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This, he supposed, was Carter.
The SUV stopped, because clearly the guy didn’t really know where he was going.
He rolled down his window. “I’m looking for Elizabeth Colfax?”
What struck Brody the most was how young the guy was. Well, probably Elizabeth’s age. And he knew she wasn’t quite thirty yet. He had kind of a soft face, a little bit round, even though he wasn’t overweight or anything. Light brown hair pushed off his forehead. And he was wearing a sport coat, like this was a fancy dinner or something.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll walk you on up to her place. It’s a dirt road, and it’s not far.”
He began to walk ahead of the giant vehicle, and if the guy was frustrated because he was going slow, well, all the better.
The little cabin came into view, and he stepped to the side, gesturing forward. He knew that he didn’t have to continue following the SUV. He knew that he didn’t have to be there for this. Except... He wanted to be.
As soon as the car stopped in front of the cabin, the front door crashed open, and Benny came running out with a giant duffel bag over his shoulder that pitched ahead of him, and knocked him off his balance. But of course, Benny being Benny, he wasn’t deterred by that at all. “Dad,” he exploded.
The guy got out of the car, and scooped Benny up in a hug. And to his credit, he looked genuinely happy to see his kid.
It made Brody feel conflicted, because mostly he just wanted to punch this guy in the face because he had hurt Elizabeth. Bad. In his mind, in his heart, that was unforgiveable.
He’d hurt her in the past and he had the power to hurt her now, because their son was between them.
But the guy clearly loved Benny. And Benny loved him.
So he supposed punching him unprovoked wasn’t on the table.
Elizabeth came out of the house, her expression schooled into something flat.
The redheaded woman got out of the car then, her sleek hair tied back in a knot. And the back doors to the SUV opened, and the three kids tumbled out.
“Sorry,” the woman said. “I guess we’re kind of invading you. But they really want to see where Benny lives.”
“Right. No. That’s not a problem,” Elizabeth said. “Hi, Ashley.”
“Hello.”
It wasn’t frosty, not really. It wasn’t warm either. It was just a neutral kind of acceptance Brody didn’t think he’d ever seen before.
And Brody thought this was the perfect chance for him to insert himself into the mix.
“Have fun, Ben,” he said.
“Thanks, Brody,” Benny said, looking like Brody had handed him five bucks by calling him such a grown-up name in front of everyone. “Brody is a cowboy. And a pirate.”
“A pirate,” Carter repeated.
“Yeah,” Brody answered, grinning as slowly as possible, because he just knew that him grinning at nothing in particular would make a guy like this mad.
He might not be able to punch him. But he could needle him.
“I’m Carter,” he said, sticking out his hand.
“Brody. Brody McCloud. Part owner of the ranch.” He stuck his hand out and shook it. Maybe a little bit more firmly than necessary. Carter seemed to take it as a challenge and squeezed his back.
He dropped his hand to the side and turned to the redhead. “Ashley,” she said. “Ashley Colfax.”
Oh. Of course the woman had the same last name as Elizabeth.
Because it was Carter’s last name.
