Page 92 of A Forgotten Heart
“It’s over,” Nick said. “Some fancy-pants city slicker came to marry her.”
Drew narrowed his eyes. “Were they standing in front of a preacher?”
“What?” Nick’s hand paused in the midst of gripping new pages to tear. “No. You don’t propose in front of a preacher. That’s what the wedding is for.”
Ed waved one hand from the bed. “It ain’t official until they’re in front of a preacher.”
Didn’t his brothers get it? Elsie had chosen someone else.
“I didn’t figure you for someone who gave up so easily,” Drew said.
Nick slammed the book cover closed and tossed it back on the crate. “Look, she chose some other guy and made a fool out of me. Just more proof that I’m the weak link—I’ll never live up to the rest of you.”
All three brothers went quiet. Ed sat up, staring at Nick now.
Isaac gave Nick a pointed look. “What are you talking about?”
Nick ran a hand down his face. He wanted this conversation over so he could do what needed to be done. And be left alone.
He turned his attention back to the stove. “That’s what Pa said. Don’t you remember?”
The brothers’ stares pricked Nick’s neck. All remained silent.
Nick’s stomach knotted. “That’s what Pa called me when I messed up. Weak link.” He blinked away the burning behind his nose. “It’s why Pa broke his leg and eventually died.”
Compassion lit Isaac’s expression as Drew and Ed glanced at each other.
Drew palmed the back of his neck. “Nick, you weren’t meant to carry that weight. What happened to Pa was an accident.”
“But if I hadn’t?—”
“You have to forgive yourself, Nick.” Drew’s eyes bored into Nick’s, a reflection of the past within their sheen. “We’ve all made bad decisions, and we’ve all paid for them.”
Nick worked his jaw back and forth. “I’m not like the three of you.”
Ed narrowed his gaze, fervor within its depths. “Doesn’t make you any less our brother.”
Ed’s words slammed into Nick’s chest. How had Ed pinpointed Nick’s fear? That somehow, because of his uniqueness, he didn’t belong in this family.
That God had made a mistake when Nick had been born.
Drew pointed a finger straight at Nick. “This family needs you to be who God created you to be. Not some hired hand.”
Isaac frowned. “If it hadn’t been for your quick thinking and setting fire to the bunkhouse last week, this family would’ve been devastated.”
Drew cleared his throat. “When I think of how I almost lost Kaitlyn, the kids, the baby?—”
Ed placed his palm on Nick’s shoulder. “Nick, you aren’t a weak link. You are a vital link in this family’s chain.”
“And we don’t want you to give up on your own dreams,” Drew said.
Isaac thumped Nick in the chest with the back of his hand. “Send in that application.”
Nick didn’t know what to think. “What about the ranch? Ed’s only here half time. Isaac’s going back to the Marshals.”
Drew looked to Ed and Isaac. “It’ll work out. The kids are getting older.”
Isaac smirked. “McGraws don’t give up.”
