Chapter 3

"Who's that guy Devyn's talking to outside?" Coy asked as he took his place at the breakfast table.

Dillon leaned back from the stove where she was plating bacon and eggs onto platters and gazed out the window. "Ah, that's Sawyer."

"She's been eyeing him since we arrived." Ransom chuckled.

"Is he new? I don't recall seeing him on your detail before," Coy questioned.

"To my detail, yes. He's been serving for a bit, training, the usual. I had a hole on my team and he's earning the spot so far. Good kid, young, but has a solid head on his shoulders."

Coy buttered a piece of toast and added jelly then cut it in half between his nephew and niece and winked. "Who vetted him?"

"Coy, you know Ran has a pretty good vetting system considering his job, right?" Dillon chuckled.

"If memory serves, we worked a case involving Ran, his safety, and said vetting system not all that long ago," Coy pointed out as he poured orange juice into two spill-proof cups for the kids and popped their lids on. "Or was that a different sitting president you had the hots for?"

"Point taken." Dillon made her way to the table with platters of food. "And I might have run him myself when they brought him up to the detail and when I saw Dev making that face she's been wearing anytime he's in the room."

"Wait, are you just going to bypass that whole ‘previous president you had the hots for' part on purpose?" Ransom asked, seeming playfully offended.

"Don't worry, baby. I strongly dislike politics and the politicians who do the politicking… You're the exception, honey." Dillon dropped a kiss on her husband's forehead and refilled his coffee mug.

"It's probably because I'm not a real politician and more of a man of honor –– a war hero. Girls have a thing for that," Ransom teased and swatted her ass, earning giggles from the little ones.

"Remember the four and under club is watching their cool Uncle Ran's every move," Nora reminded. "Last thing I need is a parent-teacher conference because they're slapping… rear ends at school."

"Hands to yourselves, always, you two," Cut said, addressing the children. "Understood?"

They nodded with giggles and Cut shook his head knowing this wasn't the end of it. "Uncle Ran can handle that phone call when it comes in, darlin'. Better get him on speed dial at the school."

Ransom winked at the kids. "They won't make Uncle Ran look bad. Will ya?"

The two shook their heads in agreement.

"See? All good," Ransom said with a satisfied grin.

"They're little fibbers, Ran." Nash flipped a pancake onto a tall stack and brought it over to the table. "These two get me in trouble all the time. Don't you, little rug rats?"

"I think you get yourself in plenty of trouble without their help, but there was that choice word you taught Tuck that landed me in the principal's office," Nora said, plating the children's food. "Uncle Nash has a potty mouth, don't he?"

"Uncle Nash got in big trouble. He's afraid of Mama," Tucker said.

"No dessert for Uncle Nass," Dally said in her tiny little voice.

"Y'all aren't foolin' me. I know you snuck him some of your apple pie that night," Nora said earning wide-eyed stares. "Remember, I see everything ‘round here."

Nash looked at Nora, then the kids. "Swear I didn't tell her."

"I told her," Cut said between bites of his breakfast. "Y'all did a good job workin' together, but you tried foolin' your Mama and that ain't okay."

"Hold on, now. Before you go sendin' these hooligans off to the big house, you should know that they did it out of concern and generosity. They didn't want ol' Uncle Nash to starve and to be fair, I didn't eat it… they did. So technically, no laws have been broken here."

"Great." Nora said, leaning back in her chair, rubbing her pregnant belly. "Now I want some apple pie."

Everyone laughed and went on about eating their breakfast while having light conversation and getting reacquainted, though it seemed as though no time had passed at all.

"Nice of you to join us," Coy said as Devyn came inside and took a seat at the table.

"Just in time to help clean up," Dillon added while clearing dishes from the table.

Devyn picked through what was left of the food and piled it on her plate. "Man, you guys were hungry this morning. Didn't think to leave much, did ya?"

"When you didn't come back in, we assumed you weren't eating and went for seconds," Coy said.

