They Thought They Could Take My Ranch for My Brother Until the Sheriff Stepped In

Istood outside my father’s house on Christmas Eve, watching him through the frosted window as he laughed and raised a glass of bourbon in toast to my brother. My truck was parked at the end of the driveway with the headlights off and the engine silent. I had driven two hours through the snow on nothing but hope, the particular hope of a daughter who has been told she is not wanted and who drives anyway because some part of her still believes the words were a mistake, that her father will open the door and laugh at the misunderstanding and pull her inside where there is a plate set and a chair waiting and a place in the room that belongs to her.