Fire and Love

by Erin Wright

  It was the only thing that kept him moving forward.

  He walked into the living room and Steve looked up and glared at him, the skin hanging off his face a little more than it had before. Was he losing weight? It was hard to tell.

  “I don’t see no Pabst in your hands, boy,” Steve snarled out over the Magnum PI reruns. “What did I tell you about—”

  “I’ve come over to tell you that I won’t be coming over anymore,” he said bluntly, cutting his fath–Steve off.

  He’s not your father. Never forget that.

  “What?” Steve said, clearly confused as he stared up at Levi. “You came over here to tell me you ain’t comin’ over here no more?”

  “Yes. And to tell you…” He took a deep breath. “That you’re not my father.”

  There. I said it. I finally told the man the truth.

  He took a deep breath, feeling like he’d just had a 100-lb pack taken off his back.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Steve said sarcastically. “I got eyes in my head. I can see you don’t look a damn thing like me. Too tall, too dark, too much hair…I always figured that you was the bastard of that tractor guy. Your mother was carrying on with him right about the time she announced she was pregnant.”

  “You…you knew?” Levi gasped. A small part of him had thought that maybe he had; that it was within the realm of possibilities, anyway, but he hadn’t actually believed it, if only because… “Then why did you keep me?” Levi asked, stunned. “When Mom ran off, why didn’t you just turn me over to Child Protective Services or something?”

  It couldn’t be because Steve had a fatherly bone in his body. That wasn’t possible. There had to be something in it for him. That’s just the way Steve operated.

  Steve shrugged, his thin shoulders pulling away from the stained fabric of the recliner for just a moment, and then molding right back into place, as if he’d never moved.

  Steve will die in that chair.

  Levi had never been so sure of something in all his life, as he was of that fact. Steve’d be found in that chair days, weeks, or maybe even months after he’d died.

  “I kept ya ‘cause I figured it’d be helpful to have someone around to help take care of things ‘round here. Nip out to the store and pick up a case of beer, wash clothes, or whatever. I figured once you got larger, I could hire you out. People could pay to rent ya. You were bound to be a giant, considering how tall that bitch and her lover was, so I figured you’d get big fast and I wouldn’t have to take care of ya for too long. Soon, you’d be takin’ care of me.”

  It explained so much about Levi’s childhood. Everything, in fact. When he’d started mowing lawns for money, Steve had been pissed – started going off about how he’d been coddling Levi for too long. It hadn’t made much sense to him at the time, but now looking back…

  Steve hadn’t realized that he was tall enough to be able to mow lawns, until Levi just started doing it. No doubt he’d been kicking himself for waiting to press Levi into manual labor.

  Steve was talking. “What?” Levi asked, realizing that he hadn’t heard a word of what the man had been saying to him.

  “I says, how’d ya figure it out? You never guessed growin’ up, so why do ya know now?”

  “DNA test,” Levi said simply. “They can check to see where you’re from. I took it, and didn’t have a drop of Scandinavian blood in me. I knew something was wrong just from that. Then I got another email saying that I was related to Florence Garrett. That’s how I found out that Rocky Garrett’s my dad.”

  “I knew it!” Steve crowed. “That cheatin’ piece o’ shit bitch. I knew she was sleeping with her boss. She tried to tell me she wasn’t, but you can’t fool Steve Scranton, no how, no way.” He thumped his fist triumphantly against his chest.

  The triumph quickly faded and he looked up at Levi, confused and more than a little afraid. “Why’re ya here, boy?” He shrank back into the recliner. “You here to beat on me? You can’t, you know. Why, I took care o’ you all those years, even though you was no blood of mine. You gotta give me the respect I deserve!”

  Levi shook his head in bemusement. As a child and especially as a teenager, he’d fantasized quite often about beating Steve into a bloody pulp. If he could just show him one time what it was like to be on the receiving end of it, maybe Steve would stop dishing it out so much.

  But ever since he’d found out that Steve wasn’t really his father, it hadn’t even crossed his mind to come over here and beat him up. He’d long ago let that fantasy go.