Nash patted his stomach. "Some of us, thirds."

"I was simply making sure everyone had something to eat from Ran's crew out there. Just being… patriotic and all."

"You seem especially patriotic for the one they call Sawyer." Nash waggled his brow, teasing his sister.

Devyn glared. "The one they call Sawyer, as opposed to calling him…"

"Taken," Ransom interrupted.

Devyn dropped her fork on her plate. "Are you serious? I should've figured as much. He didn't seem nearly as interested in me as I was in him. I knew something was up."

"Yeah, newlywed, if I recall?" Ransom went on. "His husband's a nice guy."

The table roared with laughter when Devyn choked on Ransom's words.

"Husband? Now that makes even more sense. Man, can I pick them or what?" Devyn said in frustration, twirling her fork in her food. "It sure is going to get lonely here."

"You're only here a short time," Coy said. "Plenty of young eligible men back in the city on campus."

"About that…" Devyn's stare roamed as she tried to read the room. "I'm not going back."

The sound of forks clattering as they dropped on the breakfast plates and all eyes were on Devyn.

"Oh, you're going back," Cut said, pushing his chair out behind him and clearing his plate from the table. "Ma and Pop sacrificed a lot for you to go to law school, and we've been working ourselves to early graves to pay for it."

"And I hate that you are working so hard for me."

"You're so close to being done," Coy said. "You can't quit now. Besides, I can help with tuition."

"Us too," Dillon said, Ransom, nodding alongside her.

"I don't want you all to have to sacrifice so much for me." Devyn started. "Look, I want to finish, but I've talked to my professors about finishing remotely, and on a modified schedule –– I'm thinking of attempting the bar early. One of my professors has already signed off on it. I thought maybe I could get a job somewhere around here, pay my own way."

"Not happenin', sis." Nash wadded up his napkin, tossed it on his plate, and leaned back in his chair. "You're the smart one. Always have been. Smarter than all of us combined. You're going to be a first-generation college grad. You're finishing what you started."

"And I still can, just… a different way," Devyn said.

"Why?" Dillon asked. "Why now?"

"I-I don't know. I suppose because life is just flying by and I'm missing so much of it. The babies aren't babies anymore…"

"Don't worry, there's another one coming, your brother saw to that," Nora joked.

"I know, but I guess… It's more than that. Being home the past few days with everyone for the first time since I was a little girl just… really tore me up. I miss this. Us. This place."

"Mama." Nash understood what the real reason was.

"And Mama. I missed so many years, her last years, away at school. By the time we found out she was sick, it was almost too late to spend time with her and it wasn't all quality time."

"Amen to that." Nash's eyes welled with emotion.

"My childhood was so different from y'all. You all grew up together and by the time I was old enough to really be part of the pack, you were moving on to new seasons of life. Losing Mama really put it all into perspective for me," Devyn admitted as a lone tear ran down her cheek. "My memories of Pop are limited, memories of Mama will always be tainted by the cancer, and I don't want to limit the memories I have here, with all of you, too."

"You want to work the farm?" Coy asked.

"Hell no." Devyn quickly corrected herself when the children giggled at her swearing. "Heck. I mean heck no. But that doesn't mean I don't want to take a more active role. I nearly have my law degree. That can help around here. I have a nose for business too."

"You want to contribute," Coy said.

"I do. I'm realizing just how easy I've had it compared to all of you and I want to do my part. I want to be part of the pack."

The older siblings looked around the table at each other and recognized just what their baby sister was talking about. Their relationships and experiences were far different from hers. When they all went off to the military or to run the ranch, she was doing scholarly things and earning scholarships. She was the brains of the bunch –– book smart where they were each what you'd call street smart.

"I don't know, Dev. You're not like us and I mean that in the best possible way," Nash said, speaking for all of them. "You don't have to stay here. You don't have to choose a specific path –– you have options. You can break the proverbial cycle."

"Proverbial?" Coy teased. "You know what that word means?"

