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“Well, that’s that then.” Cole slaps both his hands onto his lap before he stands up and heads for the door.
“Cole, wait. Come on, you can’t leave. We gotta talk this out,” Garrett calls after him and when he turns around, it’s with pure anger.
“You wanna sit out here and talk about how she fucked her husband’s father? Or how she left four kids alone with a fuckin’ murderer? How about we go into the fact that we don’t even know who we fuckin’areanymore! We could be half-brothers or fuckin’ uncles for all we know. I got enough shit goin’ on up here to think about that right now.” Cole storms out, slamming the barn door behind him so hard it makes the whole place shake around us.
“Come on, let's get ya inside.” I stand up and drag Mom onto her feet.
She seems lost in some kinda trance as I lead her past Garrett and back toward the house, and when I look back over my shoulder and see him sitting on the crate with his arms hanging over his knees, all I can offer him is a sad smile before I give him the space he’s gonna need.
Istare at the rafter where I found him. It ain't hard to remember the pain I felt that day. My grandpa was my whole world when I was growing up, he was everything I wanted to be, and there ain’t a day goes by when I don’t wish he was here to see what I’ve achieved.
Now, I feel like that man’s a stranger, and don’t even get me started on Pops.
The door opens, and when I look up and see Mitch I can tell by the look on his face that he’s spoken to Cole. Then a thought comes to my mind that I really don’t like.
“Did ya know?” I ask him outright, knowing there ain’t nothing goes on around here that Mitch ain’t familiar with.
“I suspected. Your mom and Hank were always closer than they should be, but it wasn’t my place to comment, I didn’t know that your pops knew, or that he…” Mitch struggles to get the words out himself, him and my grandpa were always so close.
“I’m supposed to be the one with all the answers.” I stare at the floor in front of me, knowing that I’m all out of ideas. “I got nothin’, Mitch,” I admit, hearing the fear in my own voice.
“You're in shock, you just heard some pretty fucked-up news. No one expects you to—”
“But they do though!” I snap. “I’m head of this family,Icall all the shots, and just lately I feel like I’m callin’ all the wrong ones. Mason and Walker are still alive. The woman Wade loves is gettin’ beat by her husband, and all because we gotta wait on some fuckin’ Organization’s word. Now this too, I don’t even know who my own fuckin’ dad is.” I kick my foot at the ground in frustration.
I wish there was something here for me to beat the fuck out of right now. My body is burning with rage and I can really do with unleashing it.
“Garrett, what your birth certificate said never mattered to ya before, you’ve always known who your real father was. He was the man who taught ya how to saddle a horse and load a gun. It don’t matter who fucked ya into your momma’s womb, boy. The man that shaped you into who ya are, was Hank Carson.”
“I know that, and all my life I’ve wanted tobeHank Carson. But what kinda man fucks his own son’s wife?”
“A desperate one, I guess.” Mitch shrugs his shoulders.
“I’m done with all this shit, Mitch. I got three new babies in that house. I wanted this to be a fresh start for us. The Carsons, moving forward, this family means everythin’ to me and I can feel it pullin’ apart. Cole ain’t ever gonna forgive Mom, and if anythin’ happens to Leia, Wade ain’t ever gonna forgive me.”
“You’ll figure it out, Garrett, and you’ll do what’s right. You always do,” Mitch assures me.
“At least I know I can always rely on you.” I nudge him, blowing out a breath and looking up at the ceiling. When I look back at my old friend and see the sadness on his face it puts a little doubt in my mind.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him, already feeling nervous about what he might have to say.
“You’ve taken a hit tonight, learned a lot. If I told ya that there was another piece to this puzzle, could ya take it?” he asks in that low, rough tone of his.
“Mitch… What ain’t ya tellin’ me?” I feel my whole body tense again when I realize the night is far from over.
“I always knew there would be a time where I’d have to tell ya, but life gets in the way.”
“Mitch, I just told ya I’m done with secrets, if you know somethin’, you lay it out here and now.” I stand up and look down at him.
“Maybe now is as good a time as any.” He shrugs, looking up at me helplessly.
“Just tell me!” I speak through my teeth, wondering what the hell can be left to throw at me.
“It happened just after your mom left. My little sister had come lookin’ for me after she outgrew her foster home, and she ended up stayin’ here for a while to figure out what she wanted to do. She helped out around the ranch to pay her way. I got used to havin’ her around, I even kinda liked it, and then one day she just vanished without sayin’ goodbye.” I stare at him, wondering what the hell that has to do with what went down here tonight.
“About a year later I got a call, some cop tellin’ me she was dead, and that she had this little baby. She had me down as her next of kin and so I inherited that kid, along with the note she’d written explainin’ why she had to end her life.”
“Why did she?” I’m curious, I’ve always known Dalton grew up around here because his mom had died, but I had no idea that she’d killed herself.