  “Just here to tell you I won’t be comin’ back.” And with that, he turned on his heel and headed towards the door.

  “That’s it?” Steve crowed. “Even now, you ain’t acting like a man. I thought I’d raised you tougher than this. No matter how much I beat you, you never were willin’ to do what needed to be done. You’re sure no son o’ mine.”

  “Just ‘cause I’m not willing to beat up a frail old man about to die from cirrhosis doesn’t mean that I’m not a man,” Levi tossed over his shoulder and then he was escaping from the house and the smell and the darkness and the man who’d spent so much of his life making Levi’s a living hell.

  Steve was shouting something at him but the light breeze carried the words away, almost as if to tell Levi that he didn’t need to know what was being said. It didn’t matter anymore, the world was telling him. You’re free. You’re free of Steve Scranton and you never have to go back again.

  He climbed into his truck and folded his arms across the top of the steering wheel, dropping his forehead and letting the tears flow. For the second time in as many days, he let the water leaking from his eyes wash away the hatred and anger and fear and desperation in his soul. He’d always hated crying – if nothing else, Steve had managed to beat the belief into him that real men didn’t cry – but the last couple of days, it seemed like he’d done nothing but that.

  And felt better because of it.

  As the flow of tears began to subside and he put his truck into gear to pull away, he decided that even if he didn’t stab his brother in the back, he would make his father – his real father – happy in one respect: He was going to do the paperwork to change his last name to Garrett. Wash away every last trace of his connection to the bitter, hate-filled man inside of the most piece-of-shit house in Sawyer.

  Levi Garrett.

  It had a nice ring to it.

  Chapter 39

  Tennessee

  She knocked lightly on the front door of her family’s home and then pushed it open. “Mom? Dad? Virginia? Anyone home?”

  So. Many. Nerves.

  Being back here in her parent’s grand foyer…it was like she’d never left.

  If Levi can talk to his family, I can talk to mine.

  “Who’s ther–Tennessee!” her mother exclaimed, coming out of the drawing room. She rushed over to Tenny’s side and hugged her delicately, giving her air kisses on either cheek. “I’m so glad you came home!” She pulled back and looked around the foyer. “Where are your bags? Should I ask Virginia to fetch them for you? She’s up in her room, doing God knows what.”

  The vague hint of disapproval in her mother’s voice at the mention of Virginia was just as obvious as ever. Ginny could never make her parents happy, no matter how straight she sat in her chair or how many hours she practiced her cello or how many A’s she brought home on her report card.

  Because, you see, she wasn’t Tennessee.

  There were days where Tennessee wanted to take her parents by the shoulders and shake them like rag dolls.

  “I don’t have my bags here, Mom. I just stopped by to talk to you and Dad.”

  “Oh.” The brilliant light in her mother’s eyes began to fade. No matter how manipulative her parents were, there was a small part of Roberta Rowland who genuinely loved Tennessee.

  Or, at least, Tenny liked to think so. Maybe her mother was just hoping that Tenny was here to move back home so she could hurry up and auction her off
to the farmer up in Washington.

  Huh.

  Some days, being a pessimist sure was depressing.

  “Is Dad home or is he out in the fields?” Tennessee asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the idea of her moving back home. She’d timed her visit to coincide with lunchtime, but it was possible that today of all days, her father was actually going to break tradition and not come in from the fields for his noon meal.

  Her mother looked over at the monstrously oversized grandfather clock ticking away. “He should be here any minute now. Let me inform Cook that we have another place setting for lunch.”

  She hurried away, leaving Tennessee alone in the imposing foyer. Rather than stare at all of the ostentatious trappings of the life her parents could not afford, she decided to head upstairs and say hi to Virginia without having her parents as an audience.

  She rapped her knuckles twice on the door and then let herself into her sister’s room. It was a typical teenager’s room, except instead of rock bands and Hollywood stars decorating the walls, Ginny had posters of Yo-Yo Ma and Ana Rucner plastered everywhere. One was the greatest cello player in the world; one was an up-and-coming female cellist that Virginia was going to be “just like” someday.

