And boy, how he had lost. In everything.
“Seth?” Gramm still had her wrinkled hands on his face. “You okay, dear?”
He shook from his reverie and thrust out a hand that gripped onto a paper sack. “I brought cookies. Just sugar this time. Wasn’t feeling too creative.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Seth. Come. Let’s sit down.”
She slowly hobbled over to a tattered, plaid loveseat next to the baby grand piano in the senior living’s communal space. Seth drooped against the lumpy cushions and heaved a sigh.
“Tell me how you’re handling things, dear.” She put the cookies down. “You can talk to me.”
“That’s the thing, Gramm. I’m not handling any of it,” Seth spat. He speared his fingers through his hair and gripped the strands out of frustration. “The town is taking our tragedy and not only making it front page news, but they’re practically crucifying Josie in the process.”
“And you care about her.”
“Of course I care about her!” His voice rose on its own volition. “She’s my…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence now.
“You love her, Seth. I can see that.”
“I don’t know what it is that I feel for her. But I do know the things being said about her simply aren’t true.”
Gramm’s age-lined mouth squiggled into a frown and her eyes beaded. “Oh, I’m no stranger to that.”
Seth’s brow popped up. “What?”
“Being deemed ‘crazy’”—she made air quotes around the words—“by the people who are supposed to love and care about you hurts something fierce, I tell you.”
He didn’t follow, couldn’t make heads or tails of her words.
“When your parents moved me here, they might as well have had me committed. They were just a few pen strokes shy of that.” Gramm shrugged as she recalled the memory. “Whatever they did, it was enough to convince whomever needed to be convinced that I wasn’t mentally stable enough to control my own estate any longer. Which is such a shame, Seth, because I really always did think you would’ve been the best to run it.”
“Gramm, what are you talking about?”
“I left you the ranch, dear. In my will.”
If Seth had been standing, he would’ve hit the ground. “What?”
“In the will I drafted a few years back, the ranch was yours. I always felt like it belonged to you. You’re the only one who didn’t just care about the money or the profits. Not like your father and brother. But I guess I waited too long to make those wishes known.” Her eyes closed as her head wobbled side to side in a shake. “They challenged my mental state and deemed me incompetent. Crazy. Then they sent me here, which is only two nutcases shy of the loony bin.”
“Gramm…” Seth’s throat felt thick. “I had no idea they did that to you.”
“They did it to you, too, Seth.” She took up his hand and settled it in her lap. “We’re not like them, thank God.”
“Why didn’t you try to stop them? That land—it belongs to you.”
She gave Seth’s hand a pat. “Sometimes you have to save your energy to fight for what really matters. In the end, it just wasn’t worth the heartache. But I have always felt bad that you got the short end of the stick when it came to the family business. That’s my fault.”
“I don’t care about the ranch, Gramm. I care about you and what they all did to you. It’s not right.”
“Like I said, dear, you need to save your energy for the things that matter. Don’t worry about me.” She gave her grandson a reassuring smile while she opened the cookie bag and snapped off a bite of the sugary treat. “Now, go on out there, put your armor on, and get ready for battle because I do believe there’s a wonderful woman out there that really needs you to fight for her.”
The truck wouldn’t go any faster and Seth had the pedal all the way to the floorboards. He had shut the radio off five miles ago, needing the quiet in the cab to compose his thoughts because right now, all that came to mind was uppercut, hook, and headlock.
A righteous anger expanded within him to the point that he wondered if it was humanly possible to turn into the Hulk. He felt one manic shudder away from turning green.
Practically taking the turn into the ranch on two wheels, Seth sped down the drive. Dead, crisp leaves kicked off his tires. When he caught sight of Tanner moving Sally and Scout into one of their unaffected pastures, he didn’t even bother closing the truck door after bolting from it.
“Tanner!” He covered the ground in clipped strides.
“What’s up, brother?” Tanner opened the gate, removed the halters and lead ropes from the horses, and then shut the latch. He turned around and his eyes locked in on Seth.
“What have you done?”
“I’m just putting the horses out to pasture to graze.” He said, like maybe Seth was an idiot and couldn’t see for himself. “What does it look like?”
“Why have you let everyone believe Josie started the fire?”
“Because she did. She didn’t turn off the heater after feeding Hank. You heard the chief. That’s where the fire originated.”
Seth wished he would’ve let Josie finish when she tried to protest the day before at the hospital. He’d silenced her, not wanting to rattle her, and for that, he would forever feel ashamed. “You and I both know that’s not how it happened.”
“Of course, it is.”
“Then why did you text me that night saying you were good to take the midnight shift?”
“Because I was. But then Josie came out and took over for me. Nice girl. Super thoughtful of her.”
Seth had to keep from growling. “That is not how it happened, Tanner. You and I both know that.”
Tanner hooked the halters onto the fence and then put his hands on his hips and cocked his head. “Why does it even matter?”
“Because it’s a lie.”
“Oh, and you suddenly have some moral compass that keeps you from lying? That’s rich, Seth. Let’s not forget you’re the one who let us all believe you were married to that piece of trailer trash to begin with.”
Seth launched forward and planted his hands on his brother’s chest in a quick, precise shove. “Don’t you ever call her that again. I warned you.”
“Get your hands off of me.” Tanner darted out from beneath Seth’s palms and moved to walk away, but not before Seth hooked his arm around Tanner’s neck, trapping him in the crook of his elbow. He wrenched his brother’s large body to the ground and pummeled his jaw, over and over like a drumbeat. Seth’s actions were met with equal fury until the brothers were a tangle of fists, punches, kicks, and jabs that would leave them both bloodied and bruised the next day.
“Enough!” Out of nowhere, Mitch took hold of Seth’s collar first, pulling him free from the scuffle. He shoved his youngest son out of the way and then yanked Tanner from the ground and tossed him aside, too. “I said enough!”
Seth swiped at his bottom lip, not at all surprised to see the crimson liquid that coated his finger. He ran his tongue along his teeth just to make sure they were all still in place.