Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I go in first with War at my heels. Uncle Lovett doesn’t notice us for a minute. He seems smaller than I remember, thinner and softer, like the man I used to know was the toughened version of whatever he’s become now. Everyone in my family feels that way, but particularly Uncle Lovett—he was always harsh, always straightforward almost to the point of being cold. I liked him, loved him even, and craved his approval at times, but for the most part I did my best to avoid him because I knew even back then that there was no pleasing this man, not completely.
He hums to himself but stops abruptly when he looks over and sees me standing there, watching. His expression sharpens, and he walks to the radio and turns it down. “What’re you doing here?” he asks.
“Hi, Uncle,” I say and step deeper into the garage. Tools and spare parts are scattered all over. The vehicle he’s working on looks like an old Chevy truck from the ‘50s, but it’s in bad shape, the body rusting and missing more than a few important bits and pieces. “I was hoping we could continue our conversation from earlier.”
Uncle Lovett stares at me then glances back at War. He wipes his hands on a rag, considering, eyes narrowed. I expect him to kick us out, but instead he walks to a small mini fridge beside the work bench, opens it up, and offers me a drink. “Might as well have this,” he grunts at me. “Your boyfriend too, if he wants.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say automatically, though I pass him a beer. War accepts it, cracks it open, and takes a drink.
“Thanks,” he says.
Uncle Lovett ignores War and studies me. I hold the drink between my hands, the aluminum frosted with condensation and freezing. “I thought you’d be gone by now,” he says after a while and leans back against the bench, arms crossed. “Figured your little run-in with Daisy would drive you off.”
“That’s not the first time one of the girls tried to hurt me. I’m used to it by now.”
He runs a hand through his thinning hair and laughs. “You always were getting into trouble. Daisy’s pops hated it.”
“He’s gone and who cares what the guy thought?” I say, not feeling bad about my harsh tone. Daisy and Rosie’s father was an alcoholic asshole that ran off when I was ten, leaving Aunt Faye alone to raise the girls. But Aunt Faye wasn’t all that great of a mother, and she checked out as soon as her husband disappeared one fine day and she never recovered. I haven’t even seen her since being back, and she might be gone too, for all I know.
“Yeah, well, he thought the girls should’ve had more responsibility. He was always talking how his girls were set to the side and you were put right in the middle. You know, he felt like his girls were always second best, but I guess look at them now.”
“Look at them now,” I agree and grip the can tighter. One’s dead and the other’s got an iron grip over a dying ranch. “Seems like Daisy got that promotion after all.”
Uncle Lovett laughs quietly and moves over toward the pickup. War shifts his position, putting himself between the two of us, but Uncle Lovett doesn’t seem to notice. He brushes a hand on the hood of his truck and gently knocks away some invisible dirt.
“You know, despite everything that happened back then, your daddy never had a bad thing to say about you after you left.”
My eyebrows raise. “I find that hard to believe.”
“I did too at the time. I pushed him on it, kept saying, Colton, that girl of yours said some bad things then up and ran away when life got hard. But your daddy, he didn’t always agree with the claims you made, but he never once talked down about you. I always respected that. My brother’s a lot of things, but he puts family first, and he’s no liar.”
“I’m not a liar either,” I say quietly which only makes Uncle Lovett smile. But my heart’s beating fast, and I know what he’s trying to do, and it’s working. I’m knocked off balance thinking about my father defending me, or at least refusing to denounce me, which couldn’t have been easy back then when everyone despised me and he was struggling to hold the ranch together.
“I’ve wondered about that for a long time now,” he says and watches me carefully. “The way it all went down. At the time, we were so sure you were faking, but we were all raw over Rosie’s death and now I don’t know. Now I have questions.”
I shake my head. I can’t let this asshole get under my skin. There’s no way I’m going to believe he ever had doubts about anything in his life. “It’s too late for that. None of it matters anymore. All I want to know is why Daisy’s suddenly in charge. Why is she the one that stepped up after Daddy got sick? Why do you all listen to her?”