Lovers at Heart(45)

Treat shot another glance at Rex, who was looking everywhere except at his father, while his father's stare never wavered.

“Why wouldn’t he tell me? We worked in the field for hours, side by side, and all he did was snap at me.”

Hugh shook his head.

“Would you tell you?” Josh asked. He brought the burgers to the table and motioned for everyone to sit down. “Think about it, Treat. He’s here every day, slaving to help keep the family business alive, and suddenly you sweep in and expect him to just accept it. Meanwhile, the one person he loves the most lands in the hospital. It’s a lot to deal with.”

I failed him again? “So, what? I should have asked his permission to come back to my own father’s ranch and help out? I thought it was what he wanted all these years.”

His three siblings exchanged a look that said perhaps that’s exactly what he should have done.

“All right. I get it. I’ll talk to him.” He started for the barn.

“Treat!” Savannah hollered. She came to his side and touched his arm. “He’s hurting. Please don’t push him. You know Rex. When he’s ready, he’ll open up to you. He always does.”

When it came to his siblings, hurting them was the last thing he ever wanted to do. His father and Rex started toward them, and Treat turned away. Was he doing more harm than good by being there? What the hell was going on in his life? One day he was on a strong, straight path, and the next, the very foundation he built his world on was filling with fissures.

A few minutes later, Rex and Hal joined them at the table. Rex snagged a burger and bun, eyeing the rest of the food, and set to work building a massive dinner plate.

“Dad, you have a follow-up with Ben next week. I’ll take you,” Treat offered.

“I’ve got it covered,” Rex said gruffly.

“Rex’ll take me. Tell me what’s happening with that pretty little gal I met,” his father said, clearly trying to steer clear of the whole Rex situation.

Treat bit back the hurt he felt by his father’s refusal and tried not to let the kick to his gut show on his face. He had to remember that healing himself was not the only priority here. He’d stirred the hornet’s nest with Rex, and now it was his turn to wait it out—just like Rex had for the past fifteen years.

“Not much to tell, Dad. She’s afraid I’m giving up my life for her and I’ll resent her for it.” He stabbed at the salad Savannah had dished onto his plate with a sisterly pat on his back.

“Since when have you sat back and waited for things to happen?” his father asked. “Where’s that boy I raised who went out and showed those highfalutin, suit-wearing executives how to do things?”

Isn’t everyone asking me to sit back and wait for Rex? And isn’t that just what I’m doing for Max? Isn’t that what Max wants? His father must have read his mind.

“Son, I’ve seen you pull out your cell phone more times than I can count. Do you love her?”

All eyes were on him. Treat put down his fork and looked at his family, and in their eyes, he saw so much support that it took the tension out of his gut and formed a cradle around his heart.

“Yeah, I do.” He nodded, hoping they didn’t notice the way his voice cracked.

“Then I don’t see why you’re sitting around here waiting for something to happen. Take that lame ass of yours and make it happen,” Rex said. He followed that up with a big bite of his burger.

Treat’s heartbeat sped up. What was he waiting for? He was giving her time. Time for what? To decide they weren’t right for each other?

“It doesn’t work that way with Max,” he said. “She’s…complicated. She’s got stuff to deal with, and I don’t want to push her in ways she might not want to be pushed.” Bullshit. I want to. I’m just afraid she’ll run—again.

“What are you afraid of, Treat?” Rex’s eyes darkened, narrowed. It was a challenge, not a question, and he wasn’t talking about Max.

“Nothing scares me, little brother. I’m here. I’m baring my soul and fighting the demons that have strangled me for years, which is more than I can say for you.” What the hell am I doing? I should walk away, not argue with Rex.

His brother rose to his feet. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m here every damned day, taking care of the family business while you’re out doing whatever you please. At least I didn’t abandon Dad.”

There was a collective gasp from his siblings. Treat felt his father’s eyes on him.

“I never abandoned Dad. I built a life and a business,” Treat retorted.

“Right. A life? You travel endlessly. You live a life of leisure while I hold down the real job.”

