Page 21 of Chasing Home
“I’ll tell you everything I know and remember. But first, I need to talk to you about why I asked you here today.”
“I’m listening.”
“Come sit with me.”
She settles into one of the chairs, and I drop into the other. Extending her hand into the empty space between us, she offers it to me with a cautious expression. The dump of information I’ve just learned has my thoughts running a million miles an hour. When I place my hand into hers, she squeezes, and I let the comfort relax me slightly.
“I need some help around here, Rory. I’m still young enough that I’m not ready to cut back my work altogether, but I can’t do it on my own anymore. Not if I want to keep my sanity,” she starts, the words heavy, like she’s upset she has to ask for this. “It’s like you were just plucked up and dropped into my lap here in Cherry Peak with that beautiful brain of yours. I want you to come work with me here. Work with all of us, if you’ll take me up on my offer.”
“I’ve never worked with a ranch before. Or the farming industry in general. I’m not sure I’m qualified,” I admit.
She chuckles. “You’re more than qualified. And even if you weren’t, I’ll be here too. Like I said, I’m not ready to step back yet. But soon. And we need the ranch ready for when that day does come.”
My mouth is dry. A mix of surprise and appreciation for the offer takes flight in my mind.
“I don’t want to sound like I don’t want the job—because I do. God, I miss working with numbers. But are you sure, like positive, that you want me for this? If you posted a job listing, I’m sure you’d have dozens of resumes come in from people who know how to do this job far better than I do.”
Her nod is full of conviction. There isn’t a fleck of doubt in her stare as she watches me. “I’m positive, Rory. I may not know you all that well yet, but you’re no stranger. You’re not from Cherry Peak, but there’s still some country blood in you. One of us, my dear. That’s what you are.”
I bite down on the inside of my lip to keep from telling her that she’s wrong. If there’s any country in my blood, it’s more watered down than a warm stadium beer. This place doesn’t call to me, and I sure as hell don’t call to it. My home is in Calgary. That won’t ever change. No matter how far I run or how long I ignore what I left there.
“I don’t know a thing about country life, Eliza. And I won’t lie to you and say that I’m interested in learning. But I’ll take the job as long as you know that I’m not planning on staying.”
“Well, I appreciate your honesty. And I’m perfectly alright with that.”
I snort. “Some call it bluntness more so than honesty.”
“Aren’t they the same thing?”
“Maybe.”
“Am I allowed to ask why you’re here if you don’t plan on staying for long?”
I fight past the immediate urge to close up and shift in my seat. “I came here to meet Wanda. And to learn about Lee—my father, I guess. I don’t know if I even want to call him that. But Wanda was supposed to be here to help me figure that out.”
“It seems there are gaps that have been left in the story for far more than just us in Cherry Peak, then,” she says.
My laugh is angry. “That’s an understatement.”
She gives my hand another firm squeeze before releasing it and holding the armrest. “I don’t know a lot about Lee. Only bits from when he was a young boy, long before he became the big name he is now. But his parents, I’ll share all I know.”
“Thank you,” I say with a relieved exhale.
For the first time since arriving in town and learning Wanda’s gone—my hopes of learning about my lineage lost with her—I have hope. I’m fully aware that I might not learn anything that will bring me closer to a meeting with Lee Rose, but maybe I’ll be able to answer some of my burning questions.
Like why what he had in this place was more important to him than my mother. Than me. The life we could have had.
What made Wanda and her mother so much better than us?
Clearing my throat, I close off those thoughts. They’ll do nothing but tear at my heart, and it’s far too sensitive already.
“What kind of people are they? James and Bernice, I mean.”
Eliza hums. “They’re kind people. Bernice and I grew up here together, but James moved from Nova Scotia a couple of years before Lee was born. Some of my favourite laughs came from James’s blunt jokes. He’s a hard-looking man, but he’s a comedian at heart. And Bernice, well, she’s a bit more like you than she is her husband. She’s quiet but not because she’s shy, and I can’t forget about her brutal honesty.”
“You’re a bit too observant, Eliza Steele,” I mutter, feeling like I’ve been put under a microscope.
Her laugh is warm and kind, making it harder than usual to keep my walls high and reinforced. My gut tells me that it would be okay to let this woman in, but it’s too early for my mind to agree.