Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Sometimes he wondered what the hell he’d done to the man beyond wanting to have his own life, besides thinking for himself. “What’s he saying about me now?”
Gail looked toward her father, her mouth a flat line. “You want to tell him what all you old men are talking about down at the senior center? Want to admit the nasty rumors you told me? Go on, Dad. You always told me I should never say something about a person if I wasn’t willing to say it to their face.”
Tom’s whole body went tight.
“Yeah, I’d like to hear it.” Josh’s tone was glacial.
Someone needed to dial the tension back. He knew how his stepfather worked, and Tom was of a mind-set that certain rumors could worry him. His daughter, while religious, wasn’t superstitious and didn’t believe Satan was around every corner. But there was a harder, more old-school bedrock to Tom’s faith that hadn’t been instilled in him by the Willow Fork Presbyterian Church. “Tom, what did he tell you? Did he say that the cattle getting sick is God’s judgment on us? Particularly you, for being too tolerant of sin?”
Gail’s head fell back and she groaned as she looked her father’s way. “Your prejudice is going to cost us the best big animal vet we’ve ever had. Grim, I…”
“Gail, it’s okay. Let me talk to him.” He gentled his voice, the same way he would around an anxious animal. “I know you don’t agree with my lifestyle or the way the Barnes-Fleetwood family chooses to live, but do you honestly think God is punishing you for not… What exactly do you think he’s punishing you for?”
Tom’s expression went mulish. “Your stepdaddy was pointing out that God has rules and when we don’t follow them, he punishes us. Like in the Bible.”
“He sent his only begotten son to earth so he wouldn’t have to punish us anymore.” If there was one book Grim knew backward and forward it was the Bible. It had been the only book he’d been allowed to read from the ages of twelve to sixteen. “Our sins are forgiven through him. No need for the Almighty to hurt some cows to make a point. This was a problem with the alfalfa. We all get ours from the same place, and that’s why we’re all having this problem. It was contaminated with blister beetles.”
Tom’s eyes went wide with understanding. “Oh, no. I’m glad I didn’t give that to the horses.”
Because the toxins associated with the beetles was almost always deadly to horses, but cattle and sheep handled it better. “We’re going to help you dispose of any leftover alfalfa, and I’ll file all the forms so the feed store will replace the feed, and they’ll handle my bills since this was their responsibility. But I don’t want you to worry about anything but taking care of your herd. I’ll work with Gail to make sure everything gets done.”
Tom sighed, and his hands found his pockets. “I’m sorry, Grim. Your stepdaddy is a powerful preacher.”
“Of hate,” Gail said under her breath.
“I didn’t know about the beetles,” Tom admitted. “And one of your brothers mentioned that you might…well…you might be trying to wrangle up some business.”
Josh cursed but Grim stayed calm. Of course they had. If he wondered what he’d done to his stepfather, he definitely wasn’t sure what he’d done to his brothers.
Josh was his brother now. Olivia was his sister. He’d love to see someone try to tell Olivia they were kicking one of her brothers out of their home.
But then Olivia had been raised in love. Maybe that was the difference. His brothers hadn’t been strong enough to withstand the constant wear down their stepfather had given them. They’d been torn down to their basic forms and rebuilt into something Ezekiel Smith wanted them to be. Grim hadn’t. He’d been stronger—and it was strength, he realized now. It wasn’t stubbornness or stupidity. It was strength. It was the will his biological dad had wanted him to have, had gifted to him.
“Tom,” Josh began.
But this battle wouldn’t be won with intimidation. This was a battle that could only be won with kindness. He gestured for Josh to let him handle it. “Tom, I promise on the soul of my father—my real father—that I would never harm an animal or put one in danger for any amount of money. I believe in what I do. I’m sorry if they said those things about me, but they are not true. All I can ask you to do is look back at my actions and watch what I do going forward.”
“Like you’ll come back around,” Tom said with a defeated shake of his head.
“I’ll be back by tomorrow to check on your herd,” Grim promised. “And if you need anything at all, I’m a phone call away. If you’re worried I’m harming your herd in any way, I’ll find another vet to come out here for you.”