“Smoke inhalation is no joke.” He sat in the chair at the side of the bed and rolled it closer so he was near her head. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. You must’ve been so scared.”
The memory of the night came back, not all at once, but bits and pieces, like slipping the correct puzzle parts where they belonged inside the whole picture.
“I was just really worried about the horses,” she said. “Are they okay?”
“We haven’t seen them yet today, but I think that’s a good sign. If they were injured, they’d be hanging close by,” Seth said. “Tanner and I got most of the cattle accounted for this morning, too. We lost a couple pastures to the fire, but we’re looking into our options to rent from our neighbors. Either that, or sell off some of the cow and calf pairs. That’s another possibility.”
“But what would that do to the business?”
“Not sure there’s much of a business to run right now, but that’s not something you need to worry about. I talked to your nurse and she said they’re just keeping you here today as a precaution, but you should still get your rest.” He clasped his hands together and dropped his chin to his fist, leaning closer to Josie at her bedside. “I really wish you would’ve let me feed Hank, Josie. I know hindsight is twenty-twenty, but I just feel so awful that I forgot to tell you to shut off the barn heater before you left.”
“What?”
“Tanner said you took over the last feeding for him and accidently left the heater on. That’s one-hundred-percent my fault. I didn’t tell you that we don’t leave it on all night.”
Josie shook her head. “That’s not how—”
“We don’t have to talk about it right now, Josie. The doctor said you need to rest and I don’t want you to get worked up.”
A little too late for that. “That’s not how it happened, Seth.” She coughed. Adrenaline coursed through her, making her lungs vibrate as she sucked in a deep breath. “I didn’t leave the heater on.”
“The fire chief said that was the probable cause.” Seth’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I’m sure it was, but I wasn’t the one who left it on.”
“I’m not following.”
Josie inhaled again, readying to lay it all out as best she could remember, but her chest heaved and she barked out a string of guttural coughs that left her breathless and trembling.
The hospital room door flew open and Nurse Rachelle bounded into the room, an I told you so look impressed across her face.
“Alright, lovebirds. Looks like that’s enough excitement for one afternoon.” She swiveled the cart up to her and punched a couple buttons on the machine. “Josie, let’s take the rest of the day easy, okay?”
Seth took the hint and stood from the chair to make backward movements toward the door. He hung there a beat, his face holding the saddest version of goodbye Josie had ever seen, and then he was gone.
25
Seth
“Oh, dear, give me a hug!” Gramm stretched out shaking hands and grabbed onto Seth’s face to pull it close to hers. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you? The fire is all anyone has been talking about.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
It was stamped across the headlines on the newspaper that rested on their driveway that morning. Blogged about on all the local town gossip websites. Even the news station tried to come out to the ranch to film a segment, but Seth stopped that in its tracks.
He was not about to let them spin their story any way they liked while he stood by and watched.
Words like negligence, careless, and reckless became a sickening chorus in the song of their farm’s tragedy. And Josie was the one at the center of it all. It was an unbelievable irony that bad news really did spread faster than wildfire, or in their case, a ranch fire.
They drummed up all they could on her. She was a vagrant hired to tame rescued horses but decimated a generational business instead. An irresponsible woman who needed to be held accountable for the actions that very likely cost an entire family their livelihood. And in each article when they described her, she was a single, twenty-something who struggled to find work as a farrier.
That was the kicker. Single. That small fact didn’t slip past Seth’s mother when she read the articles aloud over the breakfast table that morning. The knowing look she gave Seth was enough to make him feel like a child being sent to his room. The ruse was over; the game played.
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.
“What in Sam Hill is going on out here?”
“He started it.” Tanner slapped the dirt from his pants and jammed a finger toward Seth.
“Oh, come on!” Seth hawked.
“I don’t care who started it. You two need to start acting like adults. We are all dealing with a lot right now and I sure as hell don’t have time to waste breaking up juvenile fights. You’re both grown men, for God’s sake!”
“He’s just all bent out of shape that his wife—girlfriend—whatever she is, just left.”
“What?” Seth aimed his eyes at his brother.
“She left. She’s gone. Borrowed someone’s truck and hitched up her trailer over an hour ago.”
Seth threaded his fingers together behind his neck and angled his head skyward and shouted. “How could you just let her go?”
“She’s made a pretty bad reputation for herself around these parts, son.” Mitch clamped a hand on his son’s shoulder. Seth spun out from under it. “I can see why she would want to leave.”
“No. The only bad reputation belongs to you all and you earned that by lying your way into the ownership of this ranch.”