"Of course I do. She isn't the only one with brains in this family, hers is just… bigger," he conceded.

"Debatable," Coy teased.

"Ffff… I mean…" Nash looked first to Nora, who was offering him a death glare for the words he was about to shed in front of the children, then to the little one who hung on his every word. "Phooey, big brother. Be… nice."

Nora nodded, approving of his reworked choice of words.

"I'm not quitting. I want to be a lawyer more than anything, always have, but that's the problem. I'm also a Stone and want to be a Stone too… before it's too late."

"Honey, Mama was sick. She lived a good life. There's lots of years left for all of us," Coy said.

"Coy, I love you, but we don't know that there's a lot of years left… You of all people understand that better than most," Devyn said gently, referring to his wife who was murdered at such a young age.

Coy nodded his head, and his focus shifted to his intertwined fingers and twiddling thumbs, unwilling to go to that headspace. "I understand and support whatever decision you make as long as it includes finishing school."

"And I will."

"I think we're all feeling a certain kind of way with Mama gone now. It's good to be home with everyone here," Dillon said. "Maybe we all need this time, together."

"I still don't know how we missed it. She didn't seem sick," Coy said. "I know we weren't all here to her day to day, but she sounded fine on the phone, seemed active still, and even on video chats she looked great."

"Don't beat yourselves up over that too much," Cut said. "We saw her every damn day and didn't see it either."

"We just thought maybe she was slowing down a bit," Nora added. "Seemed natural for her age. I never would've guessed she was sick."

"She hid it well. Didn't want to burden anyone, I guess?" Coy said.

"And to think we basically read people for a living." Dillon chuckled. "Maybe we need to rethink our line of work."

"Nah, Ma just knew how to get past the radar." Coy grinned. "She was tough. So damn tough."

"Wait." Devyn sat taller in her seat and turned to Nash. "You knew."

Nash began to squirm. "Excuse me?"

"At the funeral the other day. You said you knew her nurse. How? That means you knew Mama was sick."

"Don't you all go looking at me now," Nash warned. "I didn't do nothin' wrong. Mama… Well, she threatened me. She told me to keep it to myself."

"For how long?" Coy asked.

"For… a while." Nash was being vague with his answer.

"How long is a while?" Coy demanded.

"Quite… a while?" Nash shrugged.

"That's not exactly a measure of time, Nash."

"Coy, now, you're asking me to go back on my word, see… And I promised. Gave my word. Swore on Pop's grave that I'd… keep her secret."

"Oh my God. You knew all along, didn't you?" Devyn asked.

"Well, not exactly all along."

"Nash?" There was an underlying threat in Dillon's tone.

"Ah, geez. This ain't right and y'all know it," Nash defended.

"What's not right is knowing our mother is dying and not saying a damn word to anyone. It's selfish," Coy said. "We all could've come home, spent time with her?—"

"Selfish? I'm selfish? I was the one who actually noticed something was wrong and then saw to it she didn't go through it alone anymore because none of y'all could be bothered to come home and visit just because you missed her. No, this is your conscience, your guilt to carry, not mine. You don't get to push that off on me. You could've been here more despite her being ill, but since you weren't. That guilt's eatin' each of you alive and you aren't blamin' me for that."

Nash stood and marched toward the door.

"Wait!" Coy hollered. "You're right. Come back. Sit down. Please tell us what you know. I can't speak for everyone but I can tell you that you've hit the nail on the head with me. I do feel guilty. I do wish I'd done better, been a better son."

Nash's shoulders sagged and he made his way back to the table and rejoined his family. "That's exactly why she didn't want no one to know. It would've uprooted all your lives, changed everything. Everyone would've been here out of obligation and she didn't want to take nothin' from anyone."

"Take? She's our mother. We would gladly drop it all for her," Dillon said.

"She knew that. Didn't want that for any of you," Nash said. "She was mad I knew."

"How'd you find out?" Coy asked.

