Page 16 of Mustang Summer

She disconnected and tossed her phone onto the passenger seat.Call him if she heard about the damn car, but not after Jesse’s court hearing.

The older she got, the more disgusted she was with Bill.She often marveled over how different they looked, with his thinning, dirty blond hair and stocky body.Both Josie and her brother had taken after their mom.And Josie had inherited a decent-sized dose of conscience from her mother, bless her soul.

Josie let the tears roll as the standard pangs of longing plagued her all the way to Moore.Her dad had always been her dad, but she’d had her mom as a refuge.The calm within the madness.

Don’t pay him no mind, Josephina.Grab your apron and help me out here.

A hot tear rolled down one cheek.Had she cooked at all since the funeral?

No, not even for Gage, who’d showed his true colors shortly after.Once she broke things off with Gage, the troubles with her brother had started as he’d grown angrier and more sullen.

She’d had no idea he’d do what he’d done.It wasn’t Jesse, not the laughing boy who’d donned a frilly apron to help out in the kitchen whenever their mother started one of her cooking sprees.

Billboards dotted the highway.A few more miles and she’d be in Moore.Her only plan was to abuse the cable in her motel room as she vegged out for the rest of the night.

She parked by the office of the tiny motel.She counted the rooms and there couldn’t be more than fifteen, but this place was the cheapest.

Her room was next to the office so she didn’t have to move her car.It’d be a little conspicuous, but with a swirl, her nervous stomach informed her she wasn’t here to hide.She’d be seeing Brock Walker tomorrow at eleven.

Brock caughta ride with Aaron and Travis.Dillon and Elle were going to pick up Cash.Most of the vandalism during the spring had been done to Dillon’s place, but it had affected all of them.

“How long do you think this’ll take?”Aaron’s profile was grim from where Brock sat in the backseat of the quad cab pickup.

Travis was in the passenger seat.“A couple days, maybe.I’ve never been to court, though, so I don’t know.”

“Dillon said it might only be a day,” Brock said.“It’s a pretty clear-cut case and the guy’s being really stubborn with his lawyer.”

“What a fucking mess.”Aaron reached to adjust his hat, but dropped his hand.“I can’t believe he has the balls to plead not-guilty.”

None of them were wearing their trademark ball caps.Court was as serious as church.

“Right,” Travis agreed.“I mean, if his family had a legitimate claim on the land…but Gram’s first husband died and rightly left it to her.”

“Then two generations later, one of ’em picks a beef with the grandkid?”Aaron shook his head.“I don’t get it.”

“He probably stuck to his not-guilty plea, hoping for a better deal.”

“Glad they didn’t give it to him.Dillon’s lawyer has his shit together and is really sticking it to the asshole.Gotta love his speed, too.”

Travis chuckled.“Small town law.”

Brock nodded.They’d lost some serious dollars in equipment when Jesse Rodriguez burned down Dillon’s shop.Then he’d almost torched Dillon’s truck, and that was when he’d been busted.

“I should be working,” Aaron muttered.

“We all should.”Travis tapped his tablet.He was always working.Their personal Einstein of the farming business was never seen without a gadget in his hand and it wasn’t for the latest fad game.“How’s Uncle David?”

“Ornery,” Aaron replied.“When we all took over the operation and our parents moved out, I didn’t expect me to be the one with the empty nest filling back up—with my damn parents.”

Travis paused in his work.“Think they’ll move back?”

Aaron shrugged.“Who knows.Mom’s not used to Dad being around all the time and Dad’s not used to time on his hands.”He went quiet for a moment.“I told them to move back home.”

“You’re never going to find someone to settle with when you still live with your parents.”Travis’s tone was dry.

“No shit.But I’d rather have my parents not trying to kill each other.”

Brock nodded, more to himself.They were all close to their parents.Their whole extended family was close.A divorce would send shock ripples through all of them.

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