“Careful what you’re insinuating there, son. You don’t want to start something that you’re not going to be able to finish.”
Seth clenched his lips together, his head twitching in a compulsive shake that made his vision blur. “You’re right, Dad. This fight isn’t one worth having. I’m saving my energy to fight for something—for someone—that truly matters.”
26
Josie
Josie’s first real impression of Darrel, her future stepfather-in-law was a good one. He’d loaned her his truck, after all. And more than that, he was going to let her park her fifth wheel on a little plot of land he owned just outside of Riverburn. There wasn’t a hookup for her like at the Ford property, but with a borrowed generator, she’d be okay for the time being. It was the little bit of grace and kindness she so desperately needed in a moment when those two things were hard to come by.
She’d been painted in a terrible light, not that it was any surprise. Good things don’t happen for you, Josie. She knew that. She had even tried to convince Seth of that. But did it really matter? In the end, no one else had to live that reality but herself. And Cowboy. She did feel a little bad about that. The poor cat had just settled in at the ranch and now here he was, swooped up again to make a new, temporary home somewhere else.
“It’s just you and me.” Josie gave the feline a sidelong glance across the truck. “When will we learn that we just don’t play well with others?”
The cat snarled, a fitting, well-timed response.
She set her eyes ahead at the two-lane road that stretched before her. The asphalt met the horizon in a fuzzy mirage, making her wonder if it truly led anywhere at all. The fact was, she didn’t feel like she was heading anywhere but into a futureless void anyway. No plan. No strategy. Just a long, desolate road to nowhere.
Twisting the knob on the radio dial, Josie tracked through the stations, one by one. Each played a song of love lost and she just couldn’t stomach that. It wasn’t love with Seth. It was something, but it couldn’t have been love. She pressed her finger on the button and silenced the depressing music.
Glancing down at the map Darrel had scribbled on a napkin, Josie noted she needed to stay on the highway for five more miles before the turn off. When her eyes lifted, she glimpsed something encroaching in her periphery.
“What in the world…?”
A truck lined up with hers in the oncoming lane, but they were headed in the same direction.
“Oh, this guy thinks he’s going to pass me, huh?” Josie gritted her teeth. “Not going fast enough for you, buddy?”
She jammed her foot to the pedal and lurched forward, but the weight of the trailer made the effort for naught and they lagged behind. The truck accelerated so their bumpers where lined up.
“Seriously?” Josie threw her hands in the air. When the tinted passenger window of the truck rolled down, she nearly swerved off the road. “Seth?”
“Pull over, Josie.” He flapped his hand to wave her to the shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she yelled over the road noise. Wind whipped through the open window and swirled around her face creating a tumbleweed of hair.
“Josie, pull over!” he bellowed again.
Taking her foot off the gas, Josie let the truck and trailer veer to the ri
ght, slowing to a stop in a plume of dust. Seth pulled off in front of her and shut off his truck.
“What is he doing here?” Josie asked Cowboy, but the cat was fast asleep, curled in a little ball on the passenger seat.
Clicking open her seat belt, Josie grab the keys from the ignition and stepped down from the vehicle.
Seth had already gotten out of his and jogged toward her, but rather than slow up as he got closer, his movements shifted into an all out run. He crashed into her, cocooning her body against his massive chest. “Josie!”
“What are you doing, Seth?” She wrenched free from his grip and fought to regain the wind he had just knocked out of her. “How did you find me?”
“Why would you just leave like that?” He was out of breath, hands in the air. “Just leave the ranch without saying goodbye?”
“It’s all over, Seth. Everyone knows none of it was real. And now I’m seen as some lying arsonist and I don’t know”—she gave a mocking shrug—“it’s not really a label I wanted to wait around and let stick.”
“No one believes those things.”
“Yes, they do. And all of that is beside the point, really. The horses you hired me to break are gone. There’s nothing left for me at the ranch, Seth.”
A sedan whizzed by on the road, the rush of wind it created flapping the fabric of Josie’s coat. She zipped up the jacket and crammed her hands in the pockets.
“Do you understand how much it hurts me to hear that?” He leveled an injured look at her.
“That the horses are gone?”
“That there’s nothing left for you at the ranch. I’m at the ranch, Josie. Is that not enough?”
She clenched her fists inside her pockets. “What do you want me to say, Seth?”
“That you love me. That it doesn’t matter what my family thinks, or what the town thinks. I want you to say that you love me and that we’re worth fighting for.”
“What if I don’t have any fight to give, Seth? Have you ever thought of that? Maybe I’m all out of fight.”
Take the Reins (A Cowboy's Promise Book 2) Page 18