Page 15 of Legacy of Lies
“Like you and Tiffani? Yeah, I agree. Time to move on.”
Time. Hell, he’d barely had time to process the whole exploding mess that was the end of his marriage. Maybe when he dug out from under the work here, he could sit on the beach, sip margaritas, and mull over his stupidity.
“Nothing like my situation. And moving on is easier said than done. Discussion over.”
“What about the ranch issues, Vaughn leaving, and Kerr being back home but not totally okay? All of it’s wearing on Dad. I’m worried about him.”
“Son of a bitch, Shel, I can’t fix everything.”
After a pause, she tapped her chin. “What about the dreams? You still having those?”
Garrison wanted to deny it but couldn’t. “Yeah. Erupting volcano. Dark cave. Red eyes. And a woman’s hand stretched out to me.”
Shelby pinched the bridge of her nose. “Me too. It’s like she wants to help me. But then there’s blackness that swallows her up.”
“And pain?”
“And pain.” She swallowed. “Kerr’s having similar dreams, too. No idea what they mean. What do you think?”
“How the hell should I know?” he snapped, a red film covering his vision. “I’m up to my eyeballs in bullshit. Why don’t you work on figuring out the dreams?”
If only he weren’t so worn out, he’d try to take the pain away from her expression.
“So, poor ol’ you, then? You’ve got some nerve,” she spat. “Like you have a corner on worry and stress.”
Nasty silence crackled between them until she put a hand to her forehead, no doubt trying to deflect his steaming anger. Too bad for her, he couldn’t tamp down his feelings. Too worn out. So tired, his eyeballs ached.
So she absorbed the full force of his emotions, with only her innate filters damping the onslaught.
When he opened his mouth to apologize, she scooted back and raised her hand. “Let me know when you want to move the herd.”
A pile of manure stunk less than he did right about now.
“Look, I’m—”
“Shut up, Garrison. I know you’re stressed and worried about Zach and the ranch. I get it. Go to your happy place or think about cute teacher, but don’t take your crap out on me, okay? I can only filter so much raw emotion. Once I get tired, all I can do is absorb the feelings people throw off—you got it?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t meet her eyes but took a breath to say more.
“Damn you. Stop talking. Please.” As she rubbed her temples, her wild hair stood up in crazy curls. “I’ll be ready to help tomorrow, but right now, I need to sit by myself and air out my brain.”
“Understood. And I’m sorry.” He massaged the back of his neck. “Do whatever you have to so you’ll be ready. I’ll need you to find every last one of our remaining cattle. We can’t afford to leave any behind. Our margins are beyond tight.”
Her mouth turned down briefly. “Got it. Radar’s ready.” She tapped her head. Too brightly, she said, “All systems will be ‘go’ for the roundup.”
He didn’t fault her for nearly running out of the kitchen. No one wanted to be around his black thoughts, least of all his sister. He rubbed his own temple in empathy. At what point would she tell him off for exploiting her bloodhound skills? At least she had a useful power. All he got out of his lie-detector ability was a headache, self-loathing, and zero trust in other humans. No climbing mountains, no lives saved. Just supernatural levels of cynicism.
As much as he hated to put Shelby through more pain by asking her to use her power, he needed to get those cattle if the ranch was going to stay above water this year. So, greater good, lesser evil.
Damn it, he didn’t want to think about the ranch anymore this evening.
Not an option. He pushed to his feet and headed out to do the never-ending chores.