  At the sound of the door opening, Ginny looked up from her laptop, her face lighting up with surprise.

  “Tennessee!” she hollered, throwing herself off the bed and at her older sister with delight. Tenny gave her a quick hug, surprised by the strength of her sister’s hug. After the Great Clothing Theft of 2018, Ginny had sure become a lot more…clingy than she used to be.

  “Are you here just to visit or to move back home?” Ginny asked as she pulled back, her eyes shining with excitement.

  “Just to visit, sorry.” The brightness dimmed just a bit in Ginny’s eyes, and Tennessee plunged on, feeling like a jerk for breaking two people’s hearts in as many minutes. “How are things going here?”

  Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically. “The uzh,” she said sarcastically, “with an extra dosing of interrogation just for shits and giggles.”

  “Ginny!” Tennessee scolded, and then burst out laughing. “You don’t say that around Mom, right?”

  Ginny just cocked an eyebrow at her as if to say, “How stupid do I look,” and then continued on. “Mom’s just sure you’re the one who stole the clothes, and she’s equally as sure that I helped. Sometimes, I think Mom should’ve become a private detective or an interrogator for the Russian mafia instead of a farmer’s wife. But, I haven’t spilled the beans, I promise!”

  “Thank you,” Tennessee said, squeezing her sister tightly against her chest. “I didn’t mean to get you into trouble, but I couldn’t have done it without you, so yeah…thank you. Are Mom and Dad treating you any better now that I’m not around?”

  It had always been her secret hope that once she was out of the house, her parents would start paying more attention to their younger daughter, and actually start treating her well.

  It was worth a shot, right?

  Virginia rolled her eyes. “Now without you to hover over, Mom’s just more focused than ever on me, and especially on all of the ways that I’m failing her as a daughter. News flash: I am the world’s worst daughter. I’m telling you in case you didn’t know.”

  Tenny let out a belly laugh and hugged her sister impulsively. “Well, worst daughter in the world, you’re the best sister in the world in my book. Are you ready to go downstairs and indulge in the world’s most awkward lunch?”

  “When you sell it like that…” Ginny muttered sarcastically, and they started down the stairs together.

  Was Ginny always this fun? Tennessee tried to remember back, but was drawing a blank. Her sister had always just been there, on the sidelines, quiet, trying to please their parents, begging for a scrap of attention from her older sister who was always busy with piano rehearsals and friends and beauty pageants. She felt a stab of guilt at how much she’d neglected Ginny. She hadn’t been much of a sister to her.

  I need to start hanging out with her more.

  Boy, wouldn’t that drive their parents crazy, if Tennessee was willing to hang out with Virginia but not move back home. It might be worth it just for the entertainment value.

  Tennessee and Virginia entered into the formal dining room where Cook was laying out the dishes down the middle of the table, which was already set for four, just like it’d been for years.

  Déjà vu all over again.

  They slid into their seats and waited quietly for Mom and Dad to show up. It was okay for Tenny and Ginny to wait for their parents; it wasn’t okay for their parents to wait for Tenny and Ginny.

  There were rules that just shouldn’t be broken.

  Dad came into the dining room and straight over to Tennessee, hugging and kissing her on the cheek. “So glad you came back home,” he said effusively.

  “Well, I’m just here for lunch, and to tell you guys about the man that I am dating.”

  Mom, who was entering in behind Dad, let out a little squeak. It was hard to tell whether it was a squeak of surprise or a squeak of terror, but Tennessee was going to guess terror.

  Dad, on the other hand, paused for just a moment, and then kept walking, standing behind Mom’s chair so he could pull it out for her. Once she was seated, Dad sat in his seat at the head of the table. He pulled the roast beef over and began slicing it up and then dishing it out.

  “What’s this boy’s name?” her dad finally asked, as if a good 15 minutes hadn’t passed since Tennessee had first mentioned Levi.

  “Levi Scranton,” Tennessee said quietly.

