Between Hope & the Highway (9 page)

Liz tethered the horses. “I’m tempted to join her. This looks fun. If you dug a trench down the middle, you could fill it with water from the hose and have a river through town.”

I chewed my lip, not wanting to appear eager about her suggestion.

“How much taller are you going to make your building?”

“Addie’s building,” I clarified. “Maybe another foot.”

“Can I help?”

I scrunched my nose. “I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Looks like they need to dry. Let’s take a ride. I already saddled Han for you.”

I wanted nothing more than to go riding, but the thought of being her project kept me from accepting. “You go ahead. I have things to finish here.”

Her lips pursed. “We could just do a short ride.”

“Rawson can take me.”

“Benny, have I done something to upset you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why have you avoided me all week?”

I ducked my head. “I’m not a little kid like Addie.”

Her brows drew together. “What?”

I kicked a clod of mud. “I’m grown up and can take care of myself.” Tears formed against my will. I blinked them into submission.

“I thought you liked hanging out.”

“That’s before I knew my parents paid you.” I hobbled in the direction of the house.

“Wait.” She caught up to me and blocked my path. “No one’s paying me to hang out with you. Who told you that?”

I stared at my boots.

“Was it your brother?” When I didn’t answer, she said, “You should better than to believe that.” She pivoted and marched back to the horses.

As I watched her go, I wanted to call after her, but words stuck in my throat. Turning the opposite direction, I made my way to the office. Right step…left leg-lift, swing-out, step-down and wince. Right step. Focusing all my energy into walking smoothly, I made my way up the stairs and barged into Dad’s office without knocking.

He looked up from his desk. “What is it, son? I’m busy.”

“Are you paying Lizzie extra to take care of me and Addie?”

He gave me a strange look. “Why in Sam’s hill would I do that?”

“It’s just that she hangs out with me, and I thought maybe she did it because you asked her to.”

He shuffled papers on his desk. “I don’t tell any of the hands what they should do in their free time. If Liz has decided to spend hers with you, you should treasure the time together. It’s a gift.”

I left before he could glimpse my tears. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I ran into my brother.

“Hey, Big Ben. What’s the rush?”

I sniffed and attempted to man up, but Rawson still noted my glistening eyes.

“Whoa.” He grabbed my shoulders. “What’s wrong, bro? Did Dad get after you?”

“No.” I rubbed my eyes against my sleeve. “It’s just allergies.”

His expression screamed doubt, but he didn’t call me out. “Want to go riding?”

“Nah. I need an allergy pill.” It didn’t feel right accepting a ride with him after rejecting Liz.

“We could watch a movie. I need a
Star Wars
fix.”

“How about a rain-check?”

“Is your leg paining you?”

“No. I’m just worn out.”

Rawson walked me back to the house. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked as I dragged my gimp leg up the stairs.

“Don’t worry about me.” His coddling attitude made me bristle.

“I’ll always worry about you, homey. You my bro.”

We both sounded stupider than a hick on Wall Street when we used our ghetto lingo, but it made me relax. “I love you, dawg.”

“Ditto, homeslice.”

I snorted. “You made that up.”

He winked. “Get feeling better, kid.”

As I reached the landing and spotted Lizzie’s closed door, I wanted to kick the wall. Why had I allowed my insecurities and stupid pride to rule me?

Chapter 15

Rawson

Something was bothering my brother, I could tell. As I watched him trudge upstairs, I wondered what had upset him. I was about to walk away when I saw him pass his door and disappear down the hall. Probably heading to that girl’s room. When I heard a light knock, I knew I’d guessed correctly.

Curious, I crept upstairs and stood outside her open door. The thought of Benny interacting with the girl didn’t sit well with me. My brother’s wavering voice carried into the hall.

“I’m sorry, Lizzie.”

“What happened?”

There was a long pause. “I thought you were being paid to babysit me.”

“How could you think that? You’re one of my best friends.”

My brother sniffed. “Sorry for being a jerk.”

Silence made me peek around the corner. The girl had pulled him into a hug. “If every guy was as jerky as you, this world would be heaven.”

I eased back so as not to be caught.

“Now that you’re not confused, should we take Addie to
WALL-E
on Saturday?”

“Yeah. And let’s go riding tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll make arrangements with Seth to teach me how to drive that old truck your dad said I could use. I’m kind of scared to learn stick shift.”

“Ah, it’s simple.”

“Easy for you to say since you’ve never driven.”

I slid into the bathroom and hid behind the door. Subtle reminders of the normal things my brother had lost depressed me. The girl was wrong. My brother had driven before. I’d actually given him lessons on Dad’s 1998 Ford Super Duty truck when he was only eight, and he’d been a natural. If the accident hadn’t messed him up, he’d be a better driver than me.

Movement outside made me hold my breath. Benny’s door shut. A few seconds later, the girl’s closed. I scrambled out of the bathroom and hightailed it downstairs. It irritated me that my brother was so chummy with her, but with his handicap, Benny probably yearned for someone to talk to besides family.

Feeling unbalanced by memories, I walked out the back door and crawled into the hammock I’d set up last night. It reminded me of the one I’d claimed back in high school after fights with Dad. The blue spruce had grown over the years and now sheltered my hiding spot from the deck.

Gazing into the starry sky, I wondered about Damon. I’d found him in town two days ago skunk drunk and shooting off his mouth to some out-of-towners. I schmoozed them into not beating him up and drove him out to the old homestead to sober him up. It wouldn’t be used until calving season, so the chance of Dad catching wind that my friend was holed up there was minimal. Damon needed a time-out from life. He was really starting to worry me.

