The Prodigal Texan

Lips pursed together, she nodded. “Yes, I’d heard you crossed over to the side of the angels. I clipped the article about your citation a few months ago. You appear to be good at your job.”

“I do my best.” He gave his most charming smile, aware that Ethan and his family had slipped out of their pew and were headed toward the chapel doors.

Miss Haase proved immune to his charm. “Nowadays, perhaps. But for twenty years, I’ve been expecting you to return the copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover you borrowed in the seventh grade.”

Jud swallowed hard. “I—”

“If you don’t know where it is, I want a new copy on my desk by the end of the week. Now, excuse me.”

He stumbled out of the pew, but Miss Haase still stepped on his toes on her way out. Turning toward the back of the church, Jud saw that Ethan had reached the doorway where Noah and Greer stood to greet their flock. A double line of parishioners stood between Jud and his brother. By the time he got to the door, Ethan would be on his way home.

Fortunately, Jud had spent enough time playing hide-and-seek in the church hallways when he was supposed to be in Sunday school that he knew exactly the locations of the exits near the front of the building.

He rounded the outside corner of the church in time to see Ethan shaking hands with Noah at the door. Kayla gave Greer a hug, and kissed Noah on the cheek. Then, finally, they made their way down the steps to the sidewalk.

Jud came at them from the opposite direction. Unlike yesterday, Ethan didn’t see him in time to keep him at a distance.

“Good morning,” Jud said, with a smile at Kayla and the kids. “Amazing weather for December, isn’t it? I’m Jud—Ethan’s big brother.”

Kayla glanced at her husband’s stony expression. “More like May than December,” she agreed. “Um…I’m Kayla. This is Megan, my daughter.” She eased the little girl forward. “And Brad and Heather. Ethan and I…” She looked at her husband. “Ethan and I are adopting them.”

“I’m glad to meet you.” Jud nodded at the children. He was determined to keep his temper, but he could feel his face heating up as Ethan continued to stand there without saying a word. “I’m gonna guess y’all share Ethan’s love of horses.”

“I do,” Megan piped up. “I ride Birdsong all the time.”

A huge pit opened up in Jud’s belly. He looked at Ethan and found that his brother’s expression had changed from indifference to outright defiance.

Jud cleared his throat. “That’s…nice.” Inside him, the voice in the pit screamed, “You can’t have Angela’s horse!” But he didn’t let the noise escape. “Birdsong has always been a terrific pony.”

“We canter and trot over crossbars and everything.”

In the next instant, Brad and Heather chimed in to tell him about their horses. Jud tried to look interested, while Kayla wore a nervous frown and Ethan resumed the stone-faced stare.

“Let’s get into the truck,” Kayla said finally, putting her hands on the backs of the two girls. “Ethan will be along in just a minute. Good to meet you, Jud.” She nodded, cast a final glance at her husband and scurried off with the children.

Ethan watched them until they reached the vehicle, then turned back to Jud. “Okay, you engineered this encounter. Say what you came to say and then go back where you belong.”

“What I have to say will take a long time. I thought we could get together—”

“No. We don’t have anything to talk about that can’t be settled in a sentence or two.” Ethan turned away and took a step in the direction of his truck.

Jud clamped a hand on his brother’s shoulder and pulled him back around. “You’re wrong. We’ve got years of talking to do. Not just the last four, but a decade before that. Why don’t—”

“Why don’t you get the message?” Ethan raised his fist and knocked Jud’s arm away. “You walked out on this family, and couldn’t be bothered to come back when things went bad. You weren’t here to help us get back on our feet after the land deal failed. You weren’t here to watch Angela die. You weren’t the one who walked in to discover that Dad had blown his brains out. You couldn’t even be bothered to come to my wedding.”

He set his hands on his hips. “You’ve made it pretty damn clear that you want no part of us or this town.”

“I’m trying to tell you—”

“Don’t bother. I’m not listening.”

Ethan spun on his heel and stalked off toward his truck.

Only when he swerved to avoid a woman in his path did Jud realize they’d drawn a ring of spectators to their argument. Some faces he recognized, some he didn’t, but all of them wore an expression of unabashed curiosity that assured him everyone in town would know about the Ritter brothers’ confrontation before nightfall.

“Showdown at the Homestead town square,” he muttered, heading for his own vehicle. Thank God, they hadn’t actually been armed.

Because at this point, he wouldn’t put it past Brother Ethan to shoot him down in cold blood.

AS SOON AS ETHAN STOPPED the truck and turned off the engine, Megan, Brad and Heather tumbled out of the backseat and raced for the house, desperate to change clothes and get back to play. Ethan, however, gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead. His head still pounded with the fury that had overtaken him at church, and his stomach churned.

“Ethan?” Kayla put a soft hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

He dragged in a deep breath. “Not really. What right does he have to accost me like that? He doesn’t make a phone call in ten years, and all at once we have to talk?” A bitter laugh escaped him. “Jud always did have an ego, I’ll say that for him.”

The house door slammed. Heather and Megan ran down the steps and across the lawn to the rope swings Ethan had hung in a couple of ancient pecan trees. Brad came out a minute later, leaving the door wide-open, and headed for the tree house Ethan had built on the opposite side of the house from the swings.

“He could have had a change of heart,” Kayla suggested. “It’s been known to happen.”

“Too little, too late.” Ethan dropped his hands to his thighs and let his head fall back against the headrest. “I don’t see how anything useful can come of rehashing the past.”

“What do you think he wants?”

“To say he’s sorry?” He shook his head. “No. Jud wouldn’t feel responsible for anything that’s happened. He wasn’t here, he can’t be blamed— even though everything fell apart almost the minute he disappeared.”

“Why did he leave?”

“Because he finally went too far. He got a girl pregnant and then refused to marry her.”

“Somebody in town?”

“Della Bowie. She’s not here anymore. Once Jud left, Della and her family moved away. Nobody’s heard a word from or about them since.” Looking back, Ethan pulled in a deep breath. “Mom and Dad were completely torn up over the whole thing—they felt they’d lost a grandchild. Then Angela and I started getting sick, and everything went to hell.” He pounded a fist on the steering wheel. “Nothing I did made a difference. I tried—”

Kayla closed her fingers gently over his, stopping the motion. “You know you’re not to blame for what happened. Not for Angela’s illness, or your parents’ despair. We’ve worked on this, Ethan. You were only fourteen—you did the best you possibly could.”

“Right. My dad was losing his shirt over a ranch deal, Angela and I were getting lead poisoning from Mexican candy, and meanwhile Brother Jud’s out conquering the rodeo circuit. How’s that for fair?”

Kayla tightened her grip on his fist.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Ethan could finally let go of the anger. For the time being, anyway.

He lifted his hand to press a kiss on his wife’s knuckles. “I should’ve warned you about the emotional minefield you were walking into when you said you’d marry me. Second thoughts?”

“Nary a one.” She gave him her sweet smile. “I know a good thing when I see it. You’re stuck, Ethan Ritter. For better or worse.”

“Thank God,” he said, taking the kiss she offered, and a couple more, besides.

But he couldn’t help thinking, as he and Kayla walked arm in arm toward the house that, with Jud in town, worse might be a lot closer than they realized.