Mornings sucked. That was pretty much what Darren’s life had come to. On the other hand, the reason that mornings sucked was that the mornings were the only time he ever spent at the corporate offices of the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company.
It did not help his mood any that he had had to get up super early, get Laredo out of bed, and then ask Maggie to help Bella get ready for school while Darren got Laredo ready for work. In the end, Darren had barely had enough time to give Maggie a quick kiss as he ran her by her house to get some fresh clothes before taking both Maggie and Bella to school.
The entire time, Laredo had been snoozing in the backseat of Darren’s truck. There he was, the good brother, camped out in the seat in his custom-tailored Western suit while Darren shuttled him and his kid around because Laredo was too hung over to do it. Now, the two of them were in a meeting where everyone’s favorite father—Joe Hernandez—was waxing poetic about how wonderful Laredo had been in securing a dozen new rodeo stock contracting jobs for the upcoming season.
“Laredo,” Joe said heartily from his place at the front of the conference room. “I believe all of us just want to give you a hand. You’ve been instrumental in building this company into one of the top stock contractors in the West.”
Laredo did not immediately respond, of course. Darren had to kick him. Hard. “Huh?” Laredo’s chin had been dipping dangerously low to his chest. Now he struggled to sit up without slamming his face on the tabletop.
“Laredo?” Joe’s brows drew together in consternation. “Are you feeling well?”
“No.” Darren was the one to answer. “He’s a little under the weather, actually.”
Joe gave a hearty laugh. There were half a dozen other employees in the room who did not look quite as tolerant or amused as their boss. Joe gestured to Laredo. “The man can’t even stay home when he’s ill. That’s dedication.”
“Actually,” Darren snorted. “That’s alcohol. But you can call it what you want.”
“Excuse me?” Joe’s icy glare slid over to Darren. “You’d better watch your mouth, boy.”
“Boy?” Darren stood up, taking his time to unwind his legs and stand to his full height of six foot one inch. He topped out his father’s five foot eleven inches and was easily twice as broad as the old man. “I think that word has lost a bit of its sting, Pops. But if you want to keep sitting here spouting off about how wonderful Laredo is, why don’t you tell the men here why you’re really happy with Laredo?”
There were certainly some interested expressions around the room. Hernandez business did not typically get aired in front of anyone. No doubt the others were eagerly anticipating the moment when they would finally found out some dirt.
Joe stabbed his index finger in Darren’s direction. “Shut your mouth, boy.”
“Why?” Darren snorted. “Because you don’t want everyone to know that you’re trying to find a way to steal the Collins ranch from your adopted daughter? Are you ashamed of that at all? Because the woman is twenty-one and absolutely capable of running her own place. She deserves a chance to try and run that ranch. Her father was your best friend. Why do you honestly believe you have a right to that land?”
“It’s mine!” Joe snarled. He actually lurched toward Darren as though he were going to punch him in the face. “And you’d better shut your trap if you know what’s good for you. I’ll have you out on your ass so fast that your trust fund will buckle under.”
“Fortunately for me,” Darren drawled, “you can’t kick me off the board of directors and take away my salary any more than you can force Jesse Collins to sign over her land to our company.”
Laredo stirred at the table. He started to mumble something, but the end of it came out in a groan that sounded almost like a snore.
“Laredo!” Joe said sharply. “Would you say something? Can’t you control your useless brother?”
“I’m not useless,” Darren argued. “I just don’t run my life the way you would. To you, that makes me no good and lazy.”
The other employees were looking really uncomfortable now. In fact, two of the old cowboys that were in charge of bloodlines, breeding, and stock reports got up and mumbled excuses before leaving the room.
“You are a disgrace,” Joe said in a low voice filled with malice. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you need to take it out of this building. I don’t want you back here. Ever. You get me?”
“Sure.” Darren pointed to Laredo. “But you’ll need to make sure he gets home. He was too hung over to drive this morning. I had to take Bella to school as well. So, maybe you can tell Mom to pick her up after school. In fact, you should probably tell Mom to take Bella home with her after school. It might do the kid good to spend a few days with Grammy and Grandpop since her daddy is too damn drunk in the evenings to take care of her.”
With those parting words, Darren turned on his heel and stalked out of the conference room. He had certainly set fire to that particular bridge, but the only problem he could see in doing that was the whole finding an apartment thing. There had to be a way around that. He had to be able to find a small place that would be acceptable for a guy like him and a young son. Of course, he was going to need to take a close look at his finances and his assets. He had a job, but for how long? Maybe it was time for him to really get involved in this whole adulting process. At twenty-six years old, some might say it was long overdue.
