Chapter Seven – Colt
Colt
“Do you need anything?”
My father looked at me from his favorite chair in the living room and smiled. “Colt, you don’t have to cater to me. I’m fine.”
“You had a heart attack, Dad. I’m not catering to you; I’m making sure you’re comfortable and don’t need anything.”
His smile grew. “I appreciate that, son. I’m good. I’m just happy to be out of the hospital and back home.”
I nodded. “I’m sure you are.”
“Colt…there’s something I want to talk to you about before you head out to my office.”
“Dad, don’t worry about work.”
“I need to tell you something so you’re prepared for what you see.”
He stopped talking the moment my mother walked into the living room, carrying a tray.
“Let me get that, Mom.”
“It’s fine, Colt. It’s just some tea and fruit for your father to snack on.
Dad’s lip went up into a snarl. “Fruit? I was hoping for some chips and queso.”
Mom set the tray down on the coffee table and shot my father a warning look.
He held up his hands and laughed. “I’m joking, Lynn. Fruit sounds amazing.”
She placed his tea next to him on the side table and then handed him the bowl of fruit.
“Mom, is there anything you need me to do before I head out to the barn?”
“No, sweetheart. I’ve got a roast in the oven, and Vivianne dropped off some of her kale salad.”
“Kale?” my father and I both asked at the same time.
“Yes, kale. It’s good for you, and you will eat it! She makes a wonderful and healthy lemon dressing for it. She even put some craisins in there for you.”
“Craisins?” my father asked. “What in the hell is that?”
I fought to keep from laughing.
“It’s raisins, but made from cranberries.”
His brows raised. “Yum…sounds so good.”
“That’s my cue to leave,” I said, as I kissed my mother on the cheek before heading out the door.
“Colt, that talk?”
“Dad, don’t worry!” I called over my shoulder. “I’ll take care of everything.”
The barn wasn’t far from the house, so I walked down the familiar path. I thought being back home would be more painful, but it was the opposite. I felt a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
As I walked to the barn, a young kid who looked to be about eighteen came walking out.
“Um, hi there?” I said, in more of a question than a statement.
He pulled off his work gloves and reached for my hand. “You must be Colt. Ensley told me you were home.”
I smiled. “I am, and you are?”
“Oh, sorry,” he said with a laugh. “Buck is my name. Ryan hired me to come and look after the animals. He was going on vacation and Mr. Owens was in the hospital and all.”
Confused, I asked, “Ryan?”
“The foreman here on the ranch.”
All I could do was nod. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Buck.”
“You, too!”
He pulled his glove on and headed over to a trailer full of hay that must have been delivered earlier.
I turned, walked into the barn, and made my way to my father’s small office. The door was open, and when I stepped inside, Ensley was sitting at the desk. Her head was bent over a book, and her brother, Gatlin, stood next to her. They both looked up when they saw me.
“Ensley? Gatlin?” I asked, confused as to why they were both here.
Gatlin smiled as he made his way toward me. He held out a hand, and I took it.
“It’s good to see you, Colt. Ensley informed me that I wasn’t allowed to beat the hell out of you, so I’m going for more of a friendly approach.”
My return smile instantly vanished as I looked at Ensley, then back to Gatlin. He’d certainly grown up in the last ten years. The guy was all muscle.
“I’m glad you went with her friendly approach. You’ve grown up, and I have no doubt in my mind you could give me a thrashing that I most certainly deserve.”
Gatlin raised his brows. “I agree, but I promised my sister.”
I looked him over exaggeratedly. “Still…I think I could handle what you’ve got.”
Laughing, Gatlin held out his arms in a “come at me” gesture. “You name the place and time.”
Ensley stood up. “Oh, for the love, put the testosterone away, will you both? I swear your nostrils are flaring.”
Gatlin and I both reached up and touched our noses.
“Colt, there’s a bigger issue here than my brother wanting to pound your face.”
I turned to Gatlin again, and he winked. The bastard actually winked at me. Focusing back on Ensley, I walked toward the desk.
“What are you talking about?”
Pointing down to a ledger on the desk, she said, “Your mother and father are broke.”
My head jerked back. “Broke?”
“Yes. There’s no money. The books say there’s money, but your father left a bank statement on the desk, and, please forgive me, I looked at it. I think…I think if he’d just discovered this? Maybe that’s why he had a heart attack. There’s nothing in the account. It’s actually negative.”
I quickly made my way around the desk and took the statement Ensley held out for me.
