when he’s around.”
Josh turned to Jake with an arrogant grin on his face. “Still think he’s some deadbeat drifter?”
Jake had gone quiet while Josh spoke. At Josh’s question, he stayed silent for a moment longer then nodded. “All right, I’ll give him a chance. But the fact he latched on to Skylar so quickly still bothers me. What if he’s unbalanced from the war?”
“He’s damaged,” I agreed. “He has ghosts that haunt him, he told me so. But honestly, Jake, don’t we all?”
Neither argued that point because we all carried our own baggage.
“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain,” Josh mumbled.
I blinked and looked at my fifteen-year-old brother. “Did you just quote Joseph Campbell?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal he read a literary genius. “It makes sense. I heard Logan say you chased his ghosts away. You’re the joy he’s been looking for.”
Who was this kid?
“Jesus, next he’ll quote Aristotle,” Jake grumbled.
“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”
“What?” Jake growled.
“Aristotle, dickweed. You’re all brawn and no brain, you know that?” Josh looked at me and smiled at his insult. “So you gonna be Logan’s joy or just suck face with him?”
Annnnd there’s the brother I knew and loved.
Grinning, I shrugged. “Can’t I do both?”
_______________
Duke Remington approached Logan and jerked his head toward the door. It was close to midnight, but the bar was still in full swing. It hadn’t taken long to figure out the appeal of Big Sky Saloon to the locals. It was just a bar. No food to draw the tourists. Just drinks and company. Big Sky was the local watering hole for the townspeople to escape the tourists, who frequented the other restaurant and bar up the street. The place they came to have a beer and play a hand of cards or a game of checkers with their friends, while the band played covers. It was Ennis’ escape from the mundane. A cherished institution that was being threatened, so they’d kept coming in numbers most of the night. Some pitching in to help the already overworked staff.
Logan glanced around the room before following Duke outside. At this hour he’d have expected the bar to be close to empty, but it was clear the town would continue to show their support for the James orphans until the crisis passed.
Convinced there wouldn’t be any trouble, Logan stepped outside into the dark night and searched for Duke. He found him half a block down, lighting up a smoke. The illumination from the bar’s neon sign did little to hide the millions of stars that crowded the night sky. In the city you were lucky to see a handful of constellations, but the big skies of Montana let the universe in, making you feel insignificant in the face of all its vastness.
“Those things will kill you,” Logan stated as he walked up.
Duke looked down at the cigarette between his fingers, raised it to his mouth, and offered one to Logan. Logan shook his head on a chuckle then took the pack and pulled out one for himself. He wasn’t a smoker, but he enjoyed one from time to time.
Logan lit the cigarette and pulled the smoke deep into his lungs, watching Duke as he did this. Duke had something to say, and Logan wasn’t going to rush him.
“Chance shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Duke finally began, pausing to draw in more smoke. “Right now, he’s probably grieving his father. That scene today, his battle cry, it was more about loss. Kenzie is trying to defy him, which means she’s defying his father, but he’ll recover once the grief wears off. And when he does, this will get uglier.
“Justice was a hard man with a chip on his shoulder because his own father was a drunk bastard. He hated being poor, hated anyone with money, so he set out to become rich. He was a bull rider in his day, and good at it. So good that when he won a championship, he bought the land Bear Claw Ranch sits on.
“He kept riding and winning. And buying up land. Then came the cattle. But he never stopped. And the more land he bought, the more cattle he purchased, the more money he made—the more untouchable he felt. And he was to an extent, since he owned politicians, law enforcement, and judges. Chance has inherited that power now, so you need to watch your back.”
Logan eyed Duke carefully, wondering