Page 20 of Ashes of the Past
I’m halfway to the door when it opens, and Jack walks in, his expression hard and unreadable.
“Lane,” Jack says, his voice calm but firm. “You’re done here. Get your things and go. We’ll mail you your last paycheck.”
Lane steps forward, his face contorted with rage. “You can’t fire me! I’m family!”
Jack doesn’t flinch. “You’re lazy, disrespectful, and a liability. You have no place here.”
I step between them, my heart racing. “Jack, you don’t get to make that call. Dad and I do. You’re here to help, not to take over. Lane is Olivia’s uncle. He’s family. You can’t just—”
Jack holds up a hand, cutting me off. “John hired me to manage this ranch, Brynn. If you’re going to undermine my authority every time I make a decision, then you might as well fire me now. I’m not backing down on this. Lane is fired. End of discussion.”
I open my mouth to argue, but my dad steps forward, his expression stern. “Brynn, he’s right. Jack’s the manager. His decision is final.”
“Dad!” I protest, but he shakes his head.
“No. Lane, get your things and leave,” Dad says, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Lane glares at Jack, then at me, before storming past us and up the stairs. The sound of his heavy boots echoes through the house as I stand there, my mouth hanging open.
What just happened?
I glance at Jack, his jaw set and his eyes cold. My dad turns and walks back to his chair, leaving me standing in the middle of the room, my thoughts spinning.
Lane is family. Jack is just… Jack. And yet, somehow, he’s managed to turn everything upside down.
“How dare you come in here and—”
“If you’re so determined to run this place into the ground, don’t let me stop you.”
My mouth drops open, and Dad clears his throat behind us. “There will be no more argument over it.”
“I guess you’re going to keep my niece away from me, too,” Lane hisses as he comes barreling down the steps with two duffel bags in hand. “This is bullshit.”
He storms out of the house, and I pull in a breath. I instantly turn to glare at Jack. Olivia is on the couch, her eyes flitting between all of us before she grabs her headphones and puts them on. Dad stands up and gestures for us to walk out the back door.
“You know as well as I do that Lane had to go,” he says with a sigh. “He was lazy and causing issues with everyone.”
“He’s—”
“I know he’s Clay’s brother and that you were trying to help him out because he’s Olivia’s uncle, but just like his brother, he’s a piece of shit,” Dad says.
My eyes flit to Jack. I can feel my cheeks turning red from embarrassment.
Thanks, Dad. Let’s air out my dirty laundry.
“I don’t need to explain my decision, but the dead weight needed to be cut. I think the ranch is going to run much smoother with him gone,” Jack adds.
“Do you have any idea what problems you just caused?” I hiss.
“I made the decision. Not you. He’ll go back to whatever hole he crawled out of, and we won’t have to deal with him.”
“Not true,” I say with a groan. “He has nowhere to