Page 71 of A Reckless Memory

“You miss the work?” He crossed his arms. If he was cold, he didn’t show it.

“Yes,” I said wistfully. “But Mama always said she wished they’d never found oil on the land, so the ranch would’ve failed and we could’ve moved.”

“Mama would’ve said that if the ranch was lucrative.”

“Isn’t it?”

He lifted a shoulder, ever the professional and not divulging business that wasn’t mine. “I’m glad you prioritized college and got a job elsewhere.”

He might as well have said he was proud of me. I glowed inside like he did. I recalled what he said about Mama. Barns and his gruffness weren’t the only imprints on me and my brothers. “She had that effect on all of us, didn’t she?”

“What do you mean?”

“You do the books for the Knights’ businesses, but you could pull up stakes and go anywhere. Wilder and Austen went into other careers. Eliot got stuck managing it all, but it sounds like he’d have rather gone to do something else.”

“Maybe it’s because we learned not to trust our family when it comes to money.”

I tipped my head down. Mama’s life insurance.

“I’m not talking about that,” he said like he could read my mind. “Well, not only that. None of us can predict what Barns wants done with his assets once he passes.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nope. He and his lawyer are thick as thieves with that shit. You know, Meg offered to do some legal work for the ranch, and Barns canned the idea so fast I got the silent treatment for a week.”

My mouth crooked. Sounded like Meg.

“I’m not saying any of us are waiting for him to pass away with our hands held out. I’m just saying we don’t trust he has our best intentions in mind.”

“‘Thy Knight’s will be done.’”

“I hate that fucking saying.” His breath billowed around his face with the heat of his words.

“Me too. Ansen threw those words at me right before I left.” I gazed at the expanse of land for sale. At the time, I thought Ansen had thrown those accusations at me because he was in the wrong and grasping. “Said I wouldn’t understand why he did it because I grew up with everything and had the town wrapped around my finger thanks to my family’s money.”

“He wasn’t wrong.” I glanced at Cody in surprise and he shrugged, keeping his arms crossed. “We had a different upbringing. Money helped in a lot of ways. But it also ruined a lot because Barns used it to control Mama and the rest of us. I want to make sure it doesn’t affect my kids the way it did us.”

“I know we had our troubles, but our last name opened a lot of doors in Buffalo Gully that would’ve been closed.”

“To be fair, there aren’t many doors in Buffalo Gully.” He huffed out a breath. “Fuck, it’s cold.”

“There are these things called coats...”

“Ha ha, smart-ass.”

I laughed as we went inside. I hadn’t seen Cody this loosened up for a long time. Probably since before the kids were born. Maybe even before he met Meg. With her, it was like he had to be Alcott Knight all the time and not just Cody. Showing her and his in-laws that being the CEO of the family business didn’t mean he worked in a barn and got dirty as if there was anything wrong with that.

“You’ve done good,” he said as he sat on the couch and tossed his arms out to the sides, taking up half the space. This was like having teenage Cody back. My brother before he started wearing suits and running numbers. Before he had to start buying groceries and signing us up for school activities and 4-H events because Daddy would never bother himself with what he considered woman’s work. “I know I come off as critical”—he rolled his eyes when I made a “No, really?” face— “and maybe I wouldn’t have started the rescue. I definitely wouldn’t have hired someone before the rescue was earning money, but you’re making it work. You seem happy.”

After my brother’s constant nitpicking, his words made me feel like a little girl with my prize pig at the fair. It wasn’t a coincidence I had a degree in finance. So did Cody. “I’m happier here than I have been anywhere else.”

“Your boyfriend never showed.”

“I’m going to need wine if you’re starting on Ansen.” I went into the kitchen and found the sweet red wine Sutton had brought. It was still half-full, but Cody wasn’t a big drinker. He drank whatever fit the situation, and since the pumpkin pie had been cleaned up by Grayson, this would have to be in place of a second dessert.

“I’m not starting on him,” Cody said, raising his voice only enough for me to hear but hopefully not too loud to wake the kids upstairs. “I’m making an observation.”

Back in the living room, I handed him a glass. “You never verbalize an observation without reason. You’re more subtle than Daddy, but I know you’re digging for information.”

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