After the Sunset (12 page)

Electric blue.

Turquoise.

A blue you never forgot. A blue you noticed.

And only Rayland and Rand had them.

In the whole family.

But…. I squinted at him, and he looked away.

He cleared his throat. “I saw Rand at the Paulson auction in Sweetwater four months back. Did he tell you that?”

“No.”

“He looked good.” He said and I realized he wasn’t really listening to me, lost in thought, thinking about Rand, a wistful look on his face. It was obvious that Rand was important to him but that made no sense.

I was so confused.
Did he hate Rand or not?
And I knew Rand looked good. Why tell me that he…. “I take good care of him,” I told the older man, wanting him to know.

“Yeah, I done seen a change in him.”

It was like being out in the middle of nowhere without a map. You had no idea which way to go. He had seen a change in Rand? He saw that the man was being taken care of. He accepted that fact, remarked on it, but still….

“Do you have a plan not to get killed?”

I was really so very lost. “I’m sorry?”

He turned to look at me. “For tomorrow, what’s your plan?”

If he could start speaking English, it would be a bonus. “Could you tell me what you’re talking about, please?”

“Well, I know you ain’t fool enough to ride a bull ’cause it might just kill you when you’re thrown off, so I was wondering which you were doin’, the saddle bronc or bareback.”

I had a very funny retort lined up for barebacking, but the question seeped into me and killed every trace of humor. “You’re asking me seriously what rodeo event I’m participating in?”

“Yep.”

“Why would I do anything but watch?”

“Well because every rancher here has got to do an event. Glenn is riding the bull for the White Ash. Rand usually does the bull riding for the Red, but you can’t do that. You’ll get yourself killed. What event are you doin’?”

I had the urge to laugh, but I squelched it. Wait until I told Everett that I was planning to break my neck. “And if the rancher doesn’t participate in the event?”

“Then the grazing rights transfer custody, of course.”

Of course, of course, how stupid of me.

“I thought you would do one of the events today, something easier, but you’re fixin’ to get thrown in the arena. I will admit to looking forward to it.”

Shit.

“You get killed in the ring, that ain’t my fault.”

“Sir.” I cleared my throat, ready to change the subject. I wanted to talk to him, and continuing on about the next day’s events would make me crazy. One catastrophe at a time was all I could handle, and I had things I wanted answers to. Like why in the hell did Rand Holloway and this man have the same exact color eyes? Talking to Everett about which event I might be able to walk away from with my spine still in one piece would have to wait. “Would you tell me about your ranch?”

“What the hell for?” he growled at me.

“I’d just like to hear.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

He was silent.

“What’s it like?”

“Whaddya mean?”

“How big is the main house?”

“It has twelve rooms.”

“Oh, shit.”

“My father, Henry Holloway, built the White Ash thinking all his sons would live on it and work it together, but Tyler and James and Cyrus all left.”

“So the White Ash belongs just to you or to the others as well?”

“Just to me. All the rest gave up their rights to it when they left to start their own ranches.”

Tyler had owned a ranch?
I badly needed a history lesson on the Holloways. “So you have room for me then.”

“Where?”

“At your ranch. You have room, so I could visit.”

“I suspect so.”

“Okay then, I wanna see it.”

“Suit yourself,” he told me.

Suit myself? So I could stay there if I wanted to even though he hated me. How did that make any sense at all? The man had spit at my feet, but now I could pop over to his place for a beer? “Mr. Holloway, sir, you are not making a lot of sense.”

“Oh, no?”

“No,” I said, looking him in the eyes.

“Rand,” he said, clearing his throat. “He cares for you, does he?”

Why did that even matter?
“Yes.”

He nodded, gave Bella a final pat, and then got up and walked away without another word.

“What the fuck?” I said to my dog.

She tipped her head like I was the one who was confused.

Going into the trailer, I got out of my pseudo club clothes, took a quick shower, and was lying in bed trying to think of who to call when it hit me, and I dialed Rand’s mother, May.

“Stefan honey,” she greeted me, and I could hear her smiling into the phone. “What a nice surprise.”

“Hi, May, I hope it’s not too late to call.”