"Too many trips to the next town over for things. Oil changes, brakes on the car, tune-ups, shopping with the ladies."

"Mama hated shopping, and since when did she go to the next town over for service work on her car?" Coy snickered.

"Exactly my point. When she was off to get a new set of tires when I knew she'd just bought some last spring from old man Jenkins in town, I followed her. I thought she was visiting a friend at the hospital or something. Followed her inside, saw she was at the cancer center, and when she didn't come out for quite some time and was wearing a bandage and lookin' pale as a ghost when she did, I confronted her right then and there."

"I bet she loved that." Coy smiled.

"Told me I wasn't too old for a good whoopin'." Nash snorted. "Then I reminded her she'd never whooped a single one of us and it was too late to start now."

"I bet that really got her going." Cut laughed. "She didn't like being caught or told nothin'."

"Sure didn't. I took her to lunch—bad idea, she got sick. Then, I drove her home and went back for my rig the next day."

"Wait a minute." Cut leaned forward over the table and propped his elbows. "Is that…"

"Yup. You took me to get my truck."

"I remember that. You said you'd been too drunk to drive and left it. I gave you a good lecture all the way there," Cut said.

"Sure did. Couldn't get out of your truck fast enough after that," Nash admitted. "But I couldn't tell you. She'd sworn me to secrecy and y'all, even sick as she was, I was still a little afraid of that woman."

They all laughed and agreed, you didn't cross Delilah Stone.

"So, I started taking her to all her appointments. I told her the only way I would keep her secret was if I got to take her and make sure she made it there safely and made it home safely. She called me a nosey trouble makin' hooligan, but she let me." Nash paused, his expression softened with emotion. "It was real rough on her. The treatments… They made her pretty sick."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that alone," Coy said, landing a hand on his brother's shoulder for support. "But I'm glad she wasn't alone."

"I'd do it a hundred times over. Rough as it was. I wouldn't give up those times," Nash admitted. "She was a tough woman, the strongest I ever met, but seeing her go through that and then act like she was fine and dandy… Man, she was stronger than any of us thought."

"So those trips you would take with her to go antiquing or hit the big box stores a few towns over…" Cut began. "Those were…"

"Treatments, procedures, you name it."

"That's why you'd stay over every now and again and not come home for a few days." Cut was piecing it all together. "You were taking care of her."

"She didn't want y'all to see her that sick. So, while she was in her treatments I would go buy some random antique items somewhere or hit the big box stores and buy big quantities of random things. Then I'd go get her, take her to the hotel where she'd get sicker than a dog, and then we'd come home when she thought she was well enough to fool y'all. She'd tell you she was tired from the trip, but it was from the treatments, and ultimately, the cancer."

"It worked," Coy said.

"Geez, Nash. I didn't know you could be so sweet. Shopping for her to sell the story?" Devyn swiped away a tear.

"Couldn't come home empty-handed every time or eventually someone would notice. That's how I met her nurse, Charlotte. She was real sweet on Mama. They were like peas in a pod. She even brought us home-cooked meals when she knew we were staying in town at a hotel so we weren't eatin' poorly. Kept me company. Helped with Mama when it was especially bad and I didn't know what to do or how to help her through it."

"She sounds like a saint," Coy added. "I don't believe that's protocol."

"Not at all. Just a genuinely sweet girl. She took Mama's passin' pretty hard. Those two bonded quickly, and I do believe Mama was playin' matchmaker all the way to the funeral," Nash said.

They all laughed.

Coy shook his head at the thought. "That sounds like her."

"I owe you an apology, brother," Cut said. "I gave you so much crap for always takin' off and being so absent ––I assumed you were up to your regular shenanigans, but you were takin' care of her."

"Oh, I still got into some shenanigans here and there, it's how I coped, I suppose, but mostly, I was with Mama. The time with her and doing that for her was worth the shit you gave me."

"That we all gave you." Devyn smiled. "You're a good one, Nash Stone."