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Bryn’s legs collapsed beneath her. She sat down hard on the bed. “What happened?”
“He’s going to be okay. It was a severe asthma attack. I had to call an ambulance. He’s stabilized, but he’s crying for you.”
Bryn had never felt so helpless. She swallowed hard. “Can you put him on the phone?”
“Of course.”
There was a small silence, and then her son’s weak, pitiful voice said, “Hi, Mommy.”
“Hello, my sweet boy. I’m so sorry you’re sick. Is the hospital taking good care of you?”
“I got ice cream for supper.”
She closed her eyes. “That’s nice.”
“I miss you, Mommy.”
The knife in her heart twisted. It was hard to speak. “I’m going to get on a plane, and I’ll try to be there when you wake up. I promise.”
“Okay.” He sounded drowsy now.
Beverly came back on the line. “Don’t panic, Bryn. He’s perfectly fine. They’ll probably release him in the morning. But I do think he needs you.”
“I’ll be there as soon as humanly possible.”
Trent seated his father in the leather desk chair and pulled up a stool beside him. He put a hand on Mac’s, feeling the slight tremor of his dad’s fingers. Trent had gone back and forth about what to do, but the doctor had reassured him this morning that Mac was more than strong enough to face the truth about Jesse.
Trent pulled up the file he had saved on the computer and sighed deeply. “Dad, I don’t know how to tell you this without just blurting it out. I’ve been working on the books every day during the last two weeks. I’ve combed through the accounts repeatedly. And I keep coming up with the same answer. Jesse was stealing from the ranch. From you.”
Mac’s expression didn’t change. He turned his palm upward and squeezed Trent’s hand. “I know, son. I know.”
Trent gaped. “You knew?”
Mac took his hand away and leaned back in the chair, his gaze pensive. “I wanted him here so I could keep an eye on him. Offering him the so-called job of keeping the books straight was supposed to give him direction. But I track every column of those ledgers. I saw the first instance where he shifted funds—I knew what was happening from the beginning.”
“And you couldn’t confront him?”
“I was scared. He’d developed a terrible temper, exacerbated by the drugs, I’m sure. He was trapped in a downward spiral, but I couldn’t seem to find a way to stop it. I was a helpless old fool.”
“Why didn’t you ask Gage and Sloan and me for help?”
Mac rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t want you to think badly of him. You were his big brothers. He idolized all three of you. And I knew how much you loved him in return. If he had managed to get clean, he would have been so embarrassed that you knew, so I kept his secret.”
“But Bryn knew.”
Mac winced. “Apparently so. I didn’t know it at the time, but Jesse often called her when he went on one of his binges.”
“She told me. And I called her a liar.”
“Aw, hell, son. We didn’t deserve that little girl. She hit the first crisis of her adult life, and we kicked her out.”
Trent didn’t protest being included in the we. He could have stood up for Bryn six years ago, but he hadn’t. His jealousy and pride had blinded him to the truth of Jesse’s poisonous lies.
“We really need to get a test done right away.” Trent stood at the window staring into the dark night. “I think we both know that Bryn was telling the truth all along, but I want everything to be on the up-and-up.”
“We’ll tell her we believe her…that we’re sorry we ever fell for Jesse’s innocent act. And we’ll redo my will to include the boy. But I think doing a test would be insulting to Bryn.”
“She will probably welcome the idea.”
Mac shrugged. “We’ll see…”
“You’ll want the boy to spend some time here.”
“Of course. Maybe Bryn can stay over while Gage is here, bring the kid out, and she and Gage and I can show him the ropes.”
A sour feeling settled in Trent’s stomach. He didn’t want his brother bonding with Bryn’s little boy…or worse yet, Bryn.
