Chapter 3 #3
“I’ve been paying off what I could because I inherited a lot of money from my great-grandfather,” he explained.
“Still that inheritance wasn’t meant to pay for all this.
That’s why my great-grandparents wrote Grandma and Grandpa out of their wills, at least any cash inheritance portion.
Grandpa only got land, just in his name too.
They couldn’t trust their own son to keep his gambling wife in line.
Yet, here I am. Doing it myself. So, to keep Grandpa from selling off parts of the ranch, I’ve been taking parts of the property in exchange for those repayments I’m making. ”
“But you would have inherited everything anyway.”
He smiled. “But … you only inherit if anything is left at the time that they pass.”
She shook her head as she understood it better. “Which means there isn’t anything left.”
“Well, there wouldn’t be. Not once Grandpa’s been declared dead, and everything comes to light,” he clarified. “So, yeah, no.”
Ashton made his way up to his room, more than tired and worn out. Rather than getting into bed, he sent off a million texts, some to Badger, some to Kat, some to Roger, and some to the local lawyer who handled the Nelson family business. All of them were people whom he knew and trusted.
And, in each case, they knew what Ashton was up against. Yet the deputy had been here and gone, telling Ashton that it all appeared to be another tall tale his grandmother was telling in a desperate act to get more money out of Ashton.
The sheriff’s office had absolutely no proof that anybody had kidnapped his grandfather.
Deputy David Hale was new to the town but seemed competent enough.
When Deputy Hale left, Ashton couldn’t deal with his grandmother right now. He made his way upstairs, just wanting to crash. As tired as he was, he still quickly sent a message about the missing dog to everybody as well.
No way he would forget that, even though Kat told him that it wasn’t his top priority, not if he needed to spend the time with his family and sort out the rest of it.
He understood why she mentioned that, but no way he would not help out with the War Dog as well.
Kat and Badger had been instrumental in helping Ashton too many times—particularly back when his grandmother had made it very clear that he wasn’t welcome home anymore, especially not now that he was a cripple.
His grandpa, on the other hand, had been very understanding, stating that was complete BS and that he would have a talk with her.
And, if nothing else, he would control the money aspect so she would have a change of heart.
Ashton and Grandpa had talked several times on the phone since then.
According to Grandpa, he had things well in hand.
Except he didn’t. Ashton sighed.
He had already planned on coming back home within a few months, but his grandpa’s disappearance had completely changed that. Even now, as he sat here, wondering how crazy this would all get, he fully realized it would get bad, seriously bad.
When his phone buzzed, he looked down to see a message from one of the deputies, somebody he used to know too. But, when he read it, he was confused. So he just called him. “Hey, Timmy.”
The man on the other end laughed. “I don’t know anybody else who calls me Timmy anymore,” he replied, with a note of humor.
“Yeah, sorry about that. … Old habits. That was just an instinctive response,” he shared, with a chuckle.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard you were back again.”
“Just a sucker for punishment apparently.”
“Yeah, Deputy Hale had a lot to say about that. I also heard that your grandfather’s gone missing. And then I just heard something about your grandmother—how her gambling frenzy may have had something to do with it.”
Recognizing his tone, Ashton realized that Timmy knew Grandma well enough to see through her lies. Timmy had known her as long as Ashton had, so Timmy’s skepticism was not all that far-fetched. “None of your colleagues seem to believe it though.”
“Well, she has become a bit of a problem in town,” he began, “to put it delicately.”
“Right. And, delicately speaking, just how much of a problem has she become?”
“It’s kind of bad for some people,” Timmy shared, his tone very cautious. “She stopped paying for things in grocery stores and tries to walk out with them. She’s become a shoplifter, skipping out without paying bills at restaurants. So, now people refuse to serve her.”
“Anything else?”
“It’s … weird, man. She wasn’t like that before, but she’s turned a corner. They’re all thinking she’s got some klepto form of dementia or something like that.”
“Okay. I’ll make amends with the merchants. I need to call her doctor anyway. I’ll take a look at that too.”
He noted cheerfully, “Better you than me.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the heads-up.”
Timmy laughed. “Are you staying in town?”
“Uh, maybe.” And then he gave a short laugh, not able to wrap his head around the growing mess he would have to clean up.
He’d known it was a mess before, but now it was dragging him deeper than he’d ever imagined.
