River to the Ocean: A Small Town Western Romance (River's End Series Book 15) by Leanne Davis

Author:Leanne Davis [Davis, Leanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

MATT GLANCED DOWN FOR the dozenth time at the oddly jarring sight of seeing his own face on a much smaller body. It still floored him when he realized how much they looked alike. This little person with a face, a voice, and his own mannerisms jolted Matt out of the fantasy that occupied his brain ever since Lillian told him he was a father. Now his son had become reality and that reality had a name and an identity. A voice with opinions. But still, Matt didn’t know him at all.

Benny’s entire life was centered here. There were no doubts of that. He’d been well cared for by his grandfather, great-grandfather, grandma, great-grandma, countless uncles and aunts and great-uncles and aunts and cousins galore. Some were first cousins, some were once removed or hell, even twice removed. It was like a tribe on some creepy island where only Rydell people were allowed to live.

Matt booked a room at the inn for the night. They even had onsite accommodations. It was bat-shit crazy to him. He never encountered a family with so much land and so many diverse and unrelated operations that all blended together and functioned like a huge, self-propelling town. He found it disconcerting as an ordinary Joe-Shmo and couldn’t imagine things like built-in jobs and an infinite, steady source of financial support. Lillian told him being a single mother was hard, but not really. Not with the abundance of resources available to her, not to mention an endless supply of willing and able Rydell babysitters. They were everywhere. They all knew Benny and fawned over him whenever they came near him. No doubt, the child was loved and nurtured by all while Lillian pursued her DVM and thereafter. Even she admitted she didn’t have to endure the typical struggles and sacrifices other single mothers did. Lillian was fortunate it was so doable, despite being totally unexpected.

In the back of Matt’s mind loomed the burning question: what did Benny need from him? He should have gone home, letting the Rydells go on. Letting them continue to fawn over Benny. Matt predicted as Benny grew older, they would ask him what type of job, nay, career would he like to begin in any of their vast enterprises? If they didn’t have a need for his preference, Matt guessed one of the Rydells would manufacture a reason to invest in it. Create it from nothing.

There wasn’t much the Rydells didn’t already have covered. So, what could this child whose most formative years were already behind him, possibly need from Matt?

Feeling churlish, alienated and discontent, Matt woke up, like usual before the sunrise. He tried to enjoy the fantastic view of the sunrise from his hotel room, while reviewing everything that went wrong yesterday. The rushing, clear river meandered through the angular mountains that stacked, hugged and twisted beneath the underside of the blue, cloudless sky. Each view he saw was more beautiful than the last.

But the heat was unbearable.

Even at night it never completely disappeared.

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