Part 3

Asher

Once the large ranch house came into view, Asher could feel the last of his exhaustion melting away. He was home. Finn hadn’t stopped talking, but Asher wasn’t really listening. He had plenty on his mind. After Finn parked the car, Asher grabbed his duffel bag.

The inside of the house smelled like pipe tobacco, apple pie, and coffee. He’d missed those smells. Home. When Finn opened the kitchen door, five heads turned to look at them. Eden squealed, her chair almost capsizing as she pushed it out, and flung herself at Asher. “You’re home!”

“Missed you, too, Edie,” he said, as he hugged her.

“The prodigal son returns,” Dylan said, as he hugged Asher, and slapped him on his back.

His father, Thomas Fitzgerald, stood up, and hugged Asher tightly. “Welcome home, Son.”

His other brothers, Blair and Colt, hugged him as well, and by the time he sat down, a plate with cutlery, and a cup of coffee had appeared at the head of the table, across from his father. He’d made the right decision to come home permanently.

“How long are you on leave?” his father asked him.

“I’m not on leave, Pops. I’m retired now,” Asher said.

“Retired? So you’re home for good?” Colt asked.

Asher nodded his head, and caught Blair’s grin. “Does that mean you’re going to start pulling your weight around here?”

Asher grunted, and emptied his coffee mug. At one point, the ranch had been in trouble. Asher hadn’t thought twice about it, immediately emptying his investments and savings accounts, and sending everything home. He’d paid Eden’s tuition at college, and funded Finn’s startup costs to begin bull riding. He’d been hot on the circuit for three years before a tragic accident pushed him back home. His best friend, Jack, had died when the bull had thrown him off, then trampled him. It had opened Finn’s eyes, so he’d given up his adrenaline-rushing career.

Asher had never wanted the money back. He had no living costs in the Army, and given the choice, he’d do it again. His family meant everything to him, especially now that their mother had passed. The ranch was their legacy, and he’d do just about anything to keep it in family hands.

“You’re probably tired and starving, from what I can see,” Eden said, as she filled a plate for him.

“He doesn’t look starving to me,” Finn said, smiling. “Especially since I already caught him red-handed with some woman.”

His father, Thomas, looked up sharply. “Say what now, Boy?”

Asher shook his head and chuckled. “Finn’s an idiot. I just helped out a woman moving into the old Lansing house.”

“A real gentleman, Pops; he was carrying her luggage for her,” Finn said.

Thomas cracked a smile. “I’d expect nothing less from a Fitzgerald. Your mama, bless her soul, raised you all to be gentlemen.”

Eden snorted, coughing to hide it. “Some of the women in town might disagree, Daddy.”

Colt sniggered, and Dylan pushed his elbow into his ribs. “We’re always gentlemen, Pops. I, especially, never lie to them, and say I’m ready to commit.”

Asher laughed with his brothers, as their father lowered his head, muttering something under his breath. They ate breakfast, and made small talk. Asher asked questions about the ranch, as well as the two businesses they were running, listening intently, and thinking about ways to help his family.

“I need to shower, then I’ll head into town, and go see Lorelei,” Asher said. The conversation around the table stopped abruptly, as everyone looked at him. “What?”

“Asher…” Eden looked heartbroken, and he gripped the backrest of the wooden kitchen chair.

“Just tell me what happened.”

Colt stood up, opened a kitchen drawer, and placed the newspaper in front of him on the table. Asher unfolded it and looked at the article on the front page. Lorelei Adams smiled into the camera, on the arm of Winchester McRoy, a friend from school. The article announced their engagement two weeks earlier.

“I’m sorry, son,” Thomas said, as Asher clenched his jaw.

“She looks happy,” Asher said, and walked out of the kitchen.

Asher grabbed his duffel bag, and headed out of the house. He’d built his own house two miles west of the main house. When he’d built it, he’d imagined Lorelei living there with him. He’d spent money on the house, making it both modern and comfortable.

As he opened the front door, a small smile graced his lips. The air smelled fresh, and the house was clean. He knew it was Eden’s handiwork, airing his house every week, for the day he returned permanently.

He took a long, hot shower and dressed in his favorite, well-worn jeans and a soft T-shirt. He grabbed the large box of secondhand tools he wanted to take to Marvin’s store as a donation, something he did every year.

After his truck started on the first go, he saw that he had half a tank of fuel. That would be Colt. He shook his head sadly, knowing that, at some point, he’d have to see her, upon which, he would inevitably talk to her. When his phone beeped, he looked at the text.

Eden: You know I never liked her, but now I hate her. I’ll stockpile eggs from the coop so we can egg Lorecow’s house.

Asher chuckled again, exiting his messages. His sister was one of a kind, and he had no doubt that two weeks earlier, she’d said her peace to Lorelei, as soon as that article appeared. The last message he’d gotten from Lorelei had been a week earlier, a measly seven days ago. It was a message where she still told him she loved him and was waiting for him.

Asher found a parking spot and recognized Maggie’s car a few spots ahead of him. He wanted coffee first, but when he saw her through the window, he decided to head into the secondhand store first. Her hair was in a ponytail, the blond strands shining under the store’s lights. Melody had a light yellow dress on. She noticed him first as she looked over Maggie’s shoulder.