Page 61 of Tempting Fate
She swung open the gate and wandered the grounds, reading the tombstones. As kids, she and her friends used to come on Halloween and try to psych themselves out. Back then, Ray hired a crew to weed and place flowers on the graves. Now brambles and scrub grew rough, making the little cemetery look like something out of the Wild West.
She kicked at the dirt with the point of her boot. “Hey, Ray.” She sat on the cold, hard dirt and pulled her knees up to get warm. “You down there, or did the devil turn you away for being more evil than him?
“Lucky’s married now. Despite all you tried to do to him, he’s happy. And alive, unlike you. He’s got a nice daughter and a big old ranch and he’s the longest reigning world champion in the history of the PBR. Remember when you said he’d never make anything of himself? Guess you were wrong.
“I loved him, Daddy. And you made me do terrible things to him. Hateful things. I don’t even know how I live with myself after what I did.”
A tear leaked down her cheek and she swiped it away. “Butch and I are divorced now. The man was a cheating, vicious piece of shit. I should’ve known what he’d be like when you picked him for me. He was just like you, Daddy.”
She wiped away another tear, then just let them come until they poured down her face. “Logan’s ten times the man you ever were. Funny how you wished I was a son when you already had one. But you wouldn’t even claim him. You let him grow up without a father. For what? To protect your stupid name? A name that’s dirt now. That’s right, Daddy, you ruined the Rosser name. You dragged it through the mud until it meant nothing. Everything Papa and Grandpa worked for, you ruined. And Mom, you beat her down to nothing. She’s a shell of the woman she used to be.”
She tried to collect herself, but she wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot. “Everything you built is gone now. And me? You had me under your thumb for so long, I didn’t know up from down. Good from bad. But I’m trying to change that. I’m even selling the last of your land and moving on. You know what helps me sleep at night? Knowing that you’ll never be able to hurt anyone again.”
Raylene took a long, deep breath, got to her feet, and leaned over Ray’s grave. “See you in hell, Daddy.”
Chapter 16
By Wednesday, Drew was seriously considering marriage counseling. Since their drive home Sunday night, Kristy hadn’t said more than ten words to him. Most of the time, they were like two strangers passing in the night.
She left for the office before he got out of the shower in the morning and spent her evenings working overtime or at the gym. Tonight, she’d locked herself in their home office.
He’d grilled a couple of steaks in hopes that at least the smell would lure her out and they could talk. But she’d emerged only long enough to make a plate and go back to her computer. Sullen, he’d moved to the den and turned up ESPN as loud as his ears could take it. Not a proud moment, but he couldn’t think of any other way to grab her attention.
Before Hope had gone missing, he and Emily had rarely fought. And when they did it was always about something minor. He hadn’t taken out the trash. She didn’t stand up enough to her mother. The usual things that husbands and wives squabbled about.
After the abduction, everything changed. He and Emily had become so despondent they were barely recognizable to each other. Emily, who’d been with Hope the day the Lanes stole her, had blamed herself, and Drew hadn’t been able to handle her self-incrimination.
After the divorce, Emily agreed to sell their home, the home where Hope had been snatched from the yard. Emily had been steeped in so much grief there that she was slowly dying. On a whim, she’d moved to Nugget, a place neither of them had ever heard of, met Clay, and fell in love. From what Drew could tell, they had a strong marriage, though he suspected that Clay was suffering from some of the same insecurities Kristy was. In a way, they were outsiders, looking in on a family that had been ripped apart by tragedy. And when Hope—the Lanes had renamed her Harper—had come back into their lives, their new spouses had to learn to assimilate as much as their little girl did.
At this point, he gave Emily and Clay’s marriage a better chance of surviving than his own. He turned down the TV and flipped through the channels. It was only eight, too early for the glut ofCSIshows. The phone rang, and when Kristy didn’t pick up in the other room, he checked the caller ID and smiled.
“Hey, how’s my cowgirl?”
“You’ll never guess what!” Harper said, and didn’t wait for him to try. “Raylene is keeping her horse, Gunner, at Sierra Heights. Technically, she’s not allowed to because she doesn’t live there, but Griffin Parks said she could, as his guest. And guess what else?”
“I give up.”
“She wants to hire me to take care of him.”
“Oh yeah?” It seemed like a big job for a thirteen-year-old, but Drew didn’t know much about horses. “What does your mom think about that?”
There was a long stretch of silence, which told Drew everything he needed to know. “Harp?”
“She and Clay don’t want me to. But Justin said he’d give me rides back and forth and, Dad, she’s going to pay me fifty bucks a week just for feeding and watering him. Once a week I have to muck out his stall. Can you believe it?”
Drew chuckled. It was nice to hear his daughter so enthusiastic for a change. Her moods were as mercurial as Northern California’s weather. The counselors said some of it was puberty, but a lot of it they attributed to her adjusting to a new life.
“Sounds like a good gig.” He felt a little disloyal to Emily saying that, but what would be the harm? “How come your mom and Clay don’t want you to do it?”
“You know how they are.” He could practically see her rolling her eyes. “They think it’ll interfere with my schoolwork and my chores on the ranch. Silly, right?”
“I don’t know, Harp. Your mom’s pretty smart about these things.” He didn’t want to go against Emily’s rules, but at the same time, he thought the responsibility would be good for their daughter.
“Will you talk to her? Please.”
He didn’t want Harper to get into the habit of running to him every time Emily said no. Yet Kristy’s words rang in his head.
Don’t suffocate her; let her be a thirteen-year-old, and let her pick her own idols.
