neither of them being up to conversation. He’d left her at the barn several hours ago, and he’d been snarling at his manga project ever since.
A knock sounded at his door, and he scowled instead of getting up. He still didn’t want to talk to his mother. He didn’t want to say the things to her that were on his mind.
Did she not love Dad anymore?
How could she possibly move on so soon?
How could she simply toss his dad’s legacy aside?
When the knock sounded again, he growled and set his tools down. Turning off the light on the magnifier, he slipped a cloth over the sculpture and rose. His mom knew that he did more than the simple carvings he sold at the festival and in the shop downtown. He’d given her a figurine of a man and a woman a couple of years ago. The woman was in scrubs and the man in a cowboy hat. But even she didn’t know how much more he did. No one did. And he wasn’t about to share that information now, either.
Stomping across the room, he wrenched open the door, deciding to let it out. Blast his mother with all his thoughts. Only, it wasn’t his mom standing at the top of his stairs. It was Jewel. And she still looked as furious as him.
“How bad was the offer?” Jewel demanded without waiting for him to speak.
“What?”
She pushed her way into the small living space. “I asked the other night if it was a good offer, and you said no. So, how bad was it?” She braced her hands on her hips. “Did he offer what Rolls is worth?”
“No.”
“So then, not what Death is going to be worth, either?”
“Correct.”
“Then I don’t get it, Bobby.” She paced across the floor before turning back. “Why would your mom even consider it? Am I not doing a good enough job running things?”
Was that what she thought?
“Jewel.” He reached for her, but she ignored him and kept pacing. “No,” he insisted. “You’re doing an amazing job, and Mom knows it. We all know it. The Double B wouldn’t be the same without you.”
“Then why sell?” She stopped moving and glared at him. “Why get rid of everything that your dad—” Her voice cracked, and danged if tears didn’t appear in her eyes again.
Pain filled Bobby, finally making him see something other than anger. He hurt for her. He hurt for himself. And he hurt for his mother, who even though she claimed she was fine with selling, he worried she might come to regret it.
He forced himself to admit the truth. “She’s selling because of me.”
And that was his biggest issue. His mother was willing to sell what had meant the most to his dad—to her husband—because of him.
Anger eased from Jewel’s face, replaced by confusion. “Because of you?”
He sighed. Then he hid all other emotions. “She thinks that by keeping the Double B, by keeping Dad’s dream, it’ll interfere with mine.”
“How?”
He stared at her. He didn’t want to answer. Because when he did, he knew she’d take that burden on herself.
“Bobby.” She moved to him. “I’m running the business. You’re about to go back to school. How would selling it help you?”
“Because I didn’t go to school last year.”
It took a moment, but reality hit. He saw it with her involuntary step back. Then he watched as the color drained from her face. “And then Leon needed off this summer . . . and you had to come home again.”
“Right.”
“But you’ll be done in time to start school this time. Leon will be back on the job.”
He didn’t say anything else. He waited for her to figure it out. It didn’t take long.
“But what if it happens again?” she said, her voice growing softer. “What if you’re needed again?”
He swallowed. “Right. That’s Mom’s argument. It’s not always easy to find last-minute help.”
“Then I coerce one of my sisters into helping.” Fierceness filled her. “Or maybe all three of them. They could rotate. That’s what family is for, after all. Heck, that’s what I should have insisted on doing this time.”
He let out a sad laugh. And while he appreciated her energy, her willingness to twist her sisters’ arms, he knew it wouldn’t change his mother’s mind. She’d stated as much when he’d offered the same suggestion. She’d refused to hear him when he’d said that it had been his choice to stay home the year before. His choice to delay school.
“She’s made her mind up,”