen first got sick, and Doc couldn’t figure it out, I went to ask him about it.”

Why did I let this kid name our cattle?

I knew my mother and Miss Caroline were still friends, even with the rivalry between our families. The two of them just didn’t understand the betrayal and the strain Frank Bishop’s actions had on our family or why his actions were unforgivable.

I’m irritated that my mother brought Caleb into the mix. My son, though. He’s a kid with a giant heart, and I shouldn’t be surprised that he is trying to be the one to extend the olive branch to the Bishops. I should be furious, but I can’t be mad at the kid for trying to be a good human.

This will be his first lesson on how not everyone is a good person who deserves your kindness, though.

“I can’t believe you named a cow after a country singer,” I laugh. “Son, you can’t just walk up to a rancher’s house and…”

“I did. He’s not nearly as bad as you guys all said. He’s really smart, too. He gave me some tips. How do you think I figured out why Johnny Cash was limping?”

“Benny told me he fixed the black stallion,” I reply.

“I told him he could take the credit.” He shrugs again. “I was there when Mr. Frank called Doc Sutton and told her he needed her help a few days ago. I don’t think he would have done it if I hadn’t.”

“Caleb, I realize that you’re fifteen and…more mature than most kids your age, but you need to tell me where you’re going and when. It’s not a safe world out there and…”

“I’m always safe, Dad.”

“Not the point, Caleb,” I sigh.

“He had to let his ranch hands go because he was afraid he couldn’t pay them. He’s lonely. I help out, too.”

“You do what? Wait, you’re helping out at his ranch on top of your chores here and schoolwork?”

“Yes, sir.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to tamp down my frustration. He’s helping the enemy. That old man is taking advantage of my son, no doubt.

Sometimes, I think that I am failing this kid miserably, and then there are moments like this when I know I must’ve done something right for him to have such a big heart.

It takes a special kind of person to see the softer side of Frank Bishop. That’s for sure.

“I know everyone thinks he’s a jerk, but he’s always been nice to me.”

“Does your granddaddy know?” I ask.

Caleb shakes his head. He’s nervously pacing as he watches Sutton’s truck barrel down the driveway.

“I wonder if I should go over there with Doc Sutton, maybe…” he says.

“No,” I laugh. “You don’t need to play the peacemaker for that family. Miss Caroline tried so hard and couldn’t even do it. You’re a special kid in that way, son, but it’s not your bridge to fix.”

He nods and smiles. “I know, Dad. I just hope that Doc Sutton can have the same relationship with her dad that I have with you.”

He walks off, and I stare after him, shaking my head in disbelief. This kid surprises me every day.

“You know,” Benny interjects as he walks up behind me. “I just really think that kid came from someone else. He looks like he fell out of your ass, but he’s got a heart and a sense of humor, and you’re a crotchety old—”

“I learned that from you,” I joke as I shoot him a playful glare.

“Can’t even deny that.”

“Did you know he was going over to the Bishop Ranch?”

“Yeah, I try to keep an eye on him the best I can. I know you can’t be everywhere at once.”

“I appreciate that, but why in the hell wouldn’t you say something to me? You know damn well that old bastard is taking advantage of him.”

“Do you really think I’d let that happen?” Benny snaps back at me.

I pull back a little, taking a breath as I do. He’s right, Benny always had my back growing up, and I know that he treats Caleb like his own child.

“I’m floored that Bishop hasn’t run him off with a shotgun yet.”

“Probably would have if it weren’t for your mama taking him over there first.”

“You think Dad knew her and Miss Caroline were still friends?” Wade shifts on his feet.

“There ain’t nothing happening on this ranch that your daddy don’t know about. Sometimes, it’s best to look the other way. Bishop is only a danger to himself and those in his direct line of fire. I was kind of hoping that Caleb would rub off on the crotchety old bastard.”

“He’s definitely worked his magic on you,” I tease.

Benny chuckles, nodding as he does. He stops and pins me with a steely gaze.

“You going to tell me what the beef is between you and blondie?”

“There’s no beef.”

“Bullshit,” he coughs. “You two used to be friendly, used to be friends. The sexual tension between the two of you was thicker than molasses. Why do you think Caleb was pacing and fidgeting? Even your fifteen-year-old sensed something was up.”

I shake my head. “Family rivalry.”

“Wrong answer again. Did you two have a thing and I didn’t know it? I don’t remember her looking like that when she did live here, that’s for sure.”

I blow out a long breath and look back at Benny. He’s been a ranch hand on our land for as long as I can remember. He’s practically a second dad to me.

“When I went to pick up Caleb in Texas. I ran into her at a bar, except I didn’t know who she was.”

“She didn’t tell you her name?”

“It was stupid…I don’t know, but when she came over to me at the bar, I didn’t recognize her, and then I introduced myself with the wrong name.

Everything felt like it was imploding on me.

I didn’t think I was going to be able to raise Caleb on my own and…

I can think of a hundred reasons why I lied, but it just happened.

Turns out, she and her friends were playing a game where they were pretending to be someone else, too.

We had this incredible night, and when I told her my real name, she told me who she was and then ran out of the room like it was on fire. ”

“Why?”

I snort and shake my head. “I can assume because I’m a Callahan, and she’s a bishop. She probably figured her daddy would disown her if she brought me home to meet him. I was too shocked to say anything, and she left. I even reached out and tried to talk to her on social media, and she blocked me.”

“Ouch.”

“It didn’t warrant that grudge she still seems to be holding onto.”

“Newsflash: you were definitely holding a grudge, too.”

“No, I was—”

“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, son,” he laughs. “You two need to get over whatever is going on, though, because just from the little I saw, I think she’s the answer to our problem.”

