Page 19 of Rough
My eyes drop to the diesel tank to glare at it. I know I have to stop doing this kind of girl stuff to make them realize I’m serious about joining forces when we’re grown.
Dumping the paint in the weeds, I throw everything in a bucket to rinse back at the house. I don’t care if they think I can’t handle doing a bit of hard labor. I know I can. Besides, I’ll eventually have the land they want, and they won’t be able to push me out.
I won’t let it happen.
Chapter Eight
Remy
I’m vibrating with anger when I storm back into my house after leaving Betsy’s place.I can’tbelieveshe was that cold and uncaring about what she’s done.
I pause when I see the horse barn and throw up a prayer that the rest of our horses are still here. Going for a ride seems like the best way to expel this fury trying to burst free from my skin.
“Rem, man. What are ya doin’?” Wild asks, jogging up behind me as I deviate from the house and head there.
I can’t slow down. “Need to ride.” Throwing the barn door open, I walk inside, then freeze after taking two steps.
“The fuck? Where is everythin’?” Clyde asks, joining us.
Murphy is hot on our tail, and I want to punch him when he starts laughing. “I fuckin’ told ya. She took everythin’. Even equipment. It’s all at her place.” It’s clear that all the horses have been gone for a long while. There’s no lingering scent of hay or animal in the air. Betsy took everything!
Spinning on my heel, I push past everyone, ignoring Trina when she tries to call to me as I run over to the other barns. Throwing every door open, each one is the same as the last.
Empty.
Everything is gone.
The second a hand lands on my shoulder, I let this sick feeling burst free and I rage into the open, bare space. My dad’s legacy. Myfuture. All gone in the blink of an eye.
“Put the goddamn phone away, Trina,” I hear Clyde hiss. “Just go back to the house, would ya?” There’s a pressure behind my eyes building and I fight as best I can while my best friends usher Trina out of here before I completely melt down.
Once the door shuts, I let it free. Choking against the emotion clogging my throat, I force my question out. “Why the fuck would he sell? He didn’t even give me a chance to come home! And I can’t fuckin’ ask him ‘cuz he fuckin’died!”
Murphy’s retort gets my blood boiling once again. “I can’t understand it, kid. I don’t think your daddy was all there before he went. It’s like the moment he found out he was sick, he started makin’ plans withherand movin’ everything over there.”
I shake my head to dislodge his words. Glancing up at Wilder, I can tell he’s just as pissed and blown away by this news as I am. These guys knew my dad almost as well as I did and having that validation that something feels fishy steels my resolve.
Forcing everything down, I stand up and face Murphy. “Tell me everything she’s doin’ over there. I wanna know who works for her, the contracts she’s got set up, her plans for down the road. I’m gonna put an end to this bullshit before she even gets started.”
Murphy turns over a crate and sits down, ready to give me everything I want to know. Wilder is just as eager as I am, but Clyde seems uncomfortable with this entire situation. He doesn’t leave though, choosing to drop his chin to his chest and lean against the door, ready to listen.
“Well, lemme see. You already know she went and took the farm. Everythin’s been moved to her place already. Betsy’s gotregular shipments of feed, hay, and straw from some of the local farmers around town. Got it all real cheap, too. She’s got the farrier out here every month to work on a horse or two at a time.”
Wilder interrupts with a question of his own. “How long have our horses been over there? I’m assumin’ mine and Clyde’s are there as well? I just didn’ see ‘em.”
Nodding once, Murphy grits his jaw. “Yup. They been over there since shortly after you boys left. I think Donny’s been payin’ her to stable ‘em, but I don’t know for sure or how much. She rides ‘em all the time, though, swaps days with each horse. She does take that fucked up one out the most, though.”
“Frank?” I figure he’s talking about the horse her Pap rescued years ago. The one he found on the side of the road.
Wilder’s uncle clicks his tongue. “I guess. If you wanna call that a horse. Anyway, she’s got a deal goin’ on with the mayor as well. Somethin’ she worked out after she got done fuckin’ his younger brother. That’s where them solar panels come in.”
All three of us sit up straighter at the news that she was fucking someone.Since when was Betsy Harper interested in dating?I find their eyes as Murphy keeps talking, and I can tell they’re just as upset about that news as I am. Murphy seems to think it’s the damn panels that’s got us on edge now.
“She got some grant from the state or whatever to install them. Provided the land, got some extra cash for funding other shit… not sure what, though. But since it’s on your land, Remy, your momma gets her electricity paid for from it. I think Betsy’s is paid for as well, and she sells the rest back to the city. There are government people out here now and then to check on the panels and stuff. You’d have to ask her more about it.”
“I’d like to circle back to her fuckin’ the mayor’s brother,” Wilder hisses out, crossing his arms across his chest.
Murphy snorts and shakes his head. “Nothin’ to circle backto. She fucked him for a bit before gettin’ introduced to themayor, then dumped his ass. There’s also that breedin’ thing goin’ on.”
