“Yeah, thanks for the ride.” Conner opened his door and got out into the coolness of a Morgantown night. “Let me know how things shake out.” He paused. “If you want to, otherwise forget it.”
“Where exactly do you think you’re going?” Beth demanded.
He pointed vaguely toward the dark slopes of the valley. “Home.”
“There’s no one to take you at this hour except me.” She took out her keys. “Just let me check on Wes and get some more coffee and I’ll drive you up there.”
“I don’t expect you to do that, Beth,” Conner said firmly. “I can ask—”
He was speaking to thin air. He followed her into the house because she obviously wasn’t in the mood to stop and chat. She still hadn’t answered him as Wes came toward them and gave her a huge hug.
“Did you get him? Is he sulking in the truck or did Conner tie him up nice?”
Beth gently detached herself from Wes. “He decided he wanted to go through with his plan to see your father.”
“And you let him?” Wes’s startled gaze flicked toward Conner. “Like he’s on a bus right now?”
“There wasn’t a lot your mother could do about it,” Conner spoke up as Beth went into the kitchen and started fussing around with the coffeepot. “Mikey’s an adult and he made his choice. Your mother chose to respect that decision.”
Wes opened his mouth again and Conner shot him a pointed look.
“I’ve got to take Conner back to Garcia Ranch, but I’ll come straight home after that.” Beth spoke from the kitchen. She looked absolutely wiped out and miserable and Conner wished he could go to her. “We probably won’t hear anything from Mikey until tomorrow, so if you want to head up to bed that’s okay.”
“It’s way too early to sleep, Mom.” Wes shook his head. “How about we do this? I’ll take Conner, and you go to bed.”
“That would be great.” Conner turned to Wes. “I’m ready when you are.”
Beth looked at them both and set her keys back on the countertop. “Fine. Okay.” Her gaze flicked toward Conner but didn’t reach his face. “Don’t overexercise your leg.”
“I won’t.” Conner’s hands flexed as he resisted the urge to stride over and take her in his arms. “I hope Mikey works out who the good guys are soon.”
Rather than driving his own car, Wes took Juan’s truck so he could pick up Beth’s car from the ranch and bring it home. Conner relaxed as Wes drove him up through the darkened streets of the town and out on the county road toward the foothills surrounding the valley. He’d grown fond of the area with its extremes of weather and stunning scenery and already felt quite at home.
“Mom’s just tired right now.” Wes suddenly spoke up. “So, like, don’t take anything she says to heart.”
“She has a right to be upset,” Conner responded. “I totally get it.”
“Mikey doesn’t really understand what Dad is like because he’s younger than me and doesn’t remember the worst of it. And Beth, like, really protected him. My mom wasn’t so strong, and Dad treated her like shit.”
There was a hard note in Wes’s voice, the sound of a survivor Conner immediately related to.
“Dad might be able to charm Mikey for a while, but eventually, when he doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll turn on him. I tried to tell Mikey that, but he didn’t believe me.” Wes sighed. “Some people just have to work things out for themselves, right?”
Conner grimaced. “I certainly had to learn everything the hard way.”
Wes cut him an amused glance. “You’re like a fricking Navy SEAL. You’re, like, a number-one badass.”
“It’s nothing to be proud of.” Conner shifted in his seat. “And it took a long time for me to learn how to channel my anger with my own father into something positive.”
“Mikey doesn’t think he’s angry, but he is,” Wes said slowly. “Maybe seeing Dad will make him realize where that anger should be directed.”
“Man, I wish I’d worked that out when I was nineteen,” Conner said, which made Wes smile.
They completed the rest of the journey in silence as Conner struggled to stay awake and deal with the throbbing in his wounded leg. As the truck approached the cabin, he heard Loki barking.
“Thanks for the ride, Wes.” Conner opened the passenger door. “I can take it from here.”
“Okay.” Wes nodded. “Have a great night.”
Conner got out with some difficulty and stood still as Loki bombarded him with love and almost knocked