He walks off, and I stand there dumbly, nodding.

She’s still the daughter of Frank Bishop, and I’m not about to go down that path willingly.

Dad will probably call the law if he realizes she’s on the property.

The ranch hands have everything taken care of out here. I walk inside the house and go straight into my office. I start up the desktop computer and sit there for a few moments. I’ve got an entire Google Drive full of pertinent research, case studies, and possible solutions to this epidemic.

It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before as far as the symptoms and how quickly it’s spreading. We’ve been through this enough to know how to contain and treat it, but our normal measures don’t seem to be working.

Was she asking if I was married because she was checking if I was single?

Damn it, it doesn’t matter.

She’s a self-righteous, judgmental woman who has no loyalty. She proved that already. She’s not going to stick around here either, and I’m not about to get close to someone who’ll head back to their precious city and turn their back on their family and legacy.

I don’t need another woman abandoning Caleb.

Nah, Sutton Bishop isn’t someone I want in my life.

I guess that means I should dig into this research even harder. The sooner I get rid of her, the better.

I start typing in the search bar, trying to find more research done regarding the symptoms my cattle are having. It’s like going down the rabbit hole as I get bounced from one article to the next. It’s a long process, hence why I haven’t been sleeping.

By the time I look up to stretch, it’s already dark outside. I walk out into the living room to see Caleb napping on the couch. I walk out onto the porch for some fresh air.

My brain is buzzing with everything I found, but it doesn’t feel like I’m any closer to an answer.

Despite what Sutton alluded to, I have a pretty controlled area for the cattle in the pasture.

We’ve been using the same feed for thirty years.

Everything we’re doing is the same thing we’ve always done.

All our preventative measures and actions with any other outbreak have worked in the past, so why aren’t they working now? What’s different?

I start walking out across the driveway and to the fence that surrounds the pasture. The cows are milling about, as they always do. I rest my arms up on the gate and watch them.

There’s got to be something I’m missing.

A truck pulls into the driveway, and I glance back to see that it’s Sutton. I watch as she puts her head on her steering wheel as though she’s stressed out, and I feel a pang in my chest. Her body starts to tremble like she’s crying.

Shit, she must not see me over here. Now, I feel like a creep as I watch her.

I turn back around and focus on the cattle. It’s taking everything in me not to turn around and go to her.

Why is my urge to comfort her, protect her, so strong? Except for that one night of incredibly hot sex, I don’t know her anymore. And I don’t want to know some disloyal, uptight snob like her.

I used to see her as an annoying little sister, until that night in Texas. Is that why I feel the need to go to her? Because of who she used to be?

Nah, that’s ridiculous. It’s clear that she’s not that same girl anymore, and she’s a Bishop. She’ll turn on me the first chance she gets. It’s better that I forget our past and see her for who she is today.

Uptight, opinionated, hoity-toity spoiled brat.

When I hear the truck door open, I turn around and start toward the barn, hoping that she doesn’t realize I was standing at the fence watching her like a creep. Come to think of it, maybe I should have stayed put. The movement startles her, and I hear her suck in a breath.

“Shit, I didn’t see you there,” she gasps.

“Just checking the cattle.”

“I see that,” she mumbles.

Even in the twilight and the dim lighting of my security poles, I can tell that she’s been crying. I want so badly to reach out and touch her face, wipe away those tears.

Knock it off, Wade.

“How many ranches did you visit?”

“I only made it to Dad’s. I didn’t think of how hard it would be…” She stops abruptly as if she is only now realizing that she’s having a civil conversation with me.

“Probably rough to be back in the house without your mom there,” I say offhandedly as I start walking toward the barn again.

She falls into step beside me, surprisingly.

“It was.”

“She was a good woman. The glue that held that ranch together, a lot of the town, too. Mom talks about her all the time still.”

“How are your parents?”

“They’re good. Pops might have an aneurysm when he finds out you’re here.”

“Should I…?” she asks as she starts to turn around.

“No,” I chuckle as I reach out to stop her.

I immediately rip my hand back like I’ve been burned.

That wasn’t obvious or anything.

“Mom will be thrilled to see you, and that’s what counts. She runs the show. Dad will get over it, especially if it helps us figure out what’s causing the issues with the herd.”

“I hate that with everything that happened between our fathers that our mothers lost each other.”

“They didn’t,” I say with a smile. “Mom will deny it, but I caught the two of them having lunch after church a few towns over one day when I was on a parts run. They were still best friends and still in constant contact.”

She stops and looks back up at me. “I didn’t know that. I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since Dad disowned me and she was still going to see me. I do know that your mom came to the funeral home before Mom’s service, and…she’s a good human.”

I nod. I didn’t know that, but I’m not surprised. I guess I didn’t know that her dad disowned her, either.

That had to be rough.

Is that why she left Hicks Creek to begin with? I feel a pang of guilt for automatically assuming it’s because she thought she was better than the rest of us. Here I thought she wasn’t loyal and betrayed her own family, when in reality, she was just dealing with the aftermath of her father’s ego?

No wonder she got so mad when I mentioned her leaving earlier. She probably thought I was being a misogynistic jerk.

I turn around and look back at her. In the light of the full moon, she’s even more beautiful than I remember.

I remember the way she moaned for me. The way she begged me to fuck her harder.

I clear my throat and try to push the images away.

“Caleb has the guest house all decked out with everything you could need, but if you find you don’t have something, just come up to my house,” I tell her as I point to it, then nod to the main house where my parents still live.

“Mom still cooks breakfast and lunch for everyone at six and noon. She’ll be thrilled to see you walk in. ”

I turn on my heel and walk away then.

If I was so wrong about why she left and stayed away, what else have I been wrong about all this time?