  “Scranton?!” her dad thundered, his calm façade instantly smashed to pieces. “You mean that man who’s busy drinking himself into an early grave? I will not have my daughter dating the son of the town drunk!”

  Tennessee held up her hands placatingly. “Levi’s biological father is actually Rocky. Rocky Garrett. Rocky and Levi’s mom, Jennifer, had an affair and Levi was the result. Levi and Deere are half-brothers.”

  Her dad was staring at her, mouth agape. He was quite literally stunned into silence. To be honest, Tennessee never thought that she’d see the day and was enjoying it a little too much.

  “Is…is Rocky going to claim him publicly?” he finally got out, just as Virginia was crowing, “I knew it. I knew it! I was talking to Zara one day and I told her that Levi and Moo…ummm, Deere looked a heck of a lot alike not to be related. She told me I was crazy.”

  “Rocky cheated on Linda, Rocky cheated on Linda,” Mom kept repeating to herself, as if saying it multiple times made it real.

  Tennessee wasn’t sure who to address first, so after doing a mental coin toss in her head, she turned to her father and said calmly, “Rocky wants to legally claim Levi and give him the dealership. He—”

  “Perfect!” her dad broke in, thrilled to pieces with the news. “When will it become official?”

  “It won’t,” Tennessee said flatly.

  Her mom finally stopped mumbling to herself and instead just stared wide-eyed at Tennessee. “He could take over the dealership and he’s refusing to?! What…what…” She stuttered to a stop and then lapsed into silence, the news too much for her.

  Tenny had visions of pulling out smelling salts and waving them around.

  “Levi believes that Deere has worked for that dealership his whole life, and that he deserves to have it. He is not going to take it from his best friend who, it turns out, is also his half-brother. And he shouldn’t. It isn’t—”

  “Tennessee,” her father said condescendingly, “the business is Rocky’s to do with as he likes. If he wants to give it to Levi, he can. Deere isn’t owed anything at all.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Tennessee said bluntly, squirming inside as she said it. She couldn’t believe she just had the guts to flat-out tell her father that he was wrong. That was…not a thing that happened.

  Ever.

  Which probably explained why his face
was turning such a deep red.

  “Deere has worked his entire life for that dealership,” she hurried on before her father could explode, “and for his father, all with the understanding that he’d take it over ‘someday.’ Rocky basically used Deere as slave labor for years on end, and then decides to yank it all away because Deere refused to make him and I miserable for the rest of our lives? Rocky may stick with his decision to screw Deere over and not give him the dealership as he was promised his whole life, but Levi isn’t going to play a part in it, and he shouldn’t.”

  “Fine,” her mother spat out, sounding as if it was anything but fine, “but you cannot marry a…a welder. We forbid it.”

  “Levi hasn’t proposed to me,” Tennessee said calmly. “Also, I’m not asking for your permission to marry or to date him. I’m simply informing you that I’m already dating him. He has chosen to take on the ‘Garrett’ last name since Rocky has been more of a father to him in some ways than Steve ever was, and has started the paperwork for that. But that is separate from the dealership.”

  “What happened to our sweet, darling daughter?” her mother asked rhetorically. “The one who wouldn’t dream of talking to us the way you have today?”

  “She grew up and found her backbone,” Tennessee volleyed back. She pushed back from the table and stood up. “Speaking of…” she mumbled under her breath, and then, looking her mother and father right in the eye, she said bluntly, “I hate playing the piano. Hate it with a passion. Feel free to pull the Steinway out into the front yard and set fire to it.”

  She headed towards the front door, listening to her mother shriek behind her, “Tennessee Marie Rowland, you will come back here this instant! Did you steal the clothes?”

  The sudden change in topic threw Tenny off her stride for a moment, but she recovered and kept heading for the door and out into the bright sunshine of the summer’s day.

  Freedom. This was what it felt like. Intoxicating, amazing…Tennessee was never going to let it go again.

  She slid into Georgia’s car – she’d borrowed it for today’s task – and began winding her way down Mansion Way, back towards town.