Page 29 of Wrangling a Texas Hometown Hero

When she was younger, she would have continued to argue. But she must be getting old too because she didn’t have the energy or the desire to keep beating her head against the brick wall that was her daddy’s stubbornness. She could stand there and argue with him until the cows came home and he wouldn’t listen. So she gave up trying and concentrated on getting the fence finished so they could both get back to the ranch and have that glass of iced tea.

They were heading home in his pickup before they spoke again. “So I hear Decker and Sweetie are coming home today,” he said.

“That’s what I hear.”

He swerved around a pothole, almost giving Hallie whiplash. Her daddy had never been a good driver. “That boy sure gave us a fright. But I guess sometimes you need a fright like that to figure out what’s important in life.”

The hitch in his voice had her glancing over at him. She was surprised to see tears glistening at the corner of his eye. She only remembered her daddy crying once in her life and that was when Granddaddy had passed away. The sight softened her heart and she couldn’t stop herself from reaching over and placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Thankfully, Decker is just fine, Daddy.”

He gave a brief nod and swallowed hard. “Family is everything, Hallie. Don’t you ever forget that.” He glanced out the windshield at the vast land surrounding the truck. “I love this ranch, but it’s just land. If I lost it tomorrow, I would survive. But losing part of your family is another story.”

Hallie had never heard her father talk like this before. She didn’t know how to reply. So she just sat there with her hand resting on his shoulder as they finished the drive back to the house.

Mama must have seen them coming because as soon as they pulled in front, she came out the screen door carrying a tray of glasses filled with plenty of ice and tea. Mimi followed behind her with a tray of sandwiches. No doubt, egg salad. Egg salad sandwiches were what Mimi loved most on a hot summer day.

Although the fall wreath hanging on the door and the fake leaf garland draping from the eaves didn’t exactly say summer.

“Isn’t it a little early for fall decorations, Mama?” Hallie pointed out as she climbed out of the truck. “We’re a good two weeks away from Labor Day.”

Mama laughed as she set down the tray on the table. “You know how much I love fall.” She gave Hallie a big hug as soon as she stepped onto the porch. “And since my autumn baby is home, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to start celebrating early. Sheryl Ann has already put her Pumpkin Harvest muffins on the menu and the Soybean festival is just around the corner.” She drew back and smiled. “You could still sign up for Miss Soybean.”

“Not happening. I’m not queen material. That’s Sweetie, Liberty, and Noelle.”

Mama pinched her cheek. “You’ll always be a queen to me. Although you’re a sweaty mess at the moment. You and your daddy need to come on in and get cleaned up.”

“She will in a minute,” Mimi said. “I want to talk to her first.” She hesitated. “Privately.”

Private talks with Mimi were never a good thing. The last private talk with her grandmother had been about sex and all “the nasty diseases that are out there.” It had been extremely uncomfortable. She hoped she wouldn’t have to live through that again.

Once Mama and Daddy had gone inside, Hallie grabbed a glass of ice tea and a half of egg salad sandwich before she flopped down in the swing. “Well, don’t keep me in suspense, Mimi. What’s so private?”

“Why would you want Corbin to hire Jace Carson as a foreman?”

She wasn’t surprised Corbin had told her grandmother. He and Mimi had gotten close since he’d taken over the ranch. “Why wouldn’t I? Jace knows the ranch. He gets along with Daddy when few people do. It makes perfect sense. Jace needs something to keep him busy after losing football.”

Not to mention, if Jace stayed to help on the ranch, it would make it much easier for Hallie to leave. Something she wasn’t looking forward to telling her grandmother. But it turned out her grandmother had already figured things out.

“And if Jace takes over the ranch, you can hightail it back to Austin and not feel guilty about shirking your responsibilities to your family. But this isn’t Jace’s ranch, Hallie. It’s yours. And not just your ranch, but your heritage.”

“Now stop trying to guilt-trip me, Mimi. You don’t need me here when you have four of your granddaughters and four new grandsons to do your bidding. That’s all the family you need keeping our heritage. And Jace will make a damn good foreman.”

Mimi studied her. “Not as good as you. But that’s not here nor there because Jace didn’t take the foreman job.”

Hallie choked on the bite of sandwich she’d just taken. Once she cleared her throat, she stared at her grandmother. “He didn’t take the job? Why not?”

“Because he’s leaving.”

“Leaving? But I thought he was staying to help out Decker.”

Mimi shrugged. “I guess he’s willing to shirk his responsibilities too. When I talked to Sweetie at the hospital this morning, she said he’s leaving first thing tomorrow. Sweetie said Decker is pretty upset about it.”

Decker wasn’t the only one. Hallie’s chest felt like it was caving in. No doubt because she was more than a little angry. Decker needed Jace. He couldn’t just run off and leave him.

She jumped up and set her sandwich and glass of tea on the table. “I think I’ll drive over to Decker and Sweetie’s and welcome them home.”

“You’re going to Sweetie and Decker’s?” Mama came out the screen door. “If you wait, Mimi and I will go with you. The last casserole dish we made for them needs to finish baking. It shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes. Then we can all go together.”

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