“You got anything to add?” their dad asked Cal.
“Just the same thing that me’n Carson have brought up several times. Dividing the land so we’re each workin’ our own section. The way it sets now it’s not equal pay for equal work.”
“You just had to get a shot in at me, didn’t you?” Casper demanded. “You act like I don’t do nothin’ around here.”
“You do about half as much work as Carson, get paid the same and he has a wife and kid to support,” Cal snapped. “That ain’t a shot, that’s the honest truth.”
“Enough,” their father said. “Only thing that’s changing is Casper is getting married and movin’ out.”
Carson looked at his son, wearing secondhand clothes, and swallowed his pride. “So this ain’t the time to ask for a pay raise?”
“Not when I just bought the Ingalls place.”
“Even if we have a good year?”
“Depends. A bonus might be in order, but you know any profits pay off existing debt and then what’s left goes in the expansion fund. It’s about the long term and the future.”
Think before you speak.
But Carson couldn’t hold it in. “So in the short term, I have three mouths to feed, plus soon a fourth, on the same salary you’re payin’ yourself and your single sons. Think on the fairness of how we’re raising beef for other folks to eat, while your grandkids and the future of this ranch are eatin’ canned beans and powdered milk because that’s the only food I can afford to buy for my family.” He glanced down at Cord. His lip quivered and his blue eyes were enormous with fear. Great. Now he’d scared his son. He picked the boy up and nuzzled his cheek. “It’s okay. Let’s go home to Mama.”
Carson had made it to his truck when he heard Cal say, “Wait up.”
He opened the passenger door and set Cord on the seat. “Stay down, okay?”
“’Kay.”
Then he faced his twin. “What?”
“Is it really that rough for you and Carolyn?”
He felt his cheeks heat and he looked away. “Yeah.”
“Dammit, Carse, why didn’t you say something?”
“Because it’s embarrassing. I put off askin’ him and now I see I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Jesus. I hate that I damn near begged for a few extra bucks and he didn’t even consider it.” Carson closed his eyes. “Casper f**ks up, knocks up a chick that he doesn’t even like and he gets a house? I don’t know where Casper gets the idea I’m the favorite child because from where I’m sittin’ in my cramped trailer? He is.”
“I’ll give you some of my salary if it helps. I just spend the extra on stupid shit anyway.”
Between his frustration and his brother’s kindness, he might just break down. He took in a deep breath and let it out before he patted Cal on the back. “Thanks. I mean it. But I can’t take your money.”
“Carson—”
“But I will let you buy me a bottle or two of whiskey if you promise to drink it with me when I drown my sorrows about bein’ broke.”
“That I can do.”
“Gotta get home and check on my wife.”
Cord had sacked out by the time Carson pulled up to the trailer. He carried the boy inside and placed him in the crib—boots and all.
Carolyn was stretched out on the bed in their room, a washrag over her eyes, a package of saltines on the dresser next to a Coke.
He perched on the edge of the bed. “Hey, sugar. How you feelin’?”
“A little less like dog poop than I did when you left.”
“Sorry. What can I do?”
She lowered the cloth from her eyes. “Where’s Cord?”
“Sleepin’ off a drunk on the tractor. That boy needs to learn how to hold his whiskey.”
“Funny.”
“He crashed.” Carson slipped off his boots and crawled up next to her. “C’mere. I need to hold you.” He tucked her under his arm and she rested the side of her face on his chest. He closed his eyes and breathed her in. Within a few minutes the world of the McKay ranch faded. She gave that to him. Calmness. Softness. She was the one thing in the world that was completely his.
“Carson, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
Money is tight, my father is a controlling ass, I’m pissed off at Casper, money is tight, I’m worried about you with this pregnancy and have I mentioned money is tight?
But he couldn’t—wouldn’t—add extra stress on her. He’d sworn to her on the day they married he’d spend his life making her happy, and taking care of her, so he’d keep his worries to himself.
“Nothin’. Everything is as it should be when we’re together like this.”
“I agree. But you’re not telling me everything. So start talking, cowboy.”
Where to start? “Looks like you’ll be getting a sister-in-law in the next couple weeks. I’d say she’s lucky since she’ll be movin’ into a real house down on the new south section of the McKay Ranch and not a shithole trailer, but the fact of it is, she’ll still be married to my ass**le brother Casper no matter where they live, so maybe she ain’t as lucky as she seems. I just wish…”
Carolyn sat up.
Carson kept his eyes closed. Then he felt her straddling him and her hands landed on his chest.