Redneck Romeo (Rough Riders #15)(129)

Silence.


Then Brandt said, “Jesus, Tell, really?”


“What? Too soon?”


Dalton started laughing.


His brothers looked at him like he’d lost his marbles, so he managed to stop laughing, but his grin stayed in place. “No, Tell, it’s not too soon. In fact, this shit has been doggin’ me for a long damn time. I’m more than ready to kick it in the ass and give it a final send off.”


“Let’s crack the seal then and give that motherf*cking shit a sendoff we’ll all remember.” Brandt grinned. “Or maybe we won’t remember.”


Tell twisted the cap and sniffed the bottle. “Aye, it smells like the peat bogs of me youth. I can almost taste the salty brine of the ocean and see the heather blowing in the meadow breeze, me laddies.”


“Dude, that’s the best ‘frosted Lucky Charms they’re magically delicious’ impression I’ve ever heard.”


“Fuck off, Dalton.”


“Gimme a whiff of that.” He waved the bottle under his nose. “Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.”


Dalton passed out the glasses. “Pour it, ’cause you gotta let it breathe for little bit.”


“How long?”


“Half an hour.”


“Bullshite,” Brandt growled. “Pour the bloody stuff. And I’m talkin’ more than a wee dram, boy-o.”


Tell’s mouth dropped open. “Brandt is speaking in tongues. It’s a miracle.”


“Hallelujah and pass the whiskey,” Dalton said.


“What about letting it rest?”


Dalton grinned. “Total bull. You still don’t know when I’m bluffing, do ya?”


“You suck.”


Tell filled the glasses only to the quarter mark. He raised his glass. “To snow days.”



They clinked glasses and downed the whiskey.


A sweet, slow burn warmed Dalton from the inside out.


“That is the best stuff I’ve ever tasted,” Brandt said. “Damn. Who knew I had expensive taste?” He nudged his glass over. “Hit me again, barkeep, but this one’s a sipper.”


“Ditto.”


Once their glasses were half-full, Dalton told them about his experience at an Irish bar in London.


After he finished, Tell asked, “Do you plan on traveling anymore?”


“Don’t know.”


Brandt rested his elbows on the table and looked at Dalton. “Me’n Tell got something to say about that.”


“Really? You have to do this now? When we’ve been havin’ such a good time?”


“That’s exactly why we need to do it now,” Tell said.


Rather than waiting, Brandt launched right into it. “We know why you left and why you stayed away. I’m just sorry we didn’t know the why of it when it happened. But that’s neither here nor there. Dad was an obstacle to you coming back here and to you sticking around.”


Tell sipped his drink, then said, “No need to sugarcoat this. He’s gone; obstacle gone.”


“But,” Brandt inserted, “we know Dad wasn’t the only reason you left. We’ve accepted our role in it, and I speak for both of us when I say we’re sorry.”


“Really f*ckin’ sorry,” Tell added.


“There ain’t nothin’ we can do to undo what’s been done to you. But we can do a couple of things to change how we handle stuff from here on out.”


“Like what?”


“Like making sure Dad doesn’t have a voice even though he’s dead. He wrecked a lot of things in our lives. You leavin’ meant he took that time you were gone away from us too. So he finally accomplished what he’d been tryin’ to do for years; he drove a wedge between us. And I say f*ck that shit. No more. He don’t have that power.”


“Amen, brother.”


Dalton didn’t get where this was headed.


“Bottom line is we want you here, man. With you back it’s like it’s supposed to be. So we’ve come up with a plan. ’Course it’s a contingency plan, but hear us out.”


Brandt said, “With all the crap that’s gone down in the last month, we’ve realized we don’t give a shit if you’re raising elk or wildebeests or owls as long as you’re doin’ it here close to us. And if by some miracle your elk integration plan isn’t accepted by the state, we’ll help you turn that chunk of dirt into another enterprise. Raising buffalo or turtles or unicorns. Whatever you want.”


“If that don’t work for you, we’ll put in that feedlot like we talked about,” Tell said. “I’ve got the updated regs and what we don’t understand I thought Rory could help us figure out, since she’s fluent in the government’s language. But the truth is we’ll support you in whatever you decide. We want you to be part of lives, Dalton. A permanent part. That’s why we wanted to talk about it now. While—”


“We’re a little drunk?” Dalton supplied.