Rough, Raw, and Ready (Rough Riders #5)(60)

Nothing had changed outside the house; he suspected nothing had changed inside either.

Trevor parked and took off his University of Wyoming ball cap, running his hands through his hair, unconsciously mimicking Edgard’s nervous gesture. He stared at the barns—seven in all—and the gigantic corral surrounded by brand new white metal fencing. Four horse trailers were lined in symmetrical rows along the far left side of the chutes.

Two tractors were parked next to the towering stacks of hay. Must’ve been a good year if that much remained this late in the season. Then again, his dad could’ve bought the damn piles of hay. Money had never been an issue for Tater Glanzer. It was both a carrot and a stick—not just for members of his family.

He knocked back a long drink from the bottle of water, wishing it were whiskey.

After placing the plastic bottle back in the cup holder, Trevor jammed his hands through his hair again.

You’re stalling.

No shit. And how f*cking stupid was it that he was cowering in his truck, scared of a sixty-year-old man? He grabbed his duffel bag and ambled up the sidewalk.

Before Trevor decided whether to knock or to walk in, the door opened. His younger brother Brent sneered at him. “Don’t be hopin’ Pa’s heart attack has softened him up.

He’s still a mean SOB and you’re still on his shit list.”


“Nice to see you too, Brent.” Trevor sidestepped him and paused in the entryway beside the ostentatious curved staircase that would’ve had a southern plantation owner weeping with envy.

“Hello, Trevor.”


He focused on his mother sprawled on the long chaise, a cigarette dangling between her lips. The explosion of flowers on the couch clashed with the floral robe she wore. At noon. On a weekday.

Nothing new there either.

Starla Glanzer still played the part of a rodeo queen, despite the passing of three and a half decades. Her hair was dyed a shiny blonde and teased into an unnatural cloud around her pudgy face. Her eyes were bloodshot from the booze she sucked down like milk, not from bawling over her husband’s current health crisis, Trevor thought cynically.

No loving embrace from his mother. Starla loved one thing: money. Her five children ranked below expensive things and her husband ranked even lower.

She exhaled a blue cloud. Her botoxed face remained a mask of boredom as if it’d been two hours since she’d seen her oldest son, not two years. “So you did show up. I didn’t think you’d bother.”


“Then why’d you call me and ask me to come?”


“Tater told me to. Wouldn’t want it to get out that I denied a dyin’ man his last wish.”


“He ain’t close to dead, Ma,” Brent said. “Might as well go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, Trevor. It was a wasted trip.”


Trevor grinned carelessly, rather than fighting back, knowing it pissed his brother off. “I’m here. Might as well pay my respects to the old man.”


His mother snorted and choked on a lungful of smoke.

“Ma? You okay?” A very pregnant woman waddled in from the kitchen. She stopped suddenly and her eyes darted from Trevor to Brent to Starla. “What is he doin’ here?”


“Lianna,” Trevor drawled, “you’re lookin’ as lovely as ever.”


“Cut the shit, Trevor. What do you want?”


“What do you think he wants?” Brent snapped.

Lianna whirled on Brent, the brother who stood between them in distance and age.

“When I want your opinion, I’ll ask Ma or your wife for it.”


Jesus. Less than five f*cking minutes and he was in the midst of the same old pointless bickering and bullshit. Trevor addressed his mother. “Which room am I stayin’ in? I wanna dump my stuff before I see Pa.”


Brent and Lianna said simultaneously, “He’s stayin’ here?”


“Of course he is.” His mother flashed a smile at him, ignoring his siblings. “Trevor is family. Where else would he stay?”


“In the bunkhouse.”


“I’m sorry. Did I hear you say you wanted him to stay at your house, Lianna, darlin’?” Starla cooed in a saccharine tone. “Because I could arrange that.”


“No!”


“I didn’t think so. Besides, we’re havin’ a family dinner tonight. You three, Molly, and Tanner.”


“Tanner is here?”


“He quit the competition the minute he heard about your father being in the hospital.

He drove straight through the night to be at his father’s side.”


Her meaning—Tanner did his duty and you didn’t—was crystal clear. It’d be futile to point out that no one had told him until a week after the incident happened.

“Where is Tanner now?”


“Sleepin’ off a drunk in the new horse trailer with some skanky bar maid,” Lianna said.

Starla glared at Lianna. “Anyway, everyone will be here.”


“Everyone except your wife, Trevor. Why didn’t she come with you?”


Because I’m keeping that sweet woman away from this nest of vipers as long as possible. He forced a curt, “She’s busy. She sends her regrets.” Trevor’s hand tensed on the duffel bag strap and he glanced at his mother, perched like a Marlboro rodeo queen among her admiring peasants. “Which room?”