Ford knew someone would come after him. That's why he hadn't made it further than the back deck. He stared out at the lands his family had owned for more than a hundred years and wondered if any of his ancestors had ever felt as stupid and defeated as he did at that moment.
He'd thought it would either be Callie or his father. He wasn't expecting Jamie. "If you came out here to remind me that you told me not to get involved with her or to tell me that she's got leaving in her blood again, save it. My patience is thin enough."
Jamie leaned against the rail beside him. "Guess I deserve that. I was actually going to apologize for saying that shit."
Turning to stare down at his little brother, he narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
"Because I was wrong." He shrugged. "Even with all of this shit Meritt's dished up, you still look happier than I've ever seen you. I want that for you."
Ford attempted to swallow down a little of his irritation. "Thanks."
"You know, Dad wasn't trying to be an ass. He was working his way around to asking Callie what she thought about moving her grandparents out here to the ranch, and just letting her daddy have that farm."
"Yeah, well, he needed to get there a whole lot faster." Ford shook his head. "Besides her granddaddy's every bit as proud as ours was. He's not going to sell that land. You never sell the land," Ford stated the foundational belief that farmers and ranchers lived by. Most cattle ranchers would vow that they sold grass not cattle. After all, you couldn’t raise one without the other. If you wanted to survive in this business, the future was in the land.
Jamie chuckled. "You think I don't know that?"
"You're the one that said it."
"I'm going to let that one go instead of popping you in the mouth for being a fuckwhistle right now. You do know that you don't always get to be the only hero for her, right? I honestly can't figure out if you're so pissed because you've decided this is your fault, or if it's really just because you can't figure out a way to save her all on your own."
Being called on the carpet only served to make Ford angrier. "I don't need a lecture from Dad, and I sure as hell don't need one from you."
"Fine," Jamie huffed, "but if you want her, and we all know you do, then you're going to have to sacrifice a little of your ego and swallow some of that pride. Take it from me, hanging on to who you thought you were supposed to be ain't worth it if you lose the only chick on this planet who clearly gets the guy you really are. Besides, you ever think that maybe the Holders just can’t save everyone in this town? Maybe we aren’t even supposed to. Seems people hate us when we do and when we don’t. I’m not sure it even matters anymore."
Ford was aware that Jamie was no longer discussing the issue with Meritt and Abe Monroe. The look in his little brother’s eyes held far too much raw pain and rejection.
"Jamie," Callie’s tender voice pricked the cool night air. Both men turned to stare her down. "Can I talk to him for a minute?"
"Be my guest." Jamie and Callie exchanged places, but Jamie turned back before he returned to the kitchen. "There's shit worth holding onto in this life, man. Your pride ain't it."
"Hey," Callie wrapped her arms around him. Instinctively, he folded her into his chest and let her bury her face in him.
"Hey, baby. I'm sorry I'm being an ass." Jesus, how many times had he apologized for that in the last week.
"You're not." She lifted her head and gave him that grin that undid him. "I really do love that you want to be able to fix all of this for me, but I want to help. I wish you'd let me."
"I'm trying. I swear. I just...I don't know..." He knew what he wanted just not how to say it.
"You want to be my knight in dirty cowboy boots?" She sank her teeth into her lip to keep her smirk at bay.
Chuckling at that, he gave her a begrudged nod. "Is that so bad?"
"No, but you're already that. You solving this whole thing all on your own won't make you a hero any more than not solving it would knock you off of the throne I have you on in my head."
"I don't deserve a throne."
"How about a really tall horse then?"
"I might could agree to that. It's better than like a gold-plated tractor or something," Ford teased her. She just always made him better. Maybe part of what Jamie had said was right. Ford didn't have to be the hero every time. He just really wanted to most of the time.
Her giggling was interrupted by the buzz of her phone between them. She fished it out of her pocket and stared down at it in disbelief. "It's Derrick." She answered before Ford could protest.
His muscles vibrated with possession. The word mine seared in his skull. She did more listening than talking but then leapt into the conversation. "You're here? Like here in Oklahoma?!"
Every curse word Ford knew and a few he made up on the fly paraded through his head, but he kept a tight lock on his lips. She wasn't Meritt. He knew that.
"No, we don't have personal drivers out here, and I'm not surprised Uber doesn't come to Holder County." She sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll come out to the airport. I'll be there in a couple of hours." She ended the call and then immediately held up her hand. "I need to go talk to him. He came all the way out here. I need you to trust me."
"I do trust you." Ford wasn't entirely certain that was true, but he knew it was a product of his marriage and had nothing to do with Callie. "Answer one question for me—do you want to go talk to him or do you just think you have to because he flew out here? I won't have you doing things out of guilt."
She considered for a long drawn minute. Ford ordered himself to be patient. "I want to go talk to him. I deserve to really be heard." She stared down at the wooden planks beneath her ballet flats like she was worried the foundation was going to splinter into pieces at any moment.
"Can I come with you?" There. He hadn't demanded to go with her. That was something, even if he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Her head jerked back up. "I didn't want to ask you to do that. If you don't mind, I'd really appreciate it. I can handle it on my own, but I don't want you to worry."
"I trust you." If he said it enough, surely he'd get it cemented in his head.
"You're trying to, and I'm trying not to resent that you don't. On the other hand, if Meritt wasn't the wicked witch of the Midwest and she flew two thousand miles to see you, I'd want to be there, too."
"I'm sorry that I'm still letting her ruin this," he choked over that admission. Instead of apologizing for being an asshole, that's what he'd been trying to say for days.
"She only gets to ruin this if we let her. I have no intention of giving her that power. Now, let's go see if I can talk Derrick into coming up with some proof that I didn't even know you until the day of your divorce."