5. Trey

FIVE

TREY

“How’d everything go?” Amos asks me the minute he answers the phone. He had shit to do at the Ellison ranch. I didn’t. My lucky ass came for the both of us. I’m leaving with more questions and less answers.

“I’ve got bad news and more bad news. Take your fucking pick.” I put the phone on speaker while taking off my button-down shirt in the parking garage of the building where I had my meeting. The damn thing constricts me in the shoulders and makes it uncomfortable while driving. In all likeliness, I’ll run a couple of errands, drop off what needs to be dropped off, and then get my ass working on the ranch.

“Son of a bitch, what now?” We’ve been through so many roadblocks, permits, paperwork, documents on how we’ll sustain our herd, what the purpose of raising Bison will be, so on and so fucking forth. The bad part about all of this is we’ve supplied everything they’ve asked, and next thing they’ll need is a kidney as well as my first-born child. And I’d gladly give it to them at this point. Shit is getting tiring. The back and forth between us and the board. The driving, having my brothers cover me for a few hours on the ranch. Needless to say, I’m going to be owing my brothers favors left and right.

“You’re up next time. I’ll fix your fences, load your cows, shovel horse manure, but I’m tapping out. The paperwork they want now needs to be notarized, which would have been helpful had the board so much as put that on the paperwork we had to fill out. They want a statement from both of our banks also notarized, and they want the survey to the land the herd will be on. They’ll probably come to look at it, too.” I run my fingers through my hair, annoyed at the time suck this has been and ready to have a damn drink. Too bad it's still midmorning, and I’ve got a list a mile long from my mom to pick up whatever she’s cooking up for dinner and a woman to go after.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Trey Johnson can’t close a deal.” I don’t take the bait. Amos has no fucking idea what happened behind his back. There will be a day of reckoning. It’s coming, I can feel it and I’ll be man enough to own up to doing shit the wrong way. What I won’t do is allow him to make Sienna feel any type of way except happy .

“Yep, sure can’t. Maybe you’ll have better luck or they’ll give you a clear line of communication. Something has to happen, and soon. We’ve got the herd waiting on us. The longer we wait, the more they’ll charge.” Amos and I have a guy holding the bison we’re trying to bring to his farm. Until the right permits and shit is submitted, we’re essentially leasing his land and the herd. It’s a fucking nightmare and seems like it’s only getting worse as the days go on.

“I’ll take over. Might give me a minute to figure out what the hell my sister is up, too.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell Amos I saw her on the side of the road rescuing a dog. Except that’s not how to get back in Sienna’s good graces. Instead, I’ll do one better once I hit the town's limit. I fold my body back into the truck, allowing the Bluetooth to connect so I can get the fuck out of here. Amos disappears for a moment and then reappears. Why that can’t be seamless in a vehicle yet irritates the hell out of me. It also doesn’t help none of us buy a new truck every year. We drive it till the damn vehicles wheels come off or we’re pissed off enough in the repairs, we do the bare minimum and make it a farm truck.

“You’re playing with fire. The claws are going to come out. You know your sister, man. She’s not doing anything to get in trouble, but you go digging around before she’s ready to tell you, well, you won’t catch me anywhere near the Ellison Ranch for a solid week.” Amos better be careful. Sienna knows where he sleeps at night and cooks dinner most every night. I wouldn’t piss her off when she’s under my roof, but to each their own.

“Are you scared of Sienna?” Spoken like a true brother. Blood is thicker than water, and she’ll love him regardless of the hell he puts her through.

“Fuck yeah. You aren’t?” I’ve slowly made my way out of the three-story parking garage the next city over. Once I’m on the main highway heading toward Arrowleaf, it won’t take long, thank fuck.

“Nope, her bark is bigger than her bite. She wanted to hate me for pushing her to get out of here to go to college. Even when she came home, she still gave me an undercurrent of being pissed. A couple of weeks ago, things changed. We were sitting on the front porch, drinking a beer, feet kicked up, and she alluded to thanking me for pushing her out of Arrowleaf.” Amos takes a breath, and I can hear the happiness in his tone. He’s like a proud father, except he’s the brother in the equation. Still, since Sienna is on the forgiving side, maybe I should press my luck. “She about took me out, too, with the hug she gave me.”

“I bet. Happy for you, man. I know it wasn’t easy there for a bit.” Neither of us needs to go into details on how it sat heavy in his gut each time Sienna left to go back to school. She’d come home and ignore me like I had red horns, reminiscent of a spawn of Satan. Amos wasn’t the only one who had a lead weight in his gut. I played my part in pushing Sienna away. Fat lot of good it did on my end. She’s still the woman I want, and she’s the woman who will eventually be mine.

“Not at all,” Amos replies. It seems he’s in a talkative mood today. I settle in for the journey back home. There isn’t a lot of traffic this time of day, meaning the otherwise twenty-minute journey into the downtown area of Arrowleaf only takes fifteen minutes. “You ever think about settling down?” The question throws me for a loop. Where is this coming from? Sure, Amos and I have conversations, but never this deep, and never when I’m going to have to lie and cover my tracks.

“One day, when the right woman comes along. What about you?” You know, Mom always said men talked more than women in the gossip department and I’m beginning to think she’s right.

“Same, though we get a handle on this bison situation, might have you stay at the ranch and help Sienna. I could use a few nights away.” Amos hasn’t asked for much since his parents passed away. A couple of times, Mom would stay with Sienna when the time called for it. Other times, neighbors around the area would do similar. He must be burned the fuck out .

“Yeah, got no problem doing that.”

“I’d ask Sie, but she’s been coming and going so much that I don’t want to ruin whatever she’s hiding,” he says with a huff of a breath.

My eyes lock on a red beat-up truck in front of the diner. Standing beside it is Sienna, and wouldn’t you know it, I’m now famished, and not for food like I tell Amos. “Let me know. Whenever, man. Gonna let you go. I need coffee and something to eat before I hit the grocery store for Mom.”

“Alright, come over whenever with the shit we gotta get done,” Amos says.

“Will do.” We hang up. I pull my truck to the side and out of eyesight and watch as she climbs inside. I might have told Sienna’s brother to leave her alone, but that doesn’t mean I will.