As soon as they all heard his tires peel out of the driveway all four of his brothers were up and out of the door. No doubt following the ass back to his place.
Susan sat, her hands in her lap as they shook. She could hear her own breath as it moved in and out heavily.
“Everett, do something,” Glenda said.
“I think he’s about to get a visit from four somethings. I don’t think we’ve had this many black eyes and stitches at one dinner table in all the years we had five boys.”
“You can’t let them beat him up,” she defended him.
“I can. I will. They’ll also heal him better than any doctor. What he found out today is quite a blow to a kid who idolized his mother for so long.”
“He’s not a kid. He’s a man and that is much more dangerous.”
Susan lifted her head. “I should go. I will go. I’m so sorry I hit your son. I’m so sorry for…”
Glenda reached her hand to Susan’s shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Oh, oh, yes I am,” she stammered. “Not only do I think it’s time for me to leave your home, but I think it’s time for me to go back to mine. Back to Colorado. I can’t do this. I can’t do temper like this again.”
The breath now came in pants and Bethany moved in closer to her. “Honey, what happened with your ex?”
“One time. Just one time,” she cried. “He hit me one time and I left. Why stay?”
“Good for you,” Everett said, his arms crossed over his chest as if this sort of drama happened every night at dinner. “No woman should ever be disrespected by a man.”
“Eric seems to think that’s what I did.”
Everett shook his head. “I don’t believe it. Tell me, what were you doing at Elias’s house?”
Susan swallowed hard. “Sir, I can’t disclose that.”
Everett nodded slowly. “Did you poison his horse?”
“No! Oh, God no. I’d never do something like that. He loved that horse. I took a picture of them. You can see how much the horse meant to him. I didn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that.”
“I believe you.”
Susan rested back in her seat as the two women still held on to her. “Sir, my business is very important to me. When clients don’t want someone to know about something I have to uphold that.”
He nodded again. “Just tell me you have nothing to do with this land swapping or animal killing and I’ll believe you.”
“I swear.”
Everett stood. “Do you love my son?”
The tears turned on and spilled down Susan’s cheeks. “I do. I did,” she whimpered. “I don’t understand any of this. I’d never—ever—hurt him, sir.”
He shifted his glance to his wife. “I’ll go stop them from killing each other. Susan, I suggest you consider what you have with Elias Morgan very carefully. If you want Eric in your life, you can’t have Elias.”
He strode out of the room on a huff, pulled his keys from the peg by the door in the kitchen, and disappeared.
“I don’t know who Elias is to Eric. I don’t understand this.”
Glenda handed her a napkin to wipe her eyes. “Elias is his grandfather. His mother’s father.”