suitcase, even though Matt had emptied the bureau in the guest room for Craig’s stuff.
“I guess you start school here,” Matt said. “We’ll probably have to see about getting you registered eventually. Shouldn’t be a big deal transferring once your mom gets the job.”
“Great.” Craig smiled and started to put in his headphones. He had them halfway to his ears when he glanced at Matt and then wadded them back up and pocketed them. “Bad habit,” he said.
“It’s good to be available to the people around you,” Matt said. Something he’d failed at with Trena. He’d been too tired to provide decent company half the time. It didn’t have to be that way, though. Matt had made it that way.
Once home, they unloaded the grain, Craig dragging the bags to the edge of the pickup bed and Matt tossing them into the grain shed. They’d just finished when a big red Dodge pulled into the driveway, and Matt’s stomach tightened.
Why was the old man here? This couldn’t be good.
Then he saw his mother, small, blonde and smiling, and realized exactly what this was. A frontal mother assault. He hadn’t called enough lately, so she was coming to visit.
Feeling vaguely ashamed of himself—when was he going to get this relationship stuff right?—he walked over and waited for his parents to get out of the vehicle.
“Good to see you, Mom.” He reached out to hug her, then awkwardly clapped his father’s shoulder.
“And this must be Crag,” she said as Craig stepped out of the house to stand next to Matt.
“Craig, ma’am.” Craig extended his hand for a formal handshake, but his mother was having none of that.
“Crag, Craig, all the same,” she said as she hugged him.
“Not if your name is Crag,” the kid said. Nina laughed. Matt had always loved his mom’s laugh. It came from the heart, because his mom was a genuinely happy person and he was going to do his best to keep her that way.
“We’re just here for a minute or two, dear,” she said to Matt. “Your father said you were going to call and when you didn’t, well, you know the saying about Mohammed and the mountain.”
“Yeah.” Matt shoved his hands into his back pockets. Nina glanced up at her husband then back at Craig. “I’d love to have a glass of something. What have you got?”
“Mountain Dew,” Craig said promptly.
“Sounds lovely.” She smiled at Matt and followed Craig into the house, leaving Matt where he didn’t want to be. Alone with his father.
“Word had it your horse got injured,” Charles said.
“Scraped up. He’s getting better fast.” Just not fast enough.
“Maybe this is some kind of a sign,” his father said.
“And since when are you a big believer in signs?”
“Since I decided I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
Matt scowled. What the hell? “Not get hurt or not compete?”
“Same thing, really.”
“I’ve never seen you get all concerned before. I’ve had other injuries.”
“You’re getting older.”
“Bullshit, Dad. This is about something else.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that sometimes I think you want Ryan Madison to walk away with the Bitterroot Challenge purse.” His heart did a quick thud against his ribs as the words he’d kept from saying for so long came out.
Charles turned red, but his voice was only slightly strained when he said, “Why? You’re my son.”
All Matt did was hold his gaze, but there must have been something in his face that clued in the old man to what Matt knew. Charles Montoya clamped his jaw tighter, to the point that his lips began to show white against his reddened skin.
“I’m competing, Dad.”
“I hope you win,” Charles said. “And that you come out whole.”
“And I hope that my mother continues to be a very happy woman.” He gave his father the dead eye. “Do we understand one another?”
“Hey, Matt,” Craig yelled out the door. “The Mountain Dew is poured.”
“Thanks,” he said, instantly turning toward the house, leaving his father to do whatever the hell he wanted.
By the time his parents left, his head was aching from stress. His dad had actually done an excellent job of appearing normal, so he hoped his mother didn’t catch on that something was wrong between the two of them—or something more wrong than usual.
“You okay?” Craig asked after loading the dishwasher.
“Fine. Just tired.”
“You want to get some practice in?”
They worked out a system where Matt roped and turned back alone and Craig moved the animals through the chute, then released him. It took time, but Clancy got practice, as did Matt.