“Nah, but you do get arrested for assault. When he gambles, he drinks. Drinkin’ is what brings on the violence.”
Bill set his beer on the counter. Just the thought of it was turning his stomach. “What did you have to do?”
“I got him out of jail and got him a lawyer. The lawyer got him off for time served and probation. Russ promised your mama he’d quit gamblin’, but it wasn’t six months before a friend of your mama called me again.”
“What happened then?”
“Pretty much the same thing, only this time your mama was too ashamed to call me. When I got there, I talked some sense into her. The next time it happened, she called me herself.”
“How many times?” Bill was trying to remember how many times Clancy had left the ranch with no explanation.
“All together, it happened six times. Not every circumstance was the same. A couple of times, he left for several days, and your mama had no idea how to find him. She was afraid he was gonna turn up dead.”
“Did you have to bail him out each time?” Bill couldn’t believe his mama would rely on Clancy that way. It wasn’t up to him to give her money. Bill had savings. He could’ve helped.
“What happened to what we’ve been sendin’ her? Does he take it from her?” Bill was spitting mad at the thought that his hard-earned money was being gambled away. It was for his mama and sister, not for Mr. Snyder.
“He doesn’t know about that money, somehow she’s managed to hide it from him. And she refused to use it to bail him out. After the first time, I wouldn’t bail him out either, and she didn’t want me to. I figured spendin’ a few nights in jail might scare him enough to quit.”
“What took her so long to divorce him?” This didn’t sound like his mama. Before his daddy died, and the whole while he was sick, his mama had managed things all on her own.
“Well…that’s complicated. Each time, he promised it would never happen again. And she loves him, or at least she did. Sometimes you wanna believe the best about someone you love, even though they keep provin’ themselves unworthy.”
“What’s gonna happen to my mama and my sister? I have money saved up. I can get them a place in McCoy. Maybe she could find a job here.”
Clancy rubbed his face with his hands. “No, son, your mama owns the house in Colorado Springs now.”
“I don’t understand. Whose house? Mr. Snyder’s?”
Clancy nodded. “The last time Russ got into trouble, it was bigger than before. And this time, they weren’t just threatening him. They were comin’ after your mama.”
Bill felt the blood drain from his face. “What’d you do?” He could barely get the words out.
“I paid the money he owed, but only after he signed the deed to the house over to your mama. Then I gave him the money to get the hell out of town. I told him, if he showed his face around again, I’d be waitin’ with a shotgun.”
Bill slunk down into his chair. All this time, he’d been working the ranch, riding bulls and broncs, writing letters to Dottie, and not worrying about his mama at all. He was a terrible son.
“Your mama and sister are comin’ to your graduation, Bill. Once we get you settled at Western State, I’ll be leaving the ranch.”
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“What? I don’t understand.” Why would Clancy leave the ranch? If this had something to do with his family, Bill would never forgive himself.
Clancy leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “I made your daddy a promise that I would look out for his family after he passed. I haven’t been doin’ too good a job of it.”
Bill hesitated. Clancy couldn’t give up his share of the ranch because of a promise he’d made his daddy. He had his own life to live. No, that wouldn’t be the way it would go. Instead of Clancy going to live with his mama and sister, he’d go. If he could get into Western State, there had to be a college near Colorado Springs he could get into. It hurt his heart to think he wouldn’t be attending college with Dottie, but his heart hurt more knowing he hadn’t been there when his mama needed him.
The other thing it meant was that it was time to give up rodeo. He was at a crossroad. If he went one direction, he’d continue living life as a selfish ingrate. If he went the other way, he knew in his heart he’d be doing the right thing.
“I’ll go,” he said finally. “It’s time I started takin’ care of my family, Clancy. You’ve been better to us than anyone could ask, and I appreciate all you’ve done, but it’s time for me to take responsibility.”
Clancy smiled. He looked different tonight. Weary, yet not stressed. “That’s the other part of the story, young Flynn. You better get yourself another beer to hear this part.”
13
Being alone in the dining room wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Bullet tried to keep his hands off Tristan so she could eat, but he wasn’t able to. If he wasn’t touching her, the yearning to do so overpowered his ability to resist.
She’d lean into him, as though her body yearned for his in the same way.