“Wait!”
Darren turned in surprise. He would have never expected to see his brother’s secretary chasing after him. Darren barely knew the woman. She had been working for Laredo for nearly ten years now, and her name was Gloria. She wasn’t a young woman. Darren would guess her to be in her fifties. Right now, she looked as though she were going to break a hip or something running in those heels.
“Gloria?” Darren could see the elevator opening right in front of him, and all he wanted to do was get inside and get out of here. “I really need to go. Laredo will be fine. He’s just having some issues.”
“That man,” Gloria puffed. She looked annoyed as she waved her hand dismissively in the air. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him lately. He’s acting like a fool!”
“So, this isn’t about Laredo?”
“No.” Gloria shook her head. “That Carly woman has been phoning here all morning long demanding to talk to you. She claims she’s taking you to court. I thought you would want to know.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That you were in a meeting.” Gloria narrowed her gaze. “It’s never set well with me that she took your son from you. I think you’ll make a wonderful father.” Gloria pursed her lips and then pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. “A very good friend of mine is a landlord here in Denver. I’ve spoken with him about you. He has some houses for rent in good neighborhoods in the city. Call him. He’ll work with you. He’s got a bad baby mama in his life too.”
Darren stared at the paper for a moment. “Laredo was supposed to be getting me an apartment in one of our company buildings.”
“You don’t want to do that, honey.” Gloria patted him on the arm in a motherly fashion. “You need to keep yourself as separate from this place as possible. Get your own life, Darren Hernandez. God knows that’s what Laredo should have done years ago. Look what this is doing to him. Don’t let it do the same to you.”
Darren forced himself to pause for a minute. Gloria was doing him a huge favor. Why? “Did Laredo put you up to this?”
She shook her head. “No. Your brother is so caught up right now in this private war he has going on with his father and your brother Cal that he doesn’t ever think past what’s happening here at work.”
“With Cal?” Darren gaped. “What is he arguing with my brother about?”
“Cal is really upset with Laredo for putting pressure on poor Jesse.” Gloria’s whole demeanor shifted when the topic turned to Jesse Collins. It was as if even here in the hallway Jesse and her situation were about as hush, hush as it got. “Cal has even come into the office.”
“Cal left the ranch?” Darren felt his jaw hit the ground. He could not remember the last time Cal had left the Hernandez ranch property to do more than get supplies in one of the nearby small towns. With the advent of Internet shopping, Cal really only needed to leave a few times a month for fresh food.
“Calvin was not happy.” Gloria shook her head and gave a little shudder. “Your mother was here that day too. There was yelling all up and down the hallways that day. The other employees just went home. Nobody wants to be around when you guys are going at each other like that.”
“I can imagine,” Darren murmured. “And they were all arguing about Jesse?”
“Your mother thinks your father is being too pushy with Jesse.” Gloria glanced around as though she were afraid someone would hear that she was repeating Hernandez family business. “I think your father is trying to hold everything together because that’s what he knows. He’s afraid of change.” Gloria made a face. “It happens to all of us as we get older.”
“I think it’s more than that,” Darren murmured. He heard someone slamming out of the conference room and stomping down the hallway. “You’d better go. I have a feeling my father wants the last word.”
“You be careful,” Gloria advised. “And don’t you let that Carly woman push you around. Lord is she a rude woman! Call my friend. We’ll get you a home for your son.”
“Thank you, Gloria,” Darren said earnestly. It was sort of odd to feel as though there were so many people pulling for him. It was—well, it was a nice change. But maybe that’s because he wasn’t running off to find the next football game and ignoring his responsibilities as he did.
“You turn around and look at me like a man,” Joe Hernandez wheezed.
Darren spun around and did just that as his father huffed and puffed up to the bank of elevators. Fortunately, the hallway was empty but for the two of them. Darren had a feeling that there didn’t need to be anyone around to witness this conversation.
Joe put his finger in the center of Darren’s chest. “You don’t belong here. Not really. We tolerate you because you’re family, but the truth is that you run as soon as something comes up. You never stick around longer than it takes to find something better. You don’t hang around for the hard times. And you haven’t even managed to be a parent to your own child. So, don’t you dare tell your brother how to run his life. You have no idea what Laredo goes through when you’re not around.”
“You’re right,” Darren said quietly. “I don’t know. But I do know plenty about dropping the ball and screwing up. So, maybe I am the one to tell my brother that he’s about to do that in a big way. Did you ever consider that?” Darren put his hand underneath Joe’s and flung his father’s finger away. “And for the record, I’m in Denver for good. So, you can just take your low expectations and shove them.”