Page 39 of Rough
“We’ll do our best, then.” With a wink, he takes a few long draws on my bottle, then hands it back. Lifting his chin, I know he wants me to do the same. Without taking my eyes from him, I place the bottle to my lips and match him. They never let me drink with them before they left, but apparently that rule has changed now.
“Hey! You best slow down, little girl!” Remy shouts at me, dragging his feet through the water as he makes his way back to shore. Clyde is following, albeit a bit slower. What I will say is that now that the cold has perked them both up, his eyes are lasered on me and he’s moving around a lot steadier.
I take another drink for good measure. “You can fuck right off, Remington Landry. What’d you wanna talk about? Ready to apologize for being a massive, entitled prick? Or do you wanna dig your hole a bit deeper before we get there?”
Remy comes up short, standing in front of me with his briefs plastered to his body. Irefuseto look down and inspect the shape of his cock. I’m a fucking lady. Planting his hands on his hips, he stares down at where I’m sitting and blows out a long breath.
“I really wanna lay into you. I’m so fuckin’ mad at you, Bets.”
Nodding slowly, I offer my bottle to him. “Wanna just get drunk with me instead? Celebrate your daddy?”
An array of emotions flicker through his eyes, but he grabs the bottle and takes a long guzzle, never looking away from my face. Handing it to Wilder’s outstretched hand, he sits down in front of me, resting his arms on his knees.
We study each other for a few minutes, no one saying anything before he eventually hangs his head and inhales loudly, then blows it out. “I can’t believe he fuckin’ died. Justdied.”
All of us deflate and continue to drink, only taking sips now. “I’m real sorry about Donny. Fuckin’ kills me every time I think about him bein’ gone.”
“I’m so pissed at him.”
Wilder, Clyde, and I all jerk our heads up when Remy admits that. Without meeting our eyes, he keeps talking.
“I don’t get it. Why the fuck wouldn’t they tell me? I’d have come back so fuckin’ fast. They stole my chance to say goodbye and—” He stops talking to swallow, then leans forward to pull the bottle from my hand for another drink. “I… I don’t think I can forgive him for it.”
“Rustic…” I trail off when he whips his head up and narrows his eyes at me. “Remy,” I correct myself. Apparently, I don’t get to call him that anymore. “Your momma and daddy were so proud of you. The moment they learned he was sick, they figured it’d just be some treatments and he’d move on with life. They were gonna tell you, I hope you know that. The doctors all said he had more time. He was supposed to have so much more time.”
“It ain’t right. None of it is right!” He’s so angry, rightfully so, and I know whatever I say right now isn’t going to help.
“No,” I whisper. “It wasn’t right.” I fought for hours with Donny about telling Remy, but he was determined not to pullhim away from his dreams. Especially knowing that there wasn’t anything he could do to stop what was happening. “I just know that he didn’t want you to feel obligated to quit what you were doin’. He was proud of you. You know that, right?”
The sound of pain that erupts from his throat has all of us looking down at the ground, giving him a moment to himself. Donny’s loss hits us all differently. He was Remy’s dad. A father figure to me, but different from how Pap was. A savior and safe space for Clyde. A boss and role model for Wilder. The hole we all feel will never be filled now that he’s gone, and it feels like we’re all missing a piece of our world.
“He bought me my first horse,” Clyde says softly.
Another moment to absorb Clyde’s words, Wilder speaks up. “He taught me how to ride and gave me my first job.”
Remy’s head hangs lower as he listens, so I keep it going. “He was the daddy I never had.”
“Taught me to drive stick shift.” Wilder’s smile is genuine, and I grin, remembering how many times he stalled out in first gear.
Giggling, I hand him the bottle. “I was sittin’ in the back of the truck for that. You were awful for so long. Remember what he’d always say when you were supposed to lift off the clutch and press the gas?”
“Make it purr,” Remy croaks out. “You gotta make your engine happy. You know it’s happy if it purrs at ya.”
Wilder’s head tilts back as he stares at the sky. “Make it purr. He also lectured me on how to treat a lady. When my first girlfriend and I split, he overheard me endin’ things with her and told me what I needed to look for in a woman, but also what they’d expect from me.”
“You need to find yourself a woman who pushes you to be better. Someone who supports your dreams and makes you strive to be a better man.” I ignore the way Clyde is looking at mewhen Remy shares Donny’s advice. “He told all of us that when we started datin’.”
Clyde, still staring at me, adds, “Don’t forget he said to find a woman who’s smarter than you. He said life will be borin’ if you don’t find someone who’ll challenge ya and keep you on your toes. Need to find yourself an equal.”
Snorting, I drag my eyes away from him and take my bottle back. It’s already half gone, but that’s probably a good thing. The warmth from the liquor is keeping me from needing to wrap up in my jacket. “Shouldn’t be too hard for you. Ya’ll are a bunch of morons.”
I smile at Remy when he finally lifts his head to look at me to let him know I was teasing. “Maybe.” It’s all he says, but I feel like he’s admitting something; just don’t know what it is.
We fall silent again as we continue to pass the bottle around; Wilder and I drinking extra, since the other two are already feeling good. Finally, Wilder bumps his shoulder against me to gain my attention.
“Why’d you fire Uncle Murph?”
So, now we’re going to dive into it.“Your uncle has been pissed at me since the moment Donny and I merged farms. He didn’t think ya’ll were comin’ back to Broken Ridges and thought it should go to him. Donny and Renee didn’t want that. They wanted to keep it in the family.”
