Page 7 of Sloth
“If that's what you wanna call it.” Luke shrugs confidently.
“You got some big boots to fill, boy. Matty had ambition. He worked his fingers to the bone to get this place running.”
“I ain’t here to fill nobody's boots, Koben. I’m here to do right by my brother. I can manage the ranch, and I can manage the herd. Like I said, your offer’s appreciated, but it ain’t needed.”
“And don’t you think Erin should get a say in this? She’s the one who could end up homeless.” Koben looks to me with a smug-ass grin on his face, and when I see that Luke is looking at me too, I feel weighed down by all the pressure.
“What ya say, Erin? Shall we send Luke back home to Mommy and Daddy?” Koben asks.
“No,” I answer before my brain has a chance to catch up. I know that Luke hasn’t got Matty’s drive and determination, butI also know how much he loved his brother. He’d want to make him proud, and keeping busy could be what he needs to get over the grief of losing him. Also, selfishly, I know I’d miss him if he wasn’t here. “Luke’s got this.” I smile back at Koben politely and wrap my arm around Luke’s bicep to show him that he has my support. I don’t take it as a particularly good sign that Luke looks gobsmacked by my vote of confidence, but I stand by it.
“I see.” Koben does his best to hide the knock his pride just took, while Liza looks down at her lap awkwardly and tries to hide her snigger.
“I’ll just head on out and check on Titan before I go.” He spins around and heads for the door, and as soon as it slams after him, I turn and face Luke.
“You don’t have to do this…I…I don’t expect you to?—”
“I wanna,” he tells me. Picking up his hat and pulling back the hair that flopped into his eyes. Then, placing it on his head, he leaves me and Liza alone.
“Wow…has that guy got the hots for you?” Liza stares at me with her mouth wide open.
“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s Matthew’s brother,” I snap right back at her for being so ludicrous, and wonder what the niggle of disappointment my own words cause me to feel in the pit of my stomach is all about.
“Not Luke, Koben. You’d think he’d at least wait until his best friend was cold before he moved in on his widow.” She rolls her eyes.
“Liza!” I shake my head, though I shouldn't be surprised by her brashness. I’ve known the girl since I moved to town, and she never had much of a filter.
“Am I wrong?” She tilts her head at me cleverly.
“Koben’s just being a good friend. He loved Matthew, and it’s sweet that he wants to take care of this place.” I have to push any thoughts like that to the back of my head. Koben may be a littlebolshy, but he’s a nice guy; over the years, he’s become a friend to me too.
“Your naïvety is endearing.” Liza smiles sarcastically and gets back to flicking through the magazine she brought to ‘cheer me up.’
“I’m not being naïve. Koben doesn’t think of me in that way,” I assure her…again.
“Everyone with a dick thinks of you in that way,” she laughs at me. “I wouldn’t be surprised if someone didn’t kill poor Matty outta jealousy.” She’s got that clever look on her face again.
“Stop! That’s not what happened.” I let her know that she’s crossed the line by turning my voice serious again.
“I’m sorry.” She reaches for my hand and grips it tight, “You know how crap I am with these kinda situations. I wanna make all your hurt go away, and humor's the only tool I got.” Her smile makes it hard not to forgive her, and I quickly get up and turn away from her. Liza knows me better than anyone; she’s been the hardest person to lie to over the past year, and I fear that if she looks too deep into my eyes, she’ll see that there’s no hurt there at all. Just fresh hope and relief.
Unlike everyone else in this town, I didn’t love Matthew Edwards. I despised him. I feel no pain in his absence, and I certainly don’t miss him. I don’t know who killed him, but I'm guessing that the reason he’s dead is because someone else out there got to see the real side of him, too. Someone much braver than I was.
“Liza said the River boys are having a party tonight, ain’t ya goin'?” I ask Luke as we both sit down in front of the TV. He didn’t eat much of the casserole I made us for dinner, andalthough I know my cooking could never live up to Mary’s, I'm starting to think it really is as awful as Matthew would tell me it was.
“Nah, ain’t much in the mood for partying, besides I’m better off here, those detectives still have no leads,” he points out, taking the remote and pointing it at the TV.
“Do you really think I could be in danger?” I ask, wondering if Luke knew anything about his brother’s darker side.
“I sure know I ain’t gonna risk it,” he tells me, keeping his eyes on mine the way they were earlier, and bringing back that deep pulse in the base of my stomach. “It meant a lot what ya did earlier, in front of Koben. You trusting me and all that… I know I give folk a lotta reason to doubt me, and Koben would have probably been your better option, but?—”
“I don’t think there's a better option,” I interrupt him, wondering how different things might have been if he had asked me to the prom all those years ago. “You loved Matty. You’ll want this place to do well, and if I end up leavin–”
“Whoa, you're thinkin’ about leaving?” His expression quickly changes.
“I don’t have much to keep me here,” I admit. My foster family moved out of state last year, and other than Liza, I have no one here who would miss me.
“You got plenty keeping ya here. This is your home, we’re your family. Mom and Dad would be devastated. I—” He cuts himself off and shakes his head like he still can’t believe I would want to leave town. “You can’t leave, Erin. You belong here,” he tells me with a scared look on his handsome face.
