Circle on Home (Lost in a Boom Town Book 5) (9 page)

“So what are you going to do? He needs to have a job, right?”

“He’s waiting to hear from a few places, but if he’s not hired by mid-December, I guess he’s going to have to come work for me.”

She grimaced, knowing how their relationship had been. “How’s it been with him back home?”

“I mostly deal by not being there as much as possible. To be fair, not hard to do with my job.”

She wondered if he could afford to pay his father much to work for him. “Can you send your dad on some of your calls? Or have him work in your clinic?”

“I’d have to train him first, and I don't know if you remember, but he’s not the most compassionate person.”

“Maybe that can come in handy. I mean, there have to be parts of the job when compassion is an obstacle.”

“But anything like that, he’d have to be trained. I don't see that going well.”

“And the oilfields aren't hiring?”

“Not unskilled labor. Even Ben, who has experience, hasn't been able to get another job with them.” He glanced across the cab at her. “You probably picked the wrong time to come back home.”

“Maybe. It’s the right time for me, though.” She shifted on the seat toward him. “What’s going on with Riley and a guy named Jackson?”

“Who’s Riley?”

She rolled her eyes. “One of my roommates. She owns the bakery.”

He shrugged. “I don't keep up. Your mom would know. Or, you know, you could ask your roommate.”

“I could, but I don't think she’d tell me. She was very careful of her words when I met him at the house.”

“Then clearly there is something going on between them.”

“Yeah, but what? Why is it a secret? Is he married?”

“From what I recall, he doesn't live in town. So I don't know. I do know he helped renovate the Sagebrush Saloon and the Inn, and the bakery, too, I think.”

“Huh.”

“So what about you? Is there anyone in your life?”

“You think I would have kissed you the other night if there was someone else in my life?”

Well. She hadn't thought he’d bring that up. “You stopped kissing me. I wondered if guilt was the reason.”

“No. There isn't anyone.”

He left it at that, and she wasn't sure what to say next. Seemed only fair he should share since he knew about her and Damian, yet she knew nothing about what his life had been like the past fourteen years. That didn't seem fair.
 

She had him as her captive now. Maybe she could get him to open up. He’d volunteered to drive her, after all, and he knew she was a lawyer.
 

“But there has been?”

“Are you asking if I’ve been pining for you for the past fourteen years?”

Trust him to turn it around on her. “Not asking if you’re celibate, of course, but has there been someone serious?”

“One. But I had too much baggage and it ended.”

“Is she still in town?”

“Nope. And most people won’t remember her if you go asking.”

“That’s why I’m asking you. Were you together long?”

“A little over a year.”

That wasn't very significant considering he was thirty-two years old. He’d only had a relationship in high school, and a year-long relationship here? “Were you a wild child in college?”

He shook his head. “Couldn’t afford to be. If I didn't keep my head down and study, I’d lose my scholarships.”

No wonder he was so solemn all the time. He had too much weight on his broad shoulders. His father, his siblings, his career. She didn't know how to help him loosen up. He’d never been particularly happy-go-lucky, not with the home life he had, but he had known how to relax, and she needed to help him find his way back to that person. She didn't know why she felt the burden was on her, but no one had been able to do it so far, and it wasn't fair that such a good man should be so unhappy.
 

She needed to think about this.
 

“Is Selena excited about the Christmas festival coming up?” She’d heard nothing but details about the festival on the way home from San Marcos yesterday.
 

“We haven't told her about it yet, but I’m sure once she sees everything being set up, we won’t rest until we take her.”

“From what Mom says, it sounds like it’s going to be better than ever.”

“Hope the weather holds, for their sakes.”

The weather was always a risk for the festivals, no matter if it was the Bluebonnet festival in April or the Halloween festival.

“Maybe someday someone will build something so we can celebrate indoors in case of bad weather.”

“I think something like that was on the table until the oil prices started dropping. Now most of the money’s going to the roads damaged by the tanker trucks. We do have a shiny new school and hospital, though.”

“I heard. One of my roommates works at the hospital.”

“I bet your mom is happy you’ve moved back to town.”

“She’d be happier if I was living there with her and Allison. I just couldn't go back to being her daughter after being on my own, though, you know?”

“I have some idea,” he said dryly.

“Has your dad done that? Come back and tried to be a dad?”

“No, he’s pretty much accepted that I’m head of the household right now.”

“And is he going to stay there? I mean, always?”

“Eventually one of us will move out. I hope it’s him, but it’s more likely to be me, since he doesn't have a job and won’t have money for a mortgage. But I’ve got the stables there, and a place to park the trailer. I like it the way it is.”

“Also it’s isolated, so you can get away from all of us busybodies.”

He grunted. “There is that.”

“Speaking of the vet thing, though, I was thinking I might want a kitten. Do you know anyone who has kittens right now?”

He shot a look across the cab. “Are you serious?”

