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