Page 56 of Red Hot Rancher

“Yes, sir.” His work family had picked up the slack for his personal one. Between them and the Jameses, he’d be fine.

He went inside. Justin wasn’t around, but the fridge actually had food in it. Caleb prepped supper, tossed it in the oven, and did some quick cleaning while it was cooking.

Justin came in like he had a sixth sense about when food was ready. The latter half of today had reminded Caleb of the days before Brigit moved back. Mellow. Congenial. Kind of boring.

Justin grabbed the plates when they were done. “I got the dishes. Did you vacuum?”

“And dusted.”

“Damn, dude. I might have to marry you.”

Caleb chuckled and went up to his room. He couldn’t stand the wait. He sent Brigit a message. Have you talked to them yet?

An hour went by before his phone rang.

He answered, craving the sound of her voice. As long as he had her in his life, he could take whatever life threw his way. “Hey, Bridge.”

“I talked to them.” Her voice was heavy. Like she was fighting tears or had been crying.

He sat up. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m, uh, not coming home tomorrow. I have another interview on Monday.”

“But I thought—”

“They spent all their retirement putting me through school.” Soft sobs carried over the line. “All of it. They’re broke.”

He tried to process what she was saying. “Your parents?”

“Yes. They had money saved for Travis. Justin’s school didn’t cost as much because he didn’t sneak in all the extra classes. Then I went to graduate school. And added in more classes, more expenses. God, Caleb, I was so selfish.”

“You weren’t selfish. They’re your parents.”

“They can’t retire. They wouldn’t have enough to last more than five years.”

The magnitude of what she said sank in. Joan and Rick had never let on that they were having financial trouble. Each time Justin asked, they claimed to love Arizona and their new jobs. They’d joke about working until they were seventy. But it wasn’t a joke. They couldn’t afford to quit. They’d worked their entire lives and raised three kids and sunk all their money into them.

Caleb had mad respect for parents willing to do that for their kids. But… Brigit wasn’t coming back tomorrow? Another interview?

“Didn’t you talk to them about what you really want to do with your life?” Seriously. Another interview? For a soul-crushing job that she had zero interest in?

She dropped to a ragged whisper. “How can I? I can’t tell them they spent every last cent on my education and I’m not going to use it.”

“What, like any old dumbass can ranch?”

“You know I don’t mean that. But it won’t pay them back like an office job here. I could live with them and—and work for a few years and help them out.”

“Brigit, you’re one of three kids who they helped through college. All this responsibility is not on your shoulders.”

“Travis has a family. Justin…well, he has his situation. And they’d die before they let the guys know how much they were hurting financially. I barely got it out of them and if I hadn’t found the papers on their desk, they wouldn’t have told me.”

“Because they want you to go and live the life you want for yourself.”

“How can I do that, Caleb?”

He paused for a moment and squeezed his eyes shut. “So you’re not coming home?”

“Not until next week.”

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