“Well, I guess I should ask my roommates if they’re okay with it, but Mom never let me have a pet, and Damian definitely didn’t, and I’ve always wanted one.”

“I know of three different litters about ready to leave their mamas.”

“So many!” Of course, Evansville had more animals than people, so she shouldn't be surprised.
 

“After you check with your roommates, I can take you around so you can pick one out.”

She opened her mouth to say she could drive herself, but clearly he didn't want to be home, and maybe that meant he wanted to be around her, right?

“How long is your aunt going to be in town?”

“I think she’s leaving tomorrow.”

The way he said it conveyed relief.

“I thought you were close.”

“We were, when Mom was alive, not so much when I went away to school, though she took care of Ben and Selena after Dad went inside. And it’s been a while since we’ve seen her. Dad actually invited her. Apparently she went to visit him in prison on a pretty regular basis.”

“More power to her. I don't think I could visit the man who was charged with killing my sister.”

“I know I couldn't do it.”

“You never went?”

“Not even once. Couldn't make myself do it. Never been to my mother’s grave, either.”

“Oh, Noah.”

“I know it’s taken care of, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“We go to Dad’s grave every Father’s Day and Christmas. Mom always makes him a little tree.”
 

They’d be picking up that tradition soon. Not for the first time, she wondered why her mother hadn't considered remarrying. Her dad had been gone almost seven years, and she didn’t think her mother had gone out on even one date. She knew her parents had been in love, up until the day her father died, but her mother was still young, only fifty-three. She had a long life ahead of her, she shouldn't be alone. But Miranda hadn't been home much in the past few years. There might be a reason she was completely unaware of.
 

“I figure she’s not there, anyway. Ben takes Selena pretty regularly, but I don't think she understands. I don't think she remembers Mom. She was really young.”

“How is she doing? I know she’s working. Does she like it?”

“She likes being around people. She always has. More social than Ben and I put together.”

Miranda laughed. “That’s not hard to beat. I think the Unibomber was more social than you and Ben put together.”
 

“Har har.”

“I haven’t seen Ben since I’ve been back. I bet I wouldn't recognize him, all grown up.”

“All grown up and sour as a bear. Talk about someone who needs to find a woman. Yeesh. Since he got laid off from the oilfields, he’s absolutely miserable to be around.”

“Is he looking for a job?”

“He got one, as a hunting guide, so at least he’s out of the house more now. I hope he gets some of his aggression out while he’s out there. I think he thought the boom would last longer and make him rich. He wasn't great about saving money, so he’s bitter.”

“I think everyone thought the boom would go on longer. But that’s the nature of the beast, isn’t it?”

They drove in silence a bit before he asked, “So why are you waiting until the first of the year to start your practice here?”

“I’ve been working a lot the past few years. Long days, long weeks. The few vacations I had were not too relaxing, too filled with seeing this, or having that experience. So I thought I’d take some time to myself before I start up again. Not that I expect to be half as busy as I was in New York, but the actual setting up of the office and my books is going to be a challenge. I’ve never run my own business before.”
 

But he had.

“It’s a challenge,” he agreed. “But worth it in the long run. You might ask Sage Tscheulin for some pointers. She’s got her hands in a lot of businesses—the Sagebrush, the inn. Or MJ Fechter. She owns the new boutique. Or, hell, you live with Riley. Any one of them would probably be glad to give you a hand.”

That was true. And she’d done enough research to know what she needed to do. Just…her brain was on vacation. She would do a little at a time, so she wouldn't be overwhelmed when she opened her office.

“Are you going to rent an office?” he asked.

“I’m looking at one of the upstairs rooms on the same part of the square as the bakery.”
 

“Smack in the middle of town. You think you can get enough business to pay for that?”

She didn't want to tell him she was very good at managing her money, and she didn't have to turn a profit off the bat. Her bills were paid, her money invested wisely, something she and Damian had argued about, but her father had drilled that practicality into her head.
 

“I think, even with the boom fizzling out, there are going to be people who need the services of a lawyer. Trusts, wills, that kind of thing.”

“A big step down from corporate law in New York City.”

A lot of people were going to be saying the same thing, and trying to figure out the reason behind her choice. She still didn't know, for certain, why. “It’s what I want.”

“Then that’s what you should do. I’m just saying, to start out, maybe you should just work from the house.”

“I thought about that, and there’s a room there I could use for my office, but I don't want to disrupt Riley or Jolie’s lives if I have clients in. They have such irregular hours, and it’s their home, too. I’m okay with renting a small office. And it will be my space.” She’d had an office in New York, small as it was, but it hadn't felt like hers. She wasn't sure where this need for her own space came from. It was a recent development.
 

“The place you’re looking at in good shape? I know Sage was renovating those places, but I don't know how far she got before she started repopulating Evansville.”

“I’m sorry?”