Nebraska ranked number two behind Texas in the overall cattle industry, but that didn’t mean my parents’ ranch was a cash cow… No pun intended. When my father left, my mother hired more men to help, but the money coming in wasn’t supporting the money spent on hiring help. So, she’d called me home.
As it turned out, the timing was perfect. The military was good to me. I learned discipline, some amazing skills, got an education and was paid for it all. But there came a time when being in special forces required you to become an unfeeling machine to survive. I was on the cusp of having to make that decision when my mother called. I decided I wanted to retain my humanity. Life could be a bitch, but I’d rather hurt than be numb.
The screen door squealed open, adding one more thing to the to-do list to get this house and the ranch back on track.
“I brought you some cold tea.” My mother handed me a glass of the sun-made brew and stood with me on the front porch as I took in the vastness of Nebraska.
“Thank you.”
“Are you settling in? I imagine it’s strange to be home after all your travels and adventures.”
War wasn’t an adventure, but I decided not to correct her. “It’s nice to be around calm.”
“I’m so happy to have you home safe and sound.” She sniffed. I turned to see her wipe a tear. “I always worried about you, but I know you had to go.”
I was safe. The sound part was questionable. “What’s that?” I asked, nodding toward an envelope she held in her hand.
“I don’t want to start your time home with trouble, but we got this in the mail today. It’s not the first one. I thought you should see it.”
I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter on fancy paper with “Stark Associates” emblazoned in gold on the letterhead.
“It’s an offer to buy the ranch,” she said.
“That can’t possibly be a fair price,” I said after scanning the letter.
“No, but if you read further, it seems to say that if we don’t sell at this price, the private prison they’re building will devalue the land and we’ll end up with less.”
I looked at her, wondering why she brought me home if she was considering this. “You could take the money to start a new life.”
She sighed as she looked out over the land and then looked down, and I got the feeling I wasn’t going to like what she was going to say.
“This is my home, Wyatt. But even if it wasn’t, I can’t sell. It’s your father’s. He will probably want to sell the property, but I don’t want to.”
“Your name isn’t on the deed?”
She shook her head. “This land has been in your father’s family for over a century. Passed down generation to generation. If it’s going to be sold, I feel like you’re the one who needs to make that decision.”
I couldn’t understand what she was saying. “I’m not on the deed.”
“The terms of land transfer are from son to son, or daughter if there isn’t a son. As long as a Jones lives o
n and works the land, it can’t be sold. By your being here, it can’t be sold unless you agree to it. It was set up by your six-time great grandfather when he got this land. Back then, land and ranching were considered a job that would never end. That would always be lucrative.”
I’d come home because I needed to be here. It pissed me off that some big-city asshole would be trying to intimidate my mother. She was right in that my father would likely want to sell, which I supposed was why it was important for her that I come home. Not just to help work the ranch, but to prevent my father from selling the place that she loved.
It was strange how a home that held so many hurtful moments could be considered home for her or me. But standing on the porch, I did feel peace. I did feel like I was home. And now this Stark Company threatened that.
“I’ll take care of this.” I patted her shoulder to assure her. “I’m going to go for a ride.”
She smiled. “Can you still ride?”
I laughed. “Oh, I can ride, but I don’t doubt my ass will hurt tomorrow.” I shoved the letter in my pocket with a plan to shove it up Simon Stark’s ass when I went to visit him. I headed to the barn, saddled up a quarter-horse, and headed out into the fields.
I took in the fresh air, tilting my head up to feel the sun on my face. I’d thought coming home would be easier. Not perfect. But I saw it as a chance to fix old wrongs. To finally find the happiness I thought I was on the path to having.
Sinclair.
Good Christ how I loved her. I remembered talking about Sinclair with one of my superiors who had taken me under his wing when I first joined the Army. I’d started missing her before I left. I felt like shit for how I left. He’d told me that I was young. He acknowledged that while my feelings were real and strong, that over time, they’d wane. That lasting love would come later.