Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

My father twisted the wire and looked at me. “You need to start calling it your place, son. It’s your property. Your ranch. And yes, Ranger is your horse. As a matter of fact, if you want to take more of these beasts off of my hands, I’m more than happy to let you.”

With a chuckle, I said, “I’m sure Paige would love a horse, as well. We’ve both missed riding like we used to.”

“The two of you used to ride every day, pretty much. She always did like Princess.”

“You don’t think Mom would mind? She adores Princess.”

“She adores Paige more. Trust me, your mother hasn’t ridden in six months. She’s been keeping herself busy with other things. I think that fall she had last year might have scared her.”

I nodded as the memory of last year came back. My father had called me in a state of utter panic. Mom had been out riding and had been thrown from a horse. She broke her arm and had to have surgery to get it back in place. She had climbed up onto a horse a few times after, purely to prove to herself that she wasn’t afraid. After that, she had stopped riding altogether. I couldn’t blame her. The few times I’d been thrown from a horse, it had scared me, too. Horses were both so damn powerful and so damn gentle.

Glancing over to me, my dad smiled. “You don’t know how good it is to see you in real clothes.”

With a frown, I looked down at my clothes. “Real clothes? When have I not worn real clothes?”

He huffed. “Those damn collared shirts and khaki pants that woman always had you in. Let’s not even talk about the preppy shoes.”

I laughed. “I used to wear that to work, Dad. Not everyone wears jeans, cowboy boots, and Stetson hats to their jobs.”

“I do. My daddy did before me.”

I wanted to point out that his biological father had probably never slid a cowboy boot on in his entire life. I didn’t, though; I let that one go.

“I missed the ranch. The smell of it out here makes me happy.”

“Manure and grass.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Ahh, nothing like it. I could roll in it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said, snarling.

“What else did you want to talk about?”

“Do you have plans this weekend?”

Already knowing the answer, I watched as he seemed to go through the internal calendar he kept in his head. He was the only person I knew who never wrote a damn thing down. Something I had not been gifted with.

I smiled. “Dad, you don’t ever work on the weekend. It’s always been your golden rule. Why are you thinking so hard about this?”

He huffed again. “How do you know I don’t have plans? I was going to play golf with Lou this Sunday after church. Then your momma talked about going into Fredericksburg for the Octoberfest on Saturday.”

I gave him a thoughtful look as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Damn shame you’ve got such amazing plans. I was sort of hoping you might be free Saturday night, around six.”

“Six? I’m sure your mother and I will be back by then. You thinking dinner with you and Paige?”

“Something like that. More along the lines of a wedding, then a small dinner after.”

He twisted the last tie around the repaired fence. “I think we can make that…”

I laughed when his head whipped around, and he stared at me, his mouth damn near to the ground.

“Did you say a wedding? This Saturday? That’s in three days, Lucas.”

“Yes, sir, I know. My bride-to-be is in a bit of a panic. You see, we negotiated last night. I said I’d let her paint my office pink in exchange for a wedding this weekend.”

He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Why in the hell would you agree to let her paint your office pink?”

I loved that that was what he wondered about. “I believe it was you who told me once, after Paige and I had an argument, to pick my battles.”

He grinned and pointed to me. “That is why you’re my favorite son.”

“I’m your only son.”

“Minor thing. So, care to tell me why the rush?”

We started to gather up the tools and walked them over to the ranch truck.

“I’m tired of waiting. I’ve wasted too much time being an ass. I want to start a family.”

That caused him to pause. “How does Paige feel about that? She’s starting her shop… Does she want to start a family this soon?”

I smiled. “Yes. I told her I’d stay home with the baby. I figured I could work something out with a nanny.”

A roar of laughter came from his mouth. “A nanny. Your mother would smack you upside your head if she heard you say that. Just yesterday she had me clearing out your old room. It’s going to be the nursery, she said.”