“What’s this about, Rex?” Treat rose to his feet, meeting his brother’s stare. “No one made you stay. No one made you give up whatever else you wanted to do. Your whole life you wanted to be a rancher. I didn’t.”

Treat walked around the table, confronting his brother. Rex’s breath was hot on his face, his nostrils flared, and his biceps jumped up and down to the pace of his fisting hands.

“I came home every single time you called, without fail,” Treat said in a calm and even tone.

“No, you didn’t.”

“What are you talking about? Every time you called, I came. Every goddamned time.” Treat had the urge to grab his brother’s enormous shoulders and shake the shit out of him. Make him spit out whatever he was holding back.

Rex’s index finger poked his chest so hard he took a step back. “You left. You abandoned the family, Treat. You abandoned me and left me to figure out how to hold things together.”

“I went to college! What the fuck did you want me to do?” Abandoned?

“I was fifteen! What the hell was I supposed to do? Dane was a mess. How was I supposed to watch over the other three kids and take care of the ranch—and Dad? Fifteen, Treat. Fif-teen!”

His face grew red, and his eyes flashed with a rage that had Treat grabbing his brother’s shoulders and staring down at him. “I never abandoned you. I went to school, Rex. College. It was what I was supposed to do. It was Dad’s plan for me. I was doing what he wanted me to do, not abandoning him.” The truth of his own words gave him pause. It was Dad’s plan for me. It’s true. It was Dad’s plan for me. How could I have repressed that?

Rex twisted out of his grip. His body shook so hard Treat thought he might attack him at any moment. He readied himself for the blow that was sure to come as Rex took one fist in his palm and rubbed it hard.

Treat shot a glance around the table. His siblings were watching without so much as a flash of stress. They must have known what was eating at Rex. His father slowly rose to his feet but made no move to come any closer.

Rex’s eyes shot darts; his venom-filled voice pierced Treat’s thick skin. “I called you a few weeks after you went to school and said I couldn’t do it. Dane was out of control, Josh basically locked himself in his bedroom for weeks on end, Hugh was pulling away, and Savannah had disappeared for the weekend with her friend. I didn’t know what to do.”

“What? When?” And then he remembered. It seemed like a hundred years ago. Treat remembered the panicked call. It was a Saturday, and he was out with some girl. He couldn’t even remember her name.

“You said Savannah went to some keg party and you couldn’t find her. A goddamned party! I left my date and went back to my dorm and called every one of her friends’ parents. I was going frigging crazy looking for her from a million miles away, and you called me a few hours later and said she was back home, that her friend had lied about it all to get her in trouble.”

Treat took a breath and tried to bring his anger down a notch. “I thought it was fine after that.”

Rex huffed, his rage bubbling beneath his skin. “Nothing was fine. You should have come home.”

“How could I have possibly known? I was a kid, too, Rex. I was eighteen. What the fuck would you have had me do? Fly home and quit college? Give up everything Dad said I had to accomplish?”

They stared at each other, posturing, silently banging chests and measuring feathers.

“Boys!” Hal’s stern voice broke their match. “You wanna blame someone? Blame me. I wanted Treat to excel. He was too academic and had too much to accomplish in life to run the ranch. He’d have had me buying up more ranches by the time he was fourteen if I’d let him, and maybe if I had listened to him, we’d all be even richer. And, Rex, you were born to ranch and you know it. The day you started walking, you wanted to follow my ass all over this place. You’d sit with me while I ran the finances and rode with me on every ride. You wanted this ranch, and you know you did. But it’s a lot of responsibility, and I don’t blame you for resenting your brothers—all of them—for taking off. But, Rex, I gave you the same choice I gave them. How many times did I say, ‘Go out there and get your own ranch, or find something else that you want to call your own?’”

Rex looked away.

“When I’m talking to you, son, you keep your eyes on mine.”

Rex met his gaze. “I didn’t want my own ranch. This is family. This is where Mom is.” He slid his dark eyes to Treat. “This is where Mom is,” he repeated.