Branded as Trouble (Rough Riders #6)(107)

“You worry about Colt? Or about me dating Colt?”


“Both, I guess.”


At least she hadn’t lied. “Why?”


“Can I be honest with you? You look like a straight shooter.”


India took it to mean she looked low-class and acted crass. “By all means.”


“My worry is that Colt has come to rely on you too much.”


“Too much?”


“At first it was understandable, he needed the support of others who’d been through the same types of…things. But it’s been a couple of years. Isn’t time he weans himself from A.A.?”


Weans himself? Jesus. Was this woman for real? Did she understand anything about what an addict goes through every damn day? “Recovery is a lifelong process. It doesn’t have a shelf life. Or a convenient timeframe. And the level of involvement in the A.A. program is just as individual as the journey it took to get there. We don’t demand or command members. Participation is strictly voluntary.”


“I realize that. I’m not talking only about A.A. I’m talking about you.”


“What about me?”


“Do you realize Colt’s pulled away from his family almost completely in the time he’s been with you?”


“I hate to argue with you on the family issue, but that’s not true. Colt spends lots of time with Cam. And with Kade, Skylar and the girls. He helps Buck out. I know for a fact he, Chassie, Trevor and Edgard have breakfast together most Sunday mornings.”


That didn’t placate Carolyn. In fact, it seemed to distress her even more. “Which is all good and well, but Colt doesn’t come over to our house for Sunday brunch or supper. He doesn’t have much to do with Cord or Colby or their families unless I organize it. He and Carter used to be close, but not now. Can you explain that away as easily?”


“Carter lives in Canyon River. Maybe because Colt works with his brothers almost every day, he needs a break in his off ranch hours?”


Carolyn’s owl-eyed expression said India was clueless. “A break? There are no ‘breaks’ in ranching. For any of us. Especially in such a large-scale operation as the McKay Ranch. Especially in a family business. And him needing a break from his family is just plain ridiculous.”


“Maybe it’d be healthier if you did take an occasional break from one another. God knows Skylar and I get along better when she’s not in my face all the time.”


“You might be that way, India, but Colt isn’t. He never has been until he met you. I know my son.”


“No, Carolyn, that’s the crux of your problem. I don’t think you know Colt at all,” she said softly.


“And you do? Since you’ve come into his life he’s built a house in the boondocks. He doesn’t go to dances or to church. He never goes anyplace where he might meet a decent woman to settle down with now that he’s cleaned up his act.”


Decent woman. Evidently a woman who loved her son body and soul, who accepted him as he was, who believed Colt McKay was the most loving, most sincere, most thoughtful, most wonderful man she’d ever known…didn’t qualify as a decent woman.


Oh. That stung. Big time.


Don’t cry. Don’t you give this woman a reason to offer you false comfort.


Yet, even as she was bleeding inside, India knew Carolyn wasn’t being malicious. Only acting on a mother’s concern, as misguided, misinformed as that concern might be.