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The front door opens, and the one and only Matthew Ellis walks out, his cowboy hat tipped to the side, his light wash jeans maybe a size too small. He wears a white t-shirt under a long-sleeve flannel, and I’m sure the idea is to protect his skin from the sun, but I cannot for the life of me imagine wearing that in the sweltering Texas heat for hours at a time.
“Hey man!” Matthew calls, jogging up to us. He offers me his hand, bringing me in for a short hug before reaching for Sydney. “And who’s this?”
“This happens to be Sydney, Jerry’s sister,” I tell him.
He rears back. “God dammit, man, for a second there, I thought Jerry got a new look, ‘an I was gonna look like an asshole. They sure do look alike.”
“We’re twins,” Sydney says with a smile, shaking his hand.
Matthew shakes his head. He knows Jerry. He’s gotten an earful from her before. He knows how difficult she can be.
“Anyways, I heard you guys won’t be here too long. Let me show you the guest wing. We don’t have anyone else here for a bit, so you can wander around with no problem. Just watch out for Ted.”
“Who’s Ted?” Sydney mouths.
“I’ll tell you later,” I mouth back at her.
“Are you guys gonna have dinner here?” Matthew asks, turning around to cast a quick glance my way. His tan skin is covered in a glistening layer of sweat, his blue eyes still bright and happy despite everything that happens here.
There’s not many people like him.
“I was going to take Sydney out,” I tell him.
Matthew spins, walking backward up the stairs to the compound. He points in the direction of the garage.
“There’s a couple cars over there for you to use if you want. It can take a long time for one of our vans to get here, and if you ask me, the drivers aren’t very friendly.”
“They don’t talk much, do they?” I ask.
“No sir, they don’t.”
He opens the door for us, allowing Sydney to enter first before me. He follows us, making sure the door is tightly closed before showing us down the hall and into the beautiful main room of the guest wing.
The room is open with a beautiful kitchen and family room that has floor-to-ceiling windows opening up into the back of the property, giving the best view of everything the ranch has to offer.
“This place is so pretty,” Sydney says, her eyes wide with wonder.
“Thank you, ma’am. Worked on it myself.” Matthew says, taking his hat off and wiping his filthy hands through his sandy hair.
“You did this yourself?”
He nods, smiling. “Anyhow, I’ll leave you two to it. If you need me, you have my number, Ronan.” He smacks my shoulder on the way out.
“He’s nice,” Sydney says, flopping down on one of the couches.
“Yeah, he’s a good guy. He puts a lot of work into this place.”
“Is that his only job around here?”
“Kind of?” I’m not sure how to explain it to her. Crossing the room, I sit in the chair opposite her, slouching as I let the AC hit my face. “He’s kind of like the Jerry of Texas, except he can’t leave.”
Her face twists, her head tilting slightly.
I shake my head. “I don’t know the full story; I think Jerry knows more about it, to be honest,” I rake my fingers through my hair and scratch at my beard. “But from what I’ve heard, he tried to turn his back on the Angels at one point.”
Surprise clouds her eyes as she only looks more confused. “Wouldn’t someone get killed for that?”
I tap my fingers on the leather of the seat. “Most of the time, yes. But sometimes, someone gets lucky. He’s stuck here, but he didn’t get off scot-free. There are things he has to do here that I’d rather not say.”
