Hang Tough(96)
The cocktail waitress took his order and he stuck with beer.
“So we were mighty surprised to get the call from you,” Driscoll said. “Kind of a shocker to find out you have a serious girlfriend.”
Puzzled, he said, “Why?”
“Kinda always thought you were gay.”
And how did he respond to that? Like a dickhead little brother. “Really? That’s funny. I kinda always thought you were gay. You’ve had way more years to settle down than I have. I don’t know that I ever remember seeing you with a woman neither. Not that it matters, Dris. I’d be fine with you havin’ a boyfriend.”
“Enough,” their dad said. “Gives me the fuckin’ creeps to talk about that stuff.”
Tobin’s beer arrived.
They ordered steaks. Since his dad and brother believed the meal was on Tobin’s dime, they ordered crab legs too.
“Besides you finding a girlfriend, what else is goin’ on up at the Split Rock?”
“I haven’t worked at the lodge much since Renner expanded the cattle company. I heard from the GM there isn’t an open room from mid-September until the first part of November during huntin’ season.”
“It still burns my ass that as soon as you went to work for them, they stopped askin’ me to be a huntin’ guide,” his dad complained.
“I recall you only did it for a few weeks during the grand opening. Besides, Renner hired me because of my educational background to help him get a genetics lab up and running, but that hasn’t panned out yet.” He sipped his beer. “What’s goin’ on at the ranch?”
“Not much. Nothin’ really changes.”
“How’s Streeter doin’?”
His dad and his brother both stiffened.
Jackpot.
“We have no idea how Streeter is doin’ since he don’t work for us no more.”
“Whoa. What do you mean he doesn’t work for you? I thought Dad owned forty percent and you and Streeter each owned thirty percent?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Luckily I’ve got a couple of college degrees so I can probably follow along just fine.”
“Always were a smart-ass,” his dad grumbled. “Bottom line? Streeter’s been distracted, missing work a lot because he’s babysitting.”
“Babysitting,” Tobin repeated. “He’s Olivia’s only parent so I don’t see how that is babysitting. He’s taking care of his child.”
“Whatever. He ain’t taking care of his responsibilities at the ranch. The calf weights are already low this year.”
Tobin wanted to ask how that was Streeter’s fault. “Did you buy him out? Or give him a year’s pay on the buyout?”
Driscoll gaped at Tobin as if he’d sprouted alien tentacles. “No. Why would we?”
“How is he supposed to support himself and Olivia? He’s been earning a ranch salary from you since he was what? Seventeen?”
“He got a life insurance settlement.”
Was that why they’d cut him out? They saw Streeter’s money as a windfall for him, which meant they’d no longer have to shell out wages and could split the profits two ways instead of three? “When did all of this happen?”
“Maybe three weeks ago.”
“So the whole ‘nothin’ much really changes’ was a lie? Because you guys kicking Streeter out of the cattle business is a whole lot of something.”
Driscoll leaned back in his chair. He picked up his lowball glass and studied Tobin over the rim. “Dad’s name is on the deed. No one else’s. It’s his decision who he wants to pass the land down to. Since you ain’t on that list, I don’t see how it’s any of your concern.”
“My concern is that you turned my brother and my niece out.”
“If you’re so worried, why don’t you invite them to live with you?” Driscoll smirked. “Right. Not a lot of room in the trailer you rent up at the Split Rock, is there?”
Tobin’s neck heated. His brother still knew how to push his buttons.
If the food hadn’t arrived, no doubt Driscoll would’ve tossed off a smart comment about Tobin’s degrees being worthless. There’d been a time when Tobin would’ve argued that his brother owed his entire way of life to being born first. He’d never had to leave the familiar and try to make his own way. And not for the first time, Tobin was thankful he’d been spared from spending his life in the small world his father and brother lived in.
He ate so fast he didn’t taste anything. That antsy feeling dogged him—he kept waiting for his phone to buzz so he could grab Jade, ground himself and get the hell out of here.