Page 24 of The One I Stood Beside

I sigh. “Why’s the answer no?”

The back door swings open, and Emmett stops just inside the door, pointing at me. “You’re an asshole. You left me with a bunch of kindergarteners.”

I chuckle.

He scowls at me. “Seriously, I had to give them a tour of the farm.”

“That is the only reason kindergarteners would be at the ranch,” I say.

“Screw you. You’re lucky their teacher was hot.”

“If you’d paid more attention to the class rather than the teacher, that one kid wouldn’t have snuck under the fencing and slipped on a pile of shit.” My dad stops slicing the tomato to give Emmett the stern eye we’re so used to being on the receiving end of.

“Did you see her? No joke, Jude, she would’ve had you sayin’ Sadie who?” Emmett grabs the juice pitcher out of the fridge.

I pretend to look at my watch. “Did I miss a few hours, and it’s already five o’clock? Why are you in here?”

He ignores me and grabs a glass from the cupboard next to me, jabbing me in the rib. I kick my leg out to the side, hitting him square in the thigh.

“All right, enough. Emmett, tours are a good way to make sure the kids around here respect the land and that some will want to be ranchers themselves. We’ve done them for years, and that’s not going to change. Get used to it.”

“If the teachers all look like Miss Anderson, I’m in.” He sits at the table, pouring his juice.

“Yeah, can you take that to go?” I say to him.

Emmett leans back in his chair, stretching out his legs and crossing his ankles with a shit-eating grin. “Not on your life. What are we talking about?” He looks between Dad and me.

“None of your business.”

“He’s part of the decision too,” my dad says.

“No, he’s not.” My jaw hardens.

Emmett raises his hand, inching it up and down over and over. “Oh. Oh. Can I guess?”

“No,” my dad and I say in unison.

“Jude riding in on his white horse?”

“Fuck off.” I scowl at him.

He taps his finger to his lips. “You might have to go to Hickory to that costume store to find a knight’s costume. But if they don’t have one, and you want to go to Lincoln, I’m up for a road trip.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Sadie doesn’t need saving. She’ll save herself.”

“With your safety net,” Emmett says.

Disregarding him, I concentrate on my dad. He carries his plate to the table, kicking the bottom of Emmett’s boots. Emmett sits up straight and sips his juice.

“We can’t risk our farm to save theirs.” Dad takes a bite of his sandwich.

Emmett looks at me while our dad chews and swallows, concentrating on his next bite.

“You know I can get that ranch up and going. Look what I did here.” I jump off the counter, taking the seat between them. “Monty didn’t have the equipment nor the connections we do. Come on, Dad. She needs us.”

Surprisingly, Emmett says nothing.

Dad puts his sandwich down and sighs. “I’d love to, but it’s too risky, and…” He sighs again. “She’s not family.”

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