“Honestly I’ve got a hell of a mess to clean up here right now. And then? Then … we’ll see.”
“Good enough,” Timmy said. “So maybe coffee when you get a free moment?”
“Coffee would be great,” Ashton stated, “but I do need to find out what’s going on with Grandpa though.”
“Yep. You do. … I don’t really have anything to tell you. Everybody is keeping their eye out of course, and they did a twenty-four-hour search in the woods, but nobody saw anything.”
“Which is why I thought it was possible that my grandmother spoke the truth for once.”
“Well, if it’s possible, we need more proof,” he pointed out. “She has not been exactly …”
Ashton knew what Timmy was holding back. “Just say it, Tim.”
“Right. … Well, she has not been very forthcoming with information.”
“Yeah,” Ashton muttered. “Agreed, and that’s the way of it. And you probably know better than I do that she has a gambling addiction, right?”
“I’ve certainly heard rumors around town, but apparently that’s not something anybody has put on record,” Timmy shared. “Nobody really seems to understand how bad it is.”
“No, because my grandfather has done a good job of hiding it,” Ashton revealed.
“So, give me a few days to figure out what’s going on, and then I’ll take you up on that coffee.
” And just as he went to hang up, he asked, “By the way, do you have any information about a Malinois-shepherd cross, a K9 War Dog in town? It’s apparently gone missing, so it could show up at odd places if he’s been lost or abandoned. Have you even heard it’s gone missing?”
Tim asked, “Are you’re talking about Sean’s dog?”
“Yeah, maybe so. I think that’s the name of the guy who owned Khan when the dog went missing.”
“I don’t know what that has to do with you,” he noted, “but you need to proceed with caution. Sean is, well, let’s just say, he’s got some issues.”
“Sure,” Ashton said. “He’s a vet, and we do tend to come home with issues.”
“I’m not trying to insult you because I know that you’re, you know, you’re home yourself, but, Sean’s generally not somebody who anybody believes.
So, when he told people he was missing his dog, I don’t think anybody …
I hate to say it, but I’m not sure anybody believed him enough to care. ” And, with that, Timmy ended the call.
Ashton stared down at his phone and started swearing. This was not what he needed, and he hadn’t even had two seconds to figure out where he was and what all he had to deal with. He’d literally hit the ground running, and it didn’t look like it would ease up anytime soon.
As soon as he updated Kat and Badger with this latest info, he headed for a shower and a chance to unwind.
He hadn’t had any food either. About the time he got out of the shower, he heard a knock on his door.
Wearing only a towel, he quickly grabbed a robe hanging by the shower, then answered the door to find Jenny there.
He looked at her and smiled. “Hey, is everything okay?”
She nodded. “Things have been very difficult today, but I came to tell you there’s food in the kitchen, if you want a hot meal.”
“I would love a hot meal,” he admitted. “I just need to get dressed. I was desperate for a hot shower and a minute to clear my head. It’s been quite a day.”
“You didn’t even get a chance to settle in,” she noted, with a sad smile. “I’ll see you down in the kitchen.”
“And what about my grandmother?”
“Johanna generally doesn’t come down at all in the evenings,” she shared, with a careless wave of her hand. “So I can’t be sure what she’s up to right now.”
He winced at that and nodded. “Give me five.” He closed the door and quickly grabbed some clean clothes.
Wearing fresh clothes and feeling like he might make it now, he headed downstairs.
He walked into the kitchen just in time to see Jenny serving up a plate with a homemade meat pie, some hot potatoes, and a green salad.
He sat down with a smile. “I forgot what it was like to have some of your cooking.”
She chuckled. “If you would come home more often, you might remember easier.” She left it at that, and he nodded.
“Well, I’m here now,” he declared, taking in the delicious smell.
“Are you staying?” Jenny asked.
“I think so, at least for a time. I’m not sure I can afford to leave right now,” he shared.
“So, the answer to that question is yes, but with a little bit of a warning in it,” she noted, with a light chuckle.
“Yeah.”
She sat down across from him, nursing a cup of tea. Lost in his thoughts, he looked at her and asked, “What is it you want to say?”
She sighed. “I’m just hoping Alexander is still alive.”
“So am I,” he whispered. “I can’t seem to trust anything that comes out of my grandmother’s mouth anymore.”