“It’s only eleven at night, sweetheart. I’m not that old.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I sighed.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I’m confused.”

“About what?”

“Rayland Holloway.”

There was a loud bang and I realized that she’d dropped the phone on the floor.

“May?”

I heard her swear, which she never did, and then there was fumbling. She was good and flustered.

Quick cough before I got her back. “I’m sorry, I lost the—now what’d you say?”

“I need you to tell me about Rayland Holloway.”

“Rayland?”

Her voice, the timber of it, up so high, basically sealed the deal for me. I knew what I needed to already. I just wanted to hear the story from her.

“What about him?”

“Could you run over the story for me, please?”

“What story is that?” she asked, her voice dripping with sugar.

“Why he’s fighting with Rand.”

“Sweetheart, he—”

“Please,” I begged her. “I want to understand.”

“How would I—”

“They have the same eyes, May.”

“Who does?”

“I’m not stupid. Please don’t talk to me like I am.”

There was a long sigh. “What would you like to know?”

“Who’s oldest?”

“What?” She laughed, but it was forced, breathless.

“Of the Holloway brothers.”

“Oh, well Tyler’s the oldest, then James, then Cyrus, and then Rayland.”

“Rayland said that Tyler had his own ranch too.”

“He used to.”

“What happened to it?”

“Well.” Her voice evened out, and she sounded better because we were off Rayland and talking about something else. She was back on solid ground. “Sweetheart, Tyler used to drink quite a bit, and he went through a lot of women, and the last one, Dawn, well she wasn’t like the others. She was smart. I think that’s why she was the only one he really loved, but—and I really liked her, and what she did was wrong, but her reasons for doing it were sound.”

“What’d she do?”

“Well, when she divorced Tyler, she took the ranch because by that time her name was on everything. And she did it for the people who lived on it and for the future of the ranch, but she put Tyler out of his home, and that nearly killed him.”

“Does she still run the ranch?”

“Her son does.”

“Tyler’s son?”

“Mmmm-hmmm.”

Jesus. “I thought Tyler didn’t have any children.”

“He has a son and a daughter.”

“Christ, nobody tells me anything,” I groused at her.

She laughed at me. “Well, sugar, it’s not like they’re close. I doubt Tyler’s seen those kids in twenty years.”

“Why?”

“You have to understand how broken he was after the divorce, Stef. He left with his tail between his legs and went to work as a roughneck in the oil fields.”

“Then what?”

“Well, then James went to see him in Midland one summer. I don’t remember when––I think right after Charlotte was born––and when he came home, Tyler was with him. James made him foreman, gave him the foreman’s house, and he’s been living on the Red Diamond ever since. He has been devoted to the ranch and first to James and then to Rand.”

“That’s so sad.”

“Yes, it is, since his own son has a wonderful home and his daughter is a doctor in the same town. His kids are fine people. It’s a shame he doesn’t know them.”

“You think he would ever want to?”

“At this point, that’s not his call to make. It’s theirs. If they want to see him, they know exactly where he is.”

“Maybe he should extend them an invitation.”

“He did maybe six years ago, and they both told him to go to hell.”

I felt bad for Tyler, though his son and daughter’s reaction made sense too. “Your family is a mess, May.”

“The Holloways are a mess, Stef, not the Millers. My people actually talk to one another. They are not hard, stoic cowboys.”

“Is Dawn still alive?”

“No, she passed about two years ago. She had breast cancer.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yes, it was. I still miss her.”

“Did she remarry?”

“No. Holloway men are hard to get over.”

It had taken May over twelve years to even think about loving another man after Rand’s father had died. She had ended up marrying a very sweet man, Tate Langley, who was the complete opposite of the force of nature that her first husband was.

“Maybe if Tyler had passed, but he broke Dawn’s heart. My cowboy never did that.”

“Okay,” I said, processing. “Now Rayland.”

“Yes?” She was suddenly breathless again.

“Is he married?”

“He was. He’s widowed now. Lily died five years ago come February.”

“What did she look like?”

“Strange question.” She hesitated.

“I’m just trying to figure something out, and I might have to draw out a Punnett square from high school biology class.”