“How is this possible?”
She cleared her throat and said, “I think Ryan has something to do with it. When I got here yesterday, he was gone. I don’t know when he left, because the horses had hay, grain, and fresh water. My guess is, I just missed him.”
“Why would you think it was him?” I asked.
“There was something off about him. From the moment your father hired him and he found out that you had been gone for ten years, I felt like he was attempting to move into the role you vacated.”
Frowning, I said, “That doesn’t make him a thief.”
She shrugged as Gatlin said, “I have a feeling it was him, too.”
I studied the statement. My father’s checking account was overdrawn, and his entire savings of almost $80,000 was gone, according to the bank account Ensley had pulled up on the computer.
“How did you get into the online account?” I asked.
Ensley pulled out a book. “I made your dad sign up for online banking a few years ago. I helped him set it up. He never changed the password, so when I logged in, I saw everything was gone. His entire savings.
I closed my eyes and pushed a hand through my hair. No wonder my father had a heart attack. That was a lot of money for my parents.
“Colt…I have some money saved. I can help with this.”
Staring at her, I felt warmth spread across my chest. “That’s very kind of you to offer, but I’ve got money saved up. I’ll fix this. First things first, though. I need to find out who he owes money to.”
“Already did that,” Gatlin stated, as he reached for a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Ensley called me yesterday when she found this, and we spent much of last night figuring things out. We had to get into your father’s information, so I hope you’ll forgive us for that.”
I waved off his concern. “No, I appreciate you guys doing this. I guess this was what he wanted to talk to me about before I came out here.”
“Jacob?” Ensley asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, he said he needed to talk to me before I came out here, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Glancing over the list and quickly adding up the numbers, I realized what he owed for some expenses for the ranch wasn’t that bad. “I’ll get some money into his account today.
“I can reach out to these people and let them know you’ll be taking care of the outstanding balances as soon as possible, if you’d like me to,” Gatlin offered.
Exhaling, I nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, Gatlin, that would be great.”
Ensley added, “And I reached out to your dad’s clients and got them all rescheduled with you. I also changed his password for his online bank account. I hope that was okay.”
I nodded as I stared at the desk. “Yes, thank you, Ensley.”
When she placed a hand on my arm, I looked at her.
“Are you okay, Colt? This is a lot of money.”
“Yeah. I’ve got a good amount of money put away. It’ll be fine.”
She looked relieved. “That’s good to know. I think you need to talk to your father. I’m sure this is weighing heavily on his mind.”
All I could do was nod once again.
This was my fault. He wouldn’t have had to hire someone if I’d been here. Another thing to add to the growing list.
Gatlin cleared his throat. “I’ll head back to the ranch and start on this.”
I glanced over. “Thank you, Gatlin. I’ll owe you for this.”
He took the list I handed back to him. “I’m not doing it for you, Colt. I’m doing it for Jacob and Lynn, and for my sister. She loves your parents.”
Feeling suddenly more tired than I had ever been, I nodded. “I know she does.”
Gatlin said his goodbyes to his sister and walked out of the office. The room suddenly felt too small. I quickly made my way out, down the aisle of the barn, and outside. I leaned over, braced my hands on my thighs and drew in a few deep breaths, trying to avoid throwing up.
I felt Ensley before she even said anything.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “This is all my fault.”
“This isn’t your fault, Colt.”
Standing, I spun around and gaped at her. “How can you say that, Ensley? If I’d been here, my father would never have hired that fucking prick! Let me tell you, if I find out that little fucker stole from my father, I’m going to tear him apart.”
She smirked. “You’re going to have to fight Gatlin for that honor. He’s already called an old college buddy. All he’d tell me about him was that this was right up his alley. I don’t know what that means, but I’m guessing he’s going to track down Ryan.”
I scrubbed both hands over my face. “Fuck! This is such a mess.”
“Do you think your mother knows?”
My hands dropped to my sides. “No. I highly doubt it. My father has never really shared the finances with her before, unless that’s changed in the last ten years.
He did say he wanted to talk to me before I came out here, and he stopped talking when Mom walked into the room.
I left with them both together, so he never got a chance to say anything else. ”
“May I offer some advice?”
Meeting her gaze, I begged, “Please do.”
“Be with your father when you guys tell Lynn. Not that I don’t think she can handle it, she is, after all, a rancher’s wife. But I’m sure this close to their retirement, finding out everything you saved is gone, will be a bit shocking. Look at your dad.”