Page 16 of Sweet and Wild

“That’s different.”

“How? How is it different?”

“Because you’re my daughter,” he bites out.

I wipe away my tears with the back of my hand and nod. “I am, and I love Colt. Nothing anyone says or does is gonna change that.”

Daddy shakes his head. “It ain’t right, Lemonade.”

“Says who? Colt’s been a part of my life as long as I can remember. He loves me, he takes good care of me, and you can tell me not to see him, but that’s not gonna stop the way my heart feels. He’s my whole world, Daddy.”

All of the anger leaves my father’s face, replaced instead by a sad sort of resignation. He shakes his head and turns to Mr. Hayes. “Best you take your boy on home now.”

Mr. Hayes nods and glares at Colt, and I worry what Colt’s daddy might do when everyone is not there to temper his anger. Colt got his heart and his sweetness from his mama, but the only similarity I’ve seen between him and his daddy is the way they look. He don’t talk about it much, but I know Mr. Hayes is harder on Colt with a belt or his hands than our daddy has ever been with us.

I clutch Colt’s hand as he passes and give it a small squeeze, and then he and Knievel are gone, along with Mr. Hayes. I glance at my own father, and then at my brothers all standing there stony-faced and full of their own sense of selves, casting judgement on me and Colt.

“Well, are y’all just gonna stand there gawking at me, or are you gonna get back to the house before Mama feeds all our breakfasts to the dogs?”

I roll up the blanket and stomp toward Pete, then climb into the saddle and take off for home at breakneck speed before anyone else can vocalize how disappointed they are in me.

CHAPTER NINE

Lemon

Iwake early, shower, dress, and apply a minimal amount of makeup—or war paint as my daddy called it—and I head downstairs. Mama isn’t in the kitchen, but she’s already served up grits and biscuits for breakfast. I don’t want to eat, and I settle instead for a strong black coffee. The mood in the kitchen is somber, and I can’t help but notice the absence of Cash and Colt. “No extended family today?”

“They’ll be at the church,” West says, pouring the remainder of his coffee down the sink and leaning against the counter.

“So how is this going to work? Shall I drive Mama?”

“I can drive myself,” Mama says, coming down the stairs in her finest church clothes.

Wyatt proclaims, “I’ll drive Mama and Lemonade in her car.”

Over my dead body.

I give him a stern look. “I can drive my own damn car.”

“Lemon, just let me drive. Please? When the hell else am I ever gonna get behind the wheel of a Ferrari?”

“Fine, but I’m not insured for anyone else but Stavros and I, so if you break it, you bought it.”

Wyatt kisses my cheek. “Thanks, Lemonade.”

“I mean it, Wyatt. Do not crash my car.”

“Never.” He gives me a willful smile as he heads to the key holder by the back door and plucks my key fob from the hook.

Mama wrings her hands. “I still don’t see why I can’t just drive myself?”

“Come on, Mama. What’s wrong with showing up in style? Daddy woulda loved it.”

She smiles sadly. “No offence, Lemonade, but your daddy would have called that car a hunk of European junk.”

“It’s a lot of money on a car. Why, I bet you could sell it and fund this ranch for several years to come,” West mutters.

“Now you hush, West William Winchester. That car was a gift, and Lemon ain’t selling it to make you happy. I’m ashamed you’d even suggest such a thing. And on today of all days.”

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