Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
War is a liar. And I am a liar. And there’s no money.
“I should’ve told you,” he says. “I should’ve said something sooner. But I knew how you’d react.”
“You manipulated me from the start.”
“Melody—”
“Admit it. You manipulated me.”
“Yes,” he says. “I did.”
“Go to hell, War. Go to fucking hell.”
“Melody—”
“No,” I say and start backing away, nearly stumbling and falling over. “No, I don’t want to hear it anymore. None of this was real, was it? It was all some elaborate game. All you wanted was money, and I don’t know if you’re desperate to get paid because of your family, or if that was all a lie too.”
“I didn’t make it up,” he says and his sorrow-filled stare nearly breaks my heart. “I didn’t make any of it up.”
“Too late,” I whisper and turn, walking away. I’m not going to run, not this time, because I’ve made up my mind.
I’m finished with Leader Ranch. I can put all this behind me. The place is a dysfunctional hell, and I never should’ve subjected myself to it. Kerry’s right, I need to run away and never look back, because if I let it then the ranch will consume me like it consumed everyone else.
I’m done here, and I’m done with War.
I opened myself to him in ways I’ve never been open with another person and all I got for my trouble was a knife in my chest. And I can’t even act surprised, because that’s what he is, a snake and a liar and a fraud.
I should’ve seen it sooner, but at least Daisy had one last kindness in her.
Now I’m gone, walking away, and never looking back.
Chapter 22
War
I find Colton alone in his room. No nurse, no Daisy. The TV’s playing a Western on mute, the black and white patterns flicking across his bed. He’s staring into space but he doesn’t look like he’s seeing much of anything. It smells like vomit and something rotten, and I sink into the chair beside him and sit there in silence as his head lolls toward me.
“Why’d you do it?” I ask.
He grunts once and lets out a rattling breath. “It went too far.”
“You don’t give a fuck how far things go,” I say with more anger than I actually feel. Right now, I’m too numb to have much of any emotion in me at all. “You only ever cared about your precious ranch. What did Daisy promise you?”
Colton’s head dips down, chin to his chest, and he takes big, heaving breaths. I wonder if he’s on his way out, and I don’t move to help. But finally, he grunts and sighs and leans back.
“She promised to sell,” he whispers. “There are big ranching consortiums. They’ve been trying to buy for a long time, and I made her swear she’ll let me finally sell. You think I can do anything alone in this room? She controls what comes in and what goes out.”
“Huh,” I say and study him. “Why sell? How’s that better?”
“Because at least this place will run again. With Daisy in charge, it’s falling apart, and the longer she holds on, the worse it’ll be. It’s time to let go. I’m going to die soon, and so will the ranch.”
I cross my legs, studying the old man. I hate him for breaking down like this and ruining everything, but I understand his sick logic. If he loves the ranch as much as he pretends, then he should do anything he can to make sure it keeps on functioning, even if it means selling it to some investment banker.
“You know this means the Leader family will be finished. The name will keep on going, but—” I shake my head. “No more ranch. No more money.”
“It’s already done,” Colton says with a sigh. “How many mistakes have I made? How could this place have gone from thriving to this in only so many years? I don’t understand how I could fail so miserably.”
“I do,” I say softly and lean toward him. “You didn’t believe your own daughter. That’s how.”
His eyes roll to meet mine. “What?”
“She told you the truth, old man.” I get closer, showing him my teeth. “But you know that already, don’t you? Everyone figured it out by now. Melody wasn’t lying back then, but you all shoved her away, and the guilt’s been eating this family from the inside ever since. How much did you know back then? About Rosie and her father?”
His face twists in agony and he looks away from me. His falls into a coughing fit that ends with him spitting blood into a tissue. I watch him, curious about how much time he has left, but he finally clears his throat enough to speak.
“My sister told me everything after Melody was already gone. Her husband was a drunk and an asshole, but I thought it ended there. Turns out he’d been abusing Rosie for years, and my sister only found out toward the end. She made that piece of shit leave and held the secret for years and years, and I think it was only after Rosie was gone and Melody started telling everyone about what happened that she realized how badly it had messed everyone up.”