In the middle of my thoughts, I heard the rumble of the sliding glass door. Peeking over the edge of the hammock, I picked out a shadow pacing the wooden deck.

“Sure.” It was that troublesome girl talking on her phone.

I settled into my hammock, content to eavesdrop on her one-sided conversation.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get the money. They have no idea how tenacious I can be.”

When she laughed, I frowned.

“It shouldn’t be hard. You taught me well.” She laughed again. “That’s why I love you.”

Was she talking to a lover?

“They’ll never know what hit them. I’ll arrange everything and have the money transferred to you soon.” She giggled. “Oh, yeah. They’re gullible.”

Was she talking about my family? Did the conniving impostor plan to embezzle from Dad…or worse? He’d certainly fallen for her charms. I clenched my fists as she kept talking.

“No, don’t do that. Last time, things didn’t end well when she got involved. Leave it to me. I know how to work them.” She paced the perimeter of the deck. “Ha! Don’t compare him to me. He has a thing for old widows who are dying to leave him their inheritance.”

It took all my self-control not to jump up and strangle her.

“Me? I wish. I do better with horses. You know that. That’s why I’m here.”

And that’s why I’d make sure the traitor left.

“No. I’ll celebrate when I get the money. Maybe a Mediterranean cruise? Now don’t spoil the surprise. Okay. I love you more.” She shoved her phone into her back pocket and disappeared back inside.

Throwing my legs over the hammock, I scratched my head. Going straight to Dad would be a mistake. He never listened. Mom didn’t need anything else to worry about, and Benny wouldn’t believe me because the girl had already bamboozled him. The only way to save my family would be to make life so miserable for Miss Ruthersford that she’d leave of her own accord.

Cogs turned in my brain, and I rubbed my hands together. The drive to the movies on Saturday would be the perfect opportunity to initiate my Get-Rid-of-Con-Artist plan. All I had to do was get invited along. That shouldn’t be difficult to accomplish.

Chapter 16

Bentley

It was hard to contain my excitement as I watched Lizzie secure Addie’s seatbelt. “Now don’t take it off,” she told my sister.

I chuckled as Addie grunted and mimicked the way Liz wagged her finger.

Once Lizzie hopped into the driver’s seat, I opened my door. “Hold on.” My brother had asked me to text him when we were ready to leave. When he jogged into the garage, I yelled, “Good timing.”

As he opened the passenger side door, Lizzie turned to glare at me. “You didn’t tell me your brother was coming.”

Rawson climbed in and winked. “Yes, I am, sweetheart. Don’t get too excited.”

“Uh…why don’t you…uh, drive? I…uh…want…no…need to stay and work a new foal.”

Rawson smirked. “Are you scared of me, Miss Ruthersford?”

“No.”

“You will be. You…will…be.”

I snorted at the
Star Wars
reference he slipped into the conversation. He did it so smoothly Lizzie didn’t even catch on.

“Yoda,” I said. “
Empire Strikes Back.
”

He turned to give me a high five. “Great, kid. Don’t get cocky.”

I laughed. “Han.
A New Hope
.”

Lizzie undid her seatbelt. “I’ll leave you two to your trivia game.”

“But Liz,” I whined, “I thought you enjoyed spending time with me and Addie.” I wasn’t above guilting her into staying. “You promised you’d take us.”

“Oh, all right. But your brother should drive.”

Of course, Rawson would drive. He never let anyone else behind the wheel.

He surprised me though by waving his hand. “You go ahead and let me catch some zzz’s, will ya? I’m still suffering from jet lag. Besides, I hate this old clunker.”

My eyes bugged out. Rawson must really like her to give up the driver’s seat. When Liz sent me a helpless look, I gave her a thumbs-up. She appeared torn, but when my brother leaned back and pulled his Stetson over his eyes, she shrugged and backed out of the garage. I grinned. Rawson was home and things were right with Lizzie again. Life couldn’t get any better.

But ten minutes down the road, Rawson shifted in his seat and slammed all my illusions to pieces.

“You’re driving slower than my ninety-four-year-old granny. Can’t you go faster?”

“Faster…faster!” Addie boomed. She parroted everything Rawson said.

He turned to wink at our sister.

Lizzie sped up slightly and Rawson didn’t speak again until we reached the junction to the highway. It wasn’t an actual highway. We were still twenty minutes from any paved roads, but this section of dirt was graded smoother so she could pick up speed without rattling our teeth out of our heads. When she shifted roughly into second gear, Rawson dropped an F-bomb.

I saw Liz wince in the rear view mirror as Addie tried to copy him. “Duck!”

“I’d appreciate if you watched your language around your sister.”

“Oh, appreciate my language clean, you would?” he said in a perfect Yoda voice. Addie giggled, feeding his dark side. “Well, get used to disappointment, darling. I’m not my dad, and won’t give into your !@#$%&*!”

Lizzie’s cheeks and neck flamed red as he shot off literary bullets.

“Rawson.” I sighed. “Knock it off. You really do swear too much.”

He glared at Liz as if she had spoken instead of me.

We started up the steep section that climbs up from the creek. I’ll admit, Lizzie wasn’t the best at driving a manual transmission. Seth had given her lessons, but she must not have realized she’d decreased speed and needed to downshift, because the truck sputtered and lurched. She grabbed the shifter and yanked, but her foot slipped and the ten-year-old Ford died with a huge groaning bounce.

“What are you doing?” Rawson yelled.

Lizzie’s natural grace became lost in jerky movements as she tried to restart the engine while the truck rolled backward. She hit the brake and jolted to a stop. Her eyebrows scrunched as she engaged the engine again and pressed down on the clutch. When she hit the gas, it died again. She’d forgotten to put it into first gear.