Asher blinked. AJ never spoke to him like that. Asher knew about some of his history. AJ worked the rodeo circuit and got into a bar fight where he seriously hurt someone, which landed him in jail. He changed his life after serving his sentence. Meeting Kate and getting married were just the beginning. Having money, a decent job and a stable home were all new commodities for AJ that occurred when he was about thirty. Asher feared AJ would think he was a selfish jerk. He knew what AJ lacked, any help or family. And here Asher had everything he needed handed to him without stress or complications.
“I was worried you’d think I was an ungrateful pussy who needed his mommy and daddy to support him.”
“You didn’t think that of me,” AJ said without even a blink. He was more than confident that he never conveyed that kind of message to Asher. Which of course, he hadn’t.
“Okay. I thought that of myself.”
“Yeah, well, I had no ambition at your age. Drink whiskey, have sex and ride a bull. I ended up in jail. God, I hope you won’t end up like me. Take the money and do great things with it. Fulfill your desires. And we’ll be applauding you the entire time. And yeah, take Wallace with you as your first stock animal.”
The words pierced his heart. Asher was actually amazed and astonished at their readiness and eager complicity. Could this thing really be about to happen? His heart beat faster, and he released a tense breath as a smile touched his lips. “Is this really going to happen?”
Kate replied, “Reed Ranch? Sure. Why not? It’s about time. Been too many Rydells. Rydell, Rydell, Rydell. Why not some Reeds? Damn, it has a nice ring to it. Reed Ranch.” Kate’s grin split her face.
So did AJ’s.
Eventually, so did Asher’s. Reed Ranch. A cherished dream he now had the authority to realize and promote. A career. A workable ranch. An entirely legitimate enterprise.
Reed Ranch. Could something like that ever really come into fruition? It did have a catchy ring to it. Now if only he could make the many complicated factors come into alignment. Reed Ranch. His own land. It sounded like heaven.
Chapter 2
DAISY RYDELL STUDIED HER sister. Violet didn’t blink for a full sixty seconds. Daisy watched them tick by on the clock. Violet didn’t cry or moan or talk. She sat facing forward. Some might assume she was numb. Unfeeling. Still in shock maybe. But Daisy knew her sister was catatonic. She’d been unresponsive for days. Ever since she watched Preston fall to his death on the sandy arena.
But Violet might not have realized how extensive her trauma was.
Allison, their mom, called Daisy the night it happened, relaying the horrifying news to her youngest daughter. She’d held her phone, speechless and stunned as her mom described what happened to Preston. Prior to hearing that, it was just an ordinary Saturday night with the main event being one of their horse performances featuring Violet.
Then Violet was given the unenviable view of watching Preston die.
How could life be so cruel? How could it allow both things to happen at once? Daisy’s reaction was to immediately interrupt her summer quarter at Fordham University. After struggling to commit to a major for the last three years, she was in summer school to try and catch up on the last few classes she needed to start her junior year and her major. She’d taken three years to get to this point, instead of the more usual two. Each change of major required new prerequisite classes, which only made things harder than they needed to be, but finally, she’d decided on a major and was making strides in achieving her degree.
Violet. She might not have needed Daisy in particular but required all of the family’s support and love collectively. Daisy didn’t know what she could contribute, she just knew she had to be there. Rose and her husband, Mateo, who was enrolled in medical school in Rhode Island, and relatively closer to Daisy than the rest of her family, traveled with her home. It helped. Rose was the oldest of the four girls, Daisy the youngest. So having Rose to lean on felt natural. And necessary.
“What do we say to her?” asked Daisy.
Rose squeezed her hand. “Nothing can be rehearsed or planned. We just have to be there. Talk to her. Listen mostly. She knows we can’t fix it for her, but she needs to know we are there all the same.”
Daisy kept repeating that. Thank God for Rose. Just be there. They had to know Violet could feel their combined support and presence, even if they had no answers. Of course, Daisy had zero to offer. Less than Rose or Iris. So, hearing she didn’t have to say anything or try to come up with an answer helped ease her discomfort.
They were sitting through another memorial service in honor of Preston. This one was being held at the church in River’s End. The pastor ended the final prayer. Her dad read something Violet wrote. Tears rolled down all their faces. Everyone except Violet. Again, she was still catatonic.
Finally, the collective “Amen” rippled through the church. Daisy waited for her dad to escort Violet and her mom out, then Rose and Mateo, then Iris and Quinn. She was the last to be escorted in the immediate family. Preston’s family didn’t attend. They’d already buried him in the town where he came from. This memorial was for the people of the valley and ranch who worked and associated with Preston. Some came out of respect and concern for Violet and her family.
Thank God, it was over. Daisy was wilting under the stress of it all. So much grief hung over her family home, it seemed as if a great big, black scarf was wrapped around the house. Even the daylight couldn’t penetrate the interior. Or brighten any of their spirits.
She stepped out into the vestibule as her parents took Violet home. They thankfully didn’t make her suffer through a formal or informal meet and greet. Violet couldn’t have survived it. Rose took over that end of the protocol. Rose was good at taking charge. Rose and Mateo, Iris and Quinn, and Daisy politely greeted the attendees with handshakes, hugs and condolences. Most were sincere and truly meant it. Several town locals, as well as the friends they knew or grew up with gave personal messages to Daisy and her sisters to pass along to Violet. Cards were collected. A small dessert and coffee bar was set up. It was purposely undersized and un-extravagant for a reception. Exactly per Violet’s request.
Finally, when it ended, Daisy jumped into the back of the SUV Mateo was driving. Her sisters and Quinn were already there.
Rose rested her head on the passenger seat, shutting her eyes as she sighed dramatically. “Oh, my God, that was so awful.”
“It was excruciating. Do you think she’ll be okay?” Iris inquired.
“She will be eventually. But it’ll be a long, slow climb out of a dark hole. The grief she has to endure. Nothing you aren’t familiar with, Iris, but in a different way,” Quinn interjected.
Iris slipped Quinn a loving look. Only Daisy, who sat behind them noticed it. Iris answered out loud, “What happened to me was hard. But losing you? That would have been the one thing I could never come back from.”
“I kept thinking that too,” Rose said quietly without even opening her eyes. She reached out and set her hand on Mateo’s thigh. He gave her a knowing look before flipping his gaze back to the road. “How would I get through this? How is Violet doing it? And then I felt selfish because of the relief that coursed through me, relief that I didn’t have to endure it. Oh, God, Violet… this is just… I still can’t believe it happened.”