Free Roping Ryan (The West Series Book 6) by Jill Sanders Page A

Reece chuckled. “The funny thing is, I can even picture it for myself.”
    Ryan’s eyebrows rose. “Soon?” He glanced back at Melissa as Reece laughed.
    “ Not within the next nine months, but maybe we’ll start working on it after the  wedding. ” Reece smiled.
    Ryan shook his head. “I could be an uncle this time next year.”
    Reece slapped him on the back and chuckled. “Don’t look so shocked.”
    Ryan sobered. “Does it worry you that we could end up like him?”
    He knew Reece understood who he was talking about.
    “No.” Reece shook his head and frowned. “Never. We have the choice. He could have made that choice too.” He nodded towards Travis. “Take Travis, there. His mother almost killed someone and is just plain crazy, yet Travis is one of the most stable men I know. Everyone in town is standing behind him.” He laughed and shook his head. “Everyone says that if he ran for mayor, he’d win in a landslide. After all, his old man did some great things for the town, and Travis is following in his footsteps.”
    Ryan nodded, but the thought of his father still loomed in the back of his mind.
    “So…” Reece broke into his thoughts, “are we ever going to talk about it?”
    Ryan looked over at his brother and instantly knew what he was talking about.
    “What do you want to know?”
    “Why?” He could see the sadness in the matching green eyes.
    Ryan looked down at his beer and felt his stomach roll. “How about a walk?”
    Reece nodded and then followed him off the porch. When Ryan’s boots hit the driveway, he turned towards the far field and knew his brother would keep pace with him. They walked in silence for a while as the crickets and frogs chirped around them.
    When he reached the wooden fence, he turned and leaned against it. His brother stood beside him, his hands buried deep in his pockets.
    “Do you remember when dad sent me into town to get the feed?” Reece nodded his head, and Ryan looked out towards the house. The lights and sounds coming from the back porch were comforting. “Well, before I left, he cornered me in the barn. He’d found our stash of money and had somehow found out about our plan to leave.” Ryan glanced at his brother.
    “I thought you’d taken the money.”
    “No, he had it. The son of a bitch hit me again a few times before I left. He told me that if I was serious about leaving that I’d better do it quick and if I dragged you into all this, he’d hunt me down and kill me himself.” Ryan sighed and remembered the fear that had crept into him that day. Even though Reece and he had been tall back then, neither of them had the build their old man had at that time. He looked at his brother and realized that they both had that build now, a little too late.
    “What happened?” Reece asked, walking over and leaning on the fence next to him.
    “I drove into town and crossed off the idea of leaving.”
    “Then?” Reece started to break in.
    “I bought a six-pack and went to our drinking spot.”
    “The old cemetery on Birch?”
    Ryan nodded his head.
    “Good place.” Reece smiled.
    “Yeah, well, it ended up not being so great that night. I guess there was a major sting going down. Over two dozen police officers dressed in black swarmed me and took me to the station in Houston. I spent the night trying to explain that I wasn’t in on any drug deals. Finally, about three in the morning, they started believing me. The next morning when I called dad and explained, he chose to let me rot in the city with no money and no way back. Actually, he told me if I stepped foot on his land again, he’d shoot me.” He shook his head, remembering the betrayal. “I guess he believed the police. He bitched about having to get the truck out of impound.”
    “He never said anything.” Reece was looking off towards the house, and he saw anger in his brother’s eyes.
    “I figured. By the time I’d heard he’d died, I was already undercover. Then when I