“Well she was beautiful, part Comanche. Rayland’s son Zach has her eyes, that lovely chocolate brown.”

“I see. So Rayland has Glenn who has dark blue eyes like James and Charlotte, and his son’s Zach’s are brown.”

“Yes.”

“And Rayland and Rand have the bright blue.”

“Well, yes, they—”

“May?”

“Yes, Stefan?”

“Just because I’m blond, doesn’t mean I’m stupid. It’s a myth actually.”

Silence on the other end.

“About blonds.”

“Yes.”

“May.”

“Stefan, just—”

“I know why the man is so pissed, May, but he’s hiding it behind homophobia and land rights and a whole mess of other stuff.”

After a minute, I realized she was crying.

“Please tell me.”

“You know already.”

I took a breath. “Does Rand know that Rayland is his father?”

“No.”

“Does Charlotte know?”

“Of course not!”

She was going to have a seizure when she found out. “That was brave of you, not telling her.”

“Stefan, why are you even thinking about Rayland? How do you even know him?”

“Because we’re spending quality time together here at the rodeo,” I exhaled sharply.

“I’m sorry, where are you?”

“I’m at the Truscott Rodeo with the men, securing the grazing rights.”

Several moments of silence ticked by.

“Oh my God, Stefan,” she gasped. “How did you even know that—”

“A very nice lady called me.”

“Stef, honey, you can’t be there.”

“Too late, I’m here.”

“And Rand is where?”

“With Zach at his ranch.”

“Whatever for?”

“He’s helping run his dude ranch for the weekend.”

“And he has no idea that the rodeo was the same weekend?”

“No.”

“So you’re there in Truscott taking care of things.”

“Yes.”

“No, no, no, Stef, honey, if you’re there in Rand’s place, you have to participate in an event.”

I should have talked to her earlier. “Yeah, I just heard this.”

“Sweetheart, what are you planning to do?”

“Saddle bronc, bareback, or—”

“No!”

“At least if I rode the bull, it would be over fast.”

“Stefan!”

“Who cares, May? I’ll get thrown off either a horse or a bull tomorrow. That’s fine. The important issue here is not me but Rayland. You do know that it’s killing him not to claim his son. You do know that.”

“I do,” she whimpered, and I could hear the tears ready to pour out of her.

“Tell me what happened, May, please.”

It had been, she told me, a love affair.

The first time May Miller saw Rayland Holloway, she was smitten at first glance. He had loved her back, but he was young and had still been the roaming kind, not the settling-down kind. She was ready to be a wife, to get married and start a family. Just the thought sent him running to the rodeo circuit. A month after he left, May discovered she was pregnant. Alone and afraid, she turned to her parents, fearing for the worst. They had surprised the hell out of her. They were both looking forward to seeing their grandchild.

“You have no idea about some people, Stef, until you test them.”

So there was May, prepared to be a single parent, working at her father’s feed store when three months later, James Holloway returned from Vietnam, just stopping to see his father on his way through town, excited to start his own ranch and begin a life in Winston away from his family. He was ready to be his own man, removed from his father’s shadow. Henry Holloway had been thrilled at the change in his son, in the fire he saw in him, and gave him his blessing as well as the down payment for the land that he would build the Red Diamond on. James was excited to commit to his life, to the building of his dreams, and to finding a woman to share it all with. When he stopped at the store to pay his respects to her father, he saw May. She had grown up while he was away fighting on the other side of the world, and when he looked at her with his eyes on the future, ready to build his life from the ground up, he saw the woman whom he wanted to live his dream with him.

She had been flattered by the attention James lavished on her, but in the end it was only fair that she confessed the truth, that she was carrying his brother’s child. She was surprised for the second time in a short amount of time when James told her that he didn’t give a damn. He loved May—had, she found out, always loved her—and he would adore and shelter the child she was carrying. She wasn’t convinced. So he went first to ask her father for her hand, and then he brought her a ring. When she told him no, she went home to fall apart in her bedroom. Her father sat with her while she sobbed, and told her that the choice was hers, she could stay with him and her mother forever, but he thought maybe she should take a chance on a Holloway. The first had been too young, just a boy, but this one, James, was a man.