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Not that I care. None of it matters. Daddy’s gone and I have no ties to the ranch anymore.
He didn’t leave the place to anyone. Not to me, not to Daisy, not to anyone. It’s not in the will at all, and arguably the language is vague enough that we could all lay claim if we wanted to fight it out in court. I’m sure Daisy and the uncles already hired counsel and plan a long and protracted legal battle, the winner of which will walk away with the deed to all that prime land, but I don’t give a damn. Ford offered to fund my own claim if I wanted, even said he knows an extremely talented lawyer that would take on the case for a reasonable price, but I told him no.
Let my family rip themselves to shreds.
When the priest finishes and Daddy’s in the ground, I spend a minute by the grave, saying my goodbyes. I remember him as he was: tall and proud, laughing and harsh, lifting me up on his shoulders and swinging me around and telling me that he loved me, and all the hours we spent riding together, and all the hours we spent sitting at the top of the tower reading together, and all that love and all that affection. I try not to think about the later stuff, with Rosie and with War. I focus on the good, on my daddy as I think he’d want me to remember him. As a good man, a father and a ranch hand. A real leader.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” Renee hugs me tight and kisses my cheek.
“I’m okay,” I say. “I’m just gonna head home.”
“Your no-good, worthless family should be bringing you back into the fold.” She shakes her head. “But I bet they think that would muddy their legal claim.”
“It’s okay,” I say and hug her again. “I’m going to keep in touch, okay?”
“Please do. I’m going to be bored in retirement.” She laughs sadly and walks off to her truck. I watch her go, feeling like a piece of the world is ending, a piece that’ll never come back again.
As I turn toward my car, I spot him standing at the far side of the lot alone, leaning against a black pickup. I do a double take, unwilling to believe it’s actually him, but War raises a hand in greeting like we’re meeting on the street.
He’s in a black suit, perfectly fitted to his athletic frame. I consider turning my back on him, but I can’t help myself. I drift over, feeling sick and lost and miserable, the parking lot mostly emptied out by now. My family couldn’t wait to get out of here. They couldn’t wait to start bickering and fighting over the scraps left behind.
“What are you doing, War?” I ask and stop a few feet away.
“Paying my respects,” he says. “And I wanted to see you.”
“Go away. This is out of line. You shouldn’t have come.”
He grimaces slightly, but shades his eyes. “Daisy wanted me to work for her,” he says. “I told her I would.”
I let out a crazed, bitter laugh. “I’m not surprised.”
“My father is a con man,” War says, and I go very still. “You know how I dropped out of school back in the day? Well, I left because my dad lost all our money and we couldn’t afford tuition anymore. I didn’t actually get kicked out, but the rumor was useful so I never corrected it.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised, but I shouldn’t be. I knew his family had money trouble and that makes sense, only it undercuts the idea of War I’ve had in my head all these years as this rebellious mystery that rolled into my life and disappeared just as fast.
“My dad’s been doing this over and over for years,” he says, and for the first time I can hear real pain in this voice. “And this time, he went too far. He owed some dangerous men a lot of money, and your father happened to come to me at the right time, when I was desperate and willing to take on any job at all so long as it paid well and paid quickly. He made his crazy offer and I thought, I could do the right thing and turn him down, or I could do the stupid, immoral, awful thing, and maybe save my dad in the process. I’m fucked up, Melody. I always have been, but this time I did it to save my dad, if that makes a difference.”
I let his words sink in. It’s nothing new—Ford told me already—but hearing it from War makes the story shine brighter somehow, because I know it’s a struggle for him opening up like this. “It’s hard for you to admit that, isn’t it?” I ask and step a little closer.
He nods. “All my life I’ve been lying to people. Sometimes I think I’m just like my dad, except I’m forced to funnel my lies into neat little boxes in order to keep my game running. I’ve been doing my best to blend in with high society so that they’d be comfortable enough to keep on hiring me. I pretend like I’m something I’m not, and after a long time, I forgot who I really am.”
“Which is who?”
“I’m War and I’m a liar. I’ve lied about everything, all the time, constantly. Except when I told you that I was falling for you. That I didn’t lie about.”
I wrap my arms around myself. “I don’t want to hear that, War.”
“Your father’s dead. I’m not playing any games anymore. I took on my family’s debt and I don’t know how I’ll ever pay it, which means I’m not sure I have all that much time left. So here I am, telling the truth for once in my life, and even if it’s the last thing I do, at least I’ll walk away from this feeling like I tried. I fell in love with you, Melody, and I’m still in love with you, and I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness or anything at all, but I wanted you to hear it. This is who I really am. I love you. Falling in love with you is the only good thing I’ve ever done in my life and I won’t regret it, even if I already screwed it up. Oh, and I think I know how you can fuck over Daisy.”
I stand there dizzy with a strange, heady rush, trying to decide if he’s telling the truth or if this is another one of his complicated games, but the way he’s looking at me, the way he’s talking, it’s like he opened himself up and he’s showing me the raw and unvarnished insides. This is War, this is only War, and nothing else.
I shake my head and rub my face. “I don’t know what to say,” I whisper, even though a voice is screaming at me to tell him how I feel. “That was a lot and I’m trying really hard to process.”
“You don’t have to say anything. All I need for you to do is hear me. I love you. And this is how you fuck Daisy.” He takes out a stack of papers and shoves them at me.
I take them with numb fingers. “What is this?”
“It’s a contract. She wanted me to get you to sign it.”
