“Chocolate chip?” Jaxson’s eyes lit up.
Mommama looked at him meaningfully. “Your father’s in the den. Why don’t you go on in and say hello. I’ll get the boys a snack.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He shot Connor a smile and headed into the condo. “Hey, old man.”
His dad stood up and offered him half of a smile. “Early. Lord, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“It’s good to see you too.” They shook hands before they sat. “How you doing?”
“I’m as well as could be expected. Real tired. Relieved a bit, because he needed to go on.”
Early nodded, because he got it, or he guessed he did. Daddy’d had to be here and deal with shit. “Yessir. He’s in a better place.”
“So sorry for your loss.” Connor sat beside him, close enough that he could feel the support.
“Thank you, Connor. Thanks for coming out. I appreciate it.”
He grinned at his husband. That was a speech, from his dad.
Connor gave his knee a squeeze and Daddy got a nod. “Of course. That’s what family does. It was important to Early to come for the service, and when he could be useful.”
“Yes. I—Yes. We’ll have the service Monday.” His dad seemed so…lost. “I have his will, too.”
“Okay…” That was a weird segue.
Connor leaned a little closer to Daddy. “You should let us know what we can do. We can take some of the arrangements and things off your hands, if you like. So you can relax a little.”
“He’s at the funeral home. Everything’s been paid for. We just have to show up at the church.”
“Did he leave the ranch to Demming?” That was the most fair, right?
“No.”
Dammit. “Are you going to sell it, then?”
Mommama wasn’t moving.
“It’s not mine to sell, son.”
He frowned. “Then who?”
Connor nodded like he understood something and spoke softly. “He left it to Early.”
Daddy nodded. “That he did, Connor.”
“What?”
“The ranch, the house, the acreage. He said no one loved it like you did, and you were raised to take over.”
He was going to pass out. Seriously. He was going to just pass right out.
“I started to see it this morning, when Demming was talking. I wondered.” Connor rubbed his back with a firm hand. “You okay?”
Was he okay?
Fuck no. No, he wasn’t okay. Early wasn’t ever going to be okay. How was he… How could he walk away from this and go back to Denver? More importantly, how could he ask Connor to come here? “I’m good. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“No, me either, but looking at it now, we probably should have been.” Connor leaned back in his seat. “Is Demming going to be upset, Dad? Does he know?”