Gone Country (Rough Riders #14)(139)

Chapter Forty


Gavin needed someone to talk to.


He wasn’t quite sure why Vi was the first person who’d come to mind. Maybe because her kids were grown and she’d lived through the turbulent teen years. Maybe because she’d listen and offer her unvarnished advice.


Or maybe because she’s your mother.


She met him on the porch. She wore a straw hat, her World’s Greatest Grandma sweatshirt from Sierra and jeans—which shocked him. He’d never seen Vi in jeans.


She inspected him head to toe. “At least you’re wearing decent shoes. I thought we could walk a bit.”


“Where we going?”


“To my favorite thinking spot.” She laughed when Gavin wrinkled his nose. “Cow shit will wash right off those loafers.”



“Good to know.”


She sobered quickly. “Gavin. Sweetheart. You look like hell.”


“Feel like it too.”


She handed him a bottle of water. “Follow me.”


They cut through the first pasture and followed the fence line up a steep incline. Gavin found himself studying the ground, seeing the variances in grass and the occasional wildflower. Gray rocks popped up and sagebrush abounded. But the only scent carried on the wind was manure and a hint of Vi’s perfume.


They stopped at the apex of the rise. The land spread out in a carpet of green, which he knew would only last a few more weeks if it didn’t rain soon. The view wasn’t a breathtaking vista. No steep canyons. Just a view of rangeland. Simple. Timeless.


Two chunks of rock, embedded in the earth about six feet apart rose up like stone pillars. The heights were nearly identical and someone had placed a foot wide piece of wood across the top.


“So, you come here often?”


Vi snorted. “Often enough. Something about this place helps me sort stuff out.” She uncapped her water bottle and drank. “I figured it might work for you too. So, son, you wanna tell me what’s going on?”


Gavin intended to give her the basics. But for some reason, everything just poured out. Everything he was thinking, feeling and he didn’t bother to filter any of it.


She mulled over his words for a good long while before she said, “Well, that’s a bit of a shocker.”


“To say it’s knocked me on my ass is putting it mildly.”


“I assume you’re talking to me about this because you want my…insight?”


“Yeah.”


“Okay. Sierra has overstepped her bounds. But she won’t see it that way.”


“Why not?”


“Because she’s used to getting her way. Is she forcing this on you maliciously? No. She is a sweet girl. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t know she’d done anything wrong. Teens are notoriously self-absorbed. Her rationalization is that this behavior has always gotten her what she wants in the past and she doesn’t know any other way to be at sixteen. However, she is using manipulation and you cannot give in to it.”


Gavin faced her to argue.


“Hear me out completely before you jump in. You’re a good father. But that is not all you are. You are a good man who deserves what you’ve found with Rielle.” She smiled a little devilishly. “Between us? For a few years I thought Ben and Rielle would get together. Until I realized she’d never let him boss her around the way he likes to.”


He choked on his water.


Vi patted him on the back. “You and Rielle complement each other. You’re both stubborn enough and set enough in your ways that you won’t settle for the first warm body that walks through your door. I’ve known Rielle a lot of years. She was content. But when I see her with you? She’s happy in a way I haven’t seen. You, my dear boy, are the same way with her. Why on earth would you give that up?”


“I don’t want to.”


“Then it’s simple. Don’t. Tell Sierra you’re sorry she’s so miserable here and you only want her happiness. So if that means her skipping off to France, then bon voyage.”


Somehow he kept his jaw from dropping. “You think it’s that easy?”


“Heavens no. But she’s the one who put you in this position. Remember she’s not making it easy on you. She’ll make mistakes whether she’s here, Arizona, France or Timbuktu. Some you’ll even know about. You can’t protect her from everything. And she’ll never learn to protect herself if you’re always there to do it for her.” Vi took a long pull from her water bottle. “Does that sound harsh? Who would ship a sixteen-year-old off to handle things by herself?”


Light bulb moment. “Your father did.”


“That wasn’t a parallel I was trying to make, believe it or not. Your biggest worry is that Sierra will go off the rails in France if you’re not there to stop the train. Don’t look at it that way. Look at it as you’re telling her that yes, if she really wants to go to France, then you’re trusting her to make the right choices once she gets there.”


In that moment, a huge weight fell off his shoulders.