Not liking where this is going, I sink into one of the Adirondack chairs that line the front porch.“Have at it, brother.”
Do your worst.
“You ain’t doing anyone any favors by keeping yourself secluded on this land.I know you feel you have some pretty big shoes to fill, and you do, I’m not discrediting that—your Granddaddy bled, sweat, and suffered for everything you work so hard to preserve, but even he would tell you that you can’t keep going on the way you are if he could.”
If he could.
Those three words pack more of a punch than any other part of his spiel.I know I work long hours, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m slightly obsessed with the grind of everything.But I owe it to my grandfather.Without him, I’d be nothing.It doesn’t matter how long my days are, or how ragged I feel; it’s not enough.
I’ll never be half the man he is.
The proof is in the book.I thought the expansion of Meadows Ranch would put us in the black, but the cost wound up being higher than I expected, and the operational costs on the ranch skyrocketed while the profit margins shrank at a significantly rapid pace.We’re drowning in debt, and every night when I lay my head on the pillow, I worry how long I’ll be able to keep men like Tyler, and Wyatt on the payroll.
Hell, most days it’s hard to look them in the eyes.
They have sacrificed just as much as I have, and the thought of putting them out of work makes me violently ill.
I draw in a deep breath, rubbing my sweaty palms over my denim-clad thighs.“Like I told Wyatt, I appreciate the concern?—”
“Fuck off with that shit.I’m not Wyatt, Maddox.You can’t pacify me.I know the ranch is in trouble, and I know you’re doing everything in your power to keep this ship from sinking, but what you’re doing ain’t working.You need a reset.”
My gaze snaps up to him, and I clench my jaw.“Getting my cock wet ain’t going to fix what’s broken, brother.Pussy is pussy.It ain’t all that majestic.”
The corners of his mouth lift, and he shakes his head at me.
“The fuck it isn’t.Maybe that’s your problem.You’ve been getting mediocre pussy for too long, and it’s fucked with your head.”
I roll my eyes.I wish that were the case, but I can’t remember the last time I got laid.
“You should go out tonight.Release some tension.All your problems will still be your problems tomorrow.You’ll just be able to attack them with a much clearer head.”
The man is as hard-headed as they come.I need a different tactic.
“Betty’s daughter had the baby, and she’s out of town for the rest of the week,” I explain.“The agency sent over a temp, but it doesn’t look too promising.”
That’s putting it mildly.
My gaze darts toward the house, and my nostrils involuntarily flare.
I stopped in to see Granddaddy on my lunch break, just as I always do, and I found him in the great room, staring at the blank screen on the television because he couldn’t remember how to turn the damn thing on.The replacement aide was nowhere to be found.Ten minutes later, when she finally decided to do her fucking job, she stalked into the room and threw her phone on the couch, muttering a stream of curses.
I should’ve fucking fired her right then and there, but the arrival of the new herd tomorrow has my hands tied.
“So that’s why you’re not going.You don’t want to leave William with the new aide.”
This place doesn’t function without Betty, and that’s mainly because Ican’tfunction without having peace of mind that Granddaddy is cared for before I even walk out the door.
A year ago, a doctor diagnosed the man I admired most with Alzheimer’s.I should’ve realized things were off long before that.I mean, looking back now, the signs were all there.I was just too naive to notice, and I made excuses for all the mishaps.
When he forgot to put his horse away in the stable, I told myself it wasn’t his fault.We had men on staff who should’ve done it.And when he called me by my father’s name, I blamed the uncanny resemblance as the culprit.
The day he drove his pickup truck into a tree—that was on me too.He would’ve been able to stop if I had changed the brakes like I was supposed to.
Denial at its finest, but I was still finding my footing as the man in charge after his sudden retirement two years prior, and while he may not have been part of the daily operations anymore, he was still a steady force in the background, lending a supportive ear when needed.
But that was Granddaddy for you.
I can’t remember a time in my life when he wasn’t there for me and my sister, Della.He was our rock after someone killed our mother, and he was the glue that held everything together when our old man disappeared on us.
