Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
She shakes her head and looks me in the eye, suddenly becoming calm. “I need you, Dolly. It’s rough out in Seattle. Waiting tables doesn’t pay the best, and it’s hard to find a better job. But together we can do it. Please, come with me.”
“Mom... just...” I massage my temples, not sure of what to say. Despite everything, she’s still my mother, and I don’t wish her ill.
The ranch house’s door opens again, and Annie comes in, along with Crockett. She sees my mother and stops. “Uh... is this a bad time? What’s going on here?”
“I’m just taking my daughter and leaving is all,” my mother replies, seeming very proud of herself.
“Lucille, cut this shit out,” Crockett declares, stepping forward. “Dolly doesn’t want to go along with whatever you’re up to right now.”
“What do you mean, what I’m up to?” Her eyes narrow at Crockett.
“You know what I mean. You’ve been doing this her whole life. I took this poor girl in for more than one reason, I’ll have you know.”
Annie places a hand on my shoulder. “Dolly, what’s going on?”
I sigh. “My mother wants me to move to Seattle to help her pay rent. I don’t want to leave. I like it here.”
Mom pokes me in the chest. “Because you have it easy here!”
“The hell she does,” Crockett is quick to snap back. “The girl works hard. She does what she can. She’s trying, unlike you. Maybe if you got your head out of your own ass you’d see that.”
“What’s going on? Why is there a bunch of shouting?” Finally, my man steps in to the house. Angus is loaded down with groceries, which he dumps on the table. “Dolly’s not going anywhere, is she?”
“She ain’t going anywhere. At least, not unless she wants to.” Crockett lets out a long sigh. “Lucille, we both gotta take a step back here as parents.”
“Don’t tell me how to be a parent, Crockett!”
“I’ll stop when you stop seeming to need my advice.” Crockett looks tired, as if he’s building up to saying something he’s been holding onto for a long time. “We gotta realize they ain’t our kids anymore.”
“Dad, what do you mean?” Annie says. “Are you disowning us all of a sudden?”
He takes off his cap and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t mean it like that. What I mean is we ain’t in control of our kids’ destiny, Lucille. They gotta make their own decisions in life, and expecting them to bend over backwards and be our servants is bullshit.”
Mom grumbles.
“You gotta let Dolly make her own path,” Crockett insists. “She’s welcome here as long as she wants to be, and I ain’t gonna let you drag her to the city just because you can’t make rent. But more importantly?” Crockett turns to Angus, who perks up when his father looks at him. “I gotta let my boy go do what he wants to do too.”
“Dad?” he says, an eyebrow raised. “You’re still being cryptic.”
“I mean what I mean. I know you came back to Burly because you felt obligated to. But you’re your own man, Angus. You’re free to do what you want. You don’t have to come back here and clean up my mess and deal with a ranch I’ve let fall apart. If you want to be a college boy, you go and do college things. Be the man you want to be, I’ll be proud of you no matter what.”
Angus smiles, but shakes his head. “I ain’t never been the best at speaking my mind, have I?”
“No one ever knows what you want, brother,” Annie says. “You keep leaving all of us guessing.”
“Well, here, I’m going to say it in plain and honest English. I want to take care of this ranch, Dad. I went to college to help the ranch. Because Mom said that’s what needed to be done. Now I’m back here, and I’m dedicated to making the Rowdy Ranch flourish even more than it did before.”
“Son...”
“I love you, Dad. And this is my home. I know it’s been rough, but I’m here for the long haul. I’m going to make this ranch my own, and we’re going to build it back up together. You, me, and my bride to be.”
Crockett’s eyes go wide. “Bride to be? What are you talking about?”
Angus steps past my mother and takes my hand. “Dolly here. I love her with all my heart and we’re going to get married.”
“You and Dolly? You’re getting married?” My sister’s voice is high and meek from sheer shock.
I just laugh, and slap him on the ass. “You haven’t even proposed yet, you big goof.”
He pulls me close in an embrace, and kisses me briefly before releasing me. “If that’s what you want, babe.” He then drops to one knee and pulls a ring out.