Page 22 of The Cowboy's Redemption
George, who made a living off people’s problems and likely saw this one coming, shook his head at the puffs of white cloud drifting aimlessly in the blue sky. “I’ll leave Otto in your capable hands,” he said dryly, and got in his car.
Otto.
Right.
“I’ll only be a few minutes,” Levi said.
Otto appeared to be asleep when he entered, so Levi primed the pump in the sink, poured him a glass of fresh spring water, then carried the glass to the bedside.
“Close the door. You’re letting flies in.”
Levi jumped. Water sloshed over the rim of the glass. “Dammit, Otto. Don’t scare me like that.”
“If that’s all it takes to make you jumpy, then be mindful of the hair trigger on my shotgun. It’s loaded and I’d hate for you to shoot yourself.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
Levi closed the door, then helped the old man to a sitting position. He took the small bottle of pills from his shirt pocket and shook two into his palm.
Otto eyed the pills with suspicion. “I’ve never taken drugs in my life. I’m not going to become addicted to those, am I?”
His sense of humor was fine. “No idea,” Levi said, more than willing to help keep matters light. “There’s only one sure way to find out.”
Otto’s hands shook, so Levi dropped the pills on his tongue and held the glass of water steady for him to help wash them down. He assumed Otto might want to lie down while he waited for them to take effect.
Instead, Otto wanted to talk. “You ever wonder how I came to live out here all alone?”
The whole town of Grand wondered about it. Levi had heard lots of speculation over the years, but nothing based on hard fact. “I always figured it was none of my business.”
“It’s not. I’d like to get a few things off my chest before I die though, and since I don’t believe in God, you aren’t a priest, and you know how to keep things to yourself, I’m willing to make it your business.”
Whatever Otto’s story was, it had happened a long time ago and to a far different man. He’d lived on this ranch for more than sixty years. His business dealings were honest, he was well-respected, and he caused his neighbors no trouble. He shouldn’t have to worry about what was behind him considering what lay ahead.
“This should be good. Let me guess. You robbed a bank and have been hiding out from Pinkerton investigators while living off the proceeds of crime,” Levi said.
“If so, it would make for a far better story,” Otto fired back. “When I was a kid, maybe no more than sixteen or seventeen, I had a friend. A close one, if you catch my drift. My parents didn’t approve, and I had to make a choice. My friend or my family. I was raised to respect my parents, so I did what they wanted, but I never really forgave them for it. They never really forgave me either, for being someone they didn’t understand. My grandfather left me this land, so when I turned twenty-one, I packed up, moved here, and never looked back. They never looked my way at all. Too relieved to have me gone, I guess. Out of sight, out of mind.”
The sadness in his voice as he spoke told Levi more than the words themselves. He had regrets. “Did you ever try to find your friend?”
“See, that’s where the respect part continues to fester. I didn’t forgive my parents, and yet I couldn’t go against them, so I didn’t. To be fair though, my friend didn’t try to find me either. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been happy enough with the life I’ve made for myself. But there’s always been a part missing from it. What if I’d stuck by my friend, been honest with myself about what mattered most to me, and waited to see if my family came around?”
There was a moral buried in Otto’s story. Levi didn’t know how the old man had picked up on his feelings for Dana, but he had, and he believed Levi was letting others stand in the way of his happiness. Maybe he was. But it was Dana’s happiness he was worried about, and he was a complication for her, not the solution.
“You think I’m making the same mistake you did.”
“I don’t think anything.” Otto’s eyes had taken on a glassy appearance. His words slowed, the syllables drawn out and spaced farther and farther apart as the drug took effect. “This is my confession, not yours. You’re a young man. Smart, too. You’ll figure your problems out.”
He began to drift off.
Levi stayed beside him, waiting for him to fall asleep, pondering upon what he’d been told. If that was the worst his old friend had to confess, then he had no need to worry over what eternity might have in store for him. Otto Hart was a good man. One of the best.
And Levi would do his best to make his remaining days easy for him.
*
Dana
A warm middaybreeze licked Dana’s face and tugged at her hair. Three golden eagles, wings spread out, flat and wide, drifted lazily on currents of air overhead. With Levi returned and the horses close by, the land felt more peaceful than lonely. If not for the circumstances, a short stay here would be no hardship. She could do some work with Tanoa.
