River's End (River's End Series, #1)(28)

When Jack mentioned she should expect more from her boyfriends, he didn’t realize his statement made her nearly lose her footing. It was so simple, so logical, so what most girls expected. But no one had ever said something like that before to her. No one. Not one person had ever said, hey, maybe you should respect yourself a little more, and expect a little more out of men. Her mother was worse than she was; and her brother? Well, he’d just as soon spit on her, hit her, trip her, or mock her, as he would glance at her. And as for a father? There never was a father. Only stepfathers. And multiple boyfriends for Mom.

She leaned back on the cool, lumpy river rocks as anxiety filled her chest. She hated her life and who she was. She hated her mother for sending her adrift in a world she could not navigate. How could her mother have done that to her? Her mother knew she couldn’t survive like other adults in the world, and still, she chose to kill herself and abandon her daughter.

She had to leave the ranch. There was no place for her there. And it wouldn’t be long before Chance did just as she warned Jack. Perhaps she shouldn’t have warned him, but she clearly saw Chance eyeing up the metal box. She’d seen that look before: when Chance stole from their mother and ran off. The only difference was their mother never had a lot of money, but the Rydells did.

She was hastening her own exile, but she couldn’t stand by without at least warning Jack.

Jack was suddenly very different to her than what she’d first thought of him. When she first arrived, he seemed so fierce, she avoided even looking at him. But now? Now she couldn’t take her eyes off him. As she watched him move and work around the ranch, it was like watching someone do what he was meant to do. Every muscle and movement were in sync. His face grew more handsome the more she knew of him, watched him, and talked to him. He became younger, and when he smiled, she felt a punch in her stomach. It stunned her. She didn’t know what it was or why. She didn’t know what to make of Jack being only nine years older than she. It changed everything somehow. He wasn’t quite so much her dad’s age, as she originally thought.

Maybe she preferred he be closer to her father’s age, because she was starting to find his personality utterly compelling, far more than any of the other brothers. Even Joey. And now she knew why. Joey was a kid. Joey was already bored with her. He never wanted to talk much to her. Or, as Jack noted, even do minimal niceties for her.

She needed to get a job. Her money was dwindling with every trip to the market she made to survive there. She was living about as cheaply as one could, but she still needed to get a job. She bit her lip and tears filled her eyelids. How could she get a job without her mother?

Who would fill out all her paperwork? Who could she ask to help her read and write out an employment application? Chance? If she had to ask her brother, she’d have to deal with his taunts, jeers, and name-calling. He loved to point out how stupid she was, for even he could read. Even the debauched asshole, Chance Poletti, could read a damn restaurant menu.

She needed a job in order to survive once her brother took off. And she needed someone to help her get it. She sat up on the rocks. She couldn’t ask Jack. She couldn’t face the humiliation of asking him. This man, who ran the ranch and raised two kids and his brothers, would never understand how stupid and helpless she felt in the world he nearly totally dominated. She could ask Joey, but she sensed Joey wouldn’t care enough to take the time to help her. Who then? Who could help her? Who would want to help her?

She sighed. Ben. Ben could read and write and he could help her. He might even have a crush on her, which just might make him want to help her more.





Chapter Nine


Ben was crossing the yard toward Shane’s shop when Erin caught up with him.

“Ben? Can I talk to you?”

Ben turned at her approach with a smile and his eyes ran over her. She hugged Joey’s jacket around herself, not intending to use Ben’s fascination with her to get what she wanted. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I need your help.”

“My help? With what?”

He was fifteen and probably wouldn’t understand an adult being illiterate. She couldn’t trust him with the knowledge; nor should she burden him to keep it a secret. Yet, she needed a job, and she needed money. She had to ask Ben to do this favor for her.

“I need to get a job.”

“Okay. There might be something in town. Or you could ask my dad. There’s always work around the ranch.”

The ranch? She’d never given that a thought. She might be able to work without filling out any forms. She could learn to do whatever Jack wanted, couldn’t she?

“Does he hire women?”

“He isn’t like a chauvinist or anything.”

“I don’t ride.”

“Oh. Well, in that case, town might be a better place.”

Erin licked her lips, closing her eyes before slowly opening them. “I can’t fill out the employment applications.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t—I can’t read, Ben.”

His eyes rounded. “Are you for real? Why not?”

She shrugged and glanced up towards the tops of the mountains. “We moved a lot and I got lost in so many schools, somehow, I never managed to catch up. Then I needed special help and was never in any one place long enough to get it. Eventually, I gave up. I finally got a job. I’m a hard worker. I just can’t read.”