Branded as Trouble (Rough Riders #6)(121)

Would his father gloss over and say something nice about him…just to have something positive to say?


“Yet, of all my boys, I feel I failed you the most.”


Thud. The other boot officially dropped.


“Not because you hit bottom. Not because of the alcohol.”


“Then why?” Colt demanded.


“Because you’re too goddamn much like me for your own goddamn good. You have been since the day you slid outta your mama, all wide-eyed, cooin’ charm and smilin’.” He paused. “Know the first thing Caro said to me after she gave birth to Cam? You must’ve been about two and a half.”


“What?”


“Don’t let me love Colt more than the other boys. I thought it was some weird hormonal pregnancy talk, so I kinda patted her on the hand and told her it’d be all right. But she was insistent I understand. Musta been mother’s intuition because she knew from the get-go.”


“Knew what?”


“Knew that you’re a carbon copy of me. People say that of Cord, but it ain’t true. You look like me, you act like me, hell, you probably even think like me. Caro knew every time she looked at you…she’d see me. See my strengths and faults and want to fix the bad ones and bolster the good ones. Caro knew she’d play favorites.


She knew she’d let you get away with anything, so she left it up to me to even things up.”


Colt was absolutely tongue-tied.


“Now that I think about it, it chaps my ass, her passin’ the buck to me. I ended up bein’ harder on you than I shoulda been. Harder on you than I was on your brothers, that’s for damn sure. Expected more outta you too. And if you did something wrong, goddamn if I didn’t feel like I’d done something wrong. And when you did something right?” His laugh was bitter. “Well, I didn’t heap praise on you, now did I?”


“No. Dad—”


“Lemme finish. As things changed, we expanded the ranch, you showed us all up by buyin’ land we all scoffed at and forged your own way. Then your brothers came home, and I shoulda taken you aside. Made sure you knew how important you were—are—to the ranch and to me. But I shoulda warned you too. I knew you were drinkin’ too much. I knew you were whorin’ around. Thing was, I didn’t know them things because I’d been listenin’ to gossip. I knew them things because I’d lived them.”


Not another back in my day lecture, Colt thought.


“Your uncles and I were the original McKay hellraisers. I was the worst of the lot. I drank too much, smoked pot, drove my truck like a f*ckin’ idiot, charmed my way into the pants of every woman that’d have me—married, single, old, young, if they had a * they were fair game.”


Colt reached behind the log and handed his dad a bottle of water. The man’s mouth had to be parched with the way he was babbling on. It was as scary as it was fascinating.


“Thanks.” Carson took a long pull off the bottle. “Oh, and you’ll get a kick outta this. I told my old man to f*ck off.


Repeatedly. Told him I didn’t give a shit about his stupid piece of Wyoming dirt. I just wanted to get the hell away from him because he was a mean, old bastard.”


“Jesus. What did Grandpop say?”


“Told me to get my ass back on the tractor and finish mowin’ the south hay field because I had no choice. The McKay Ranch was my only choice. I imagine you must’ve felt that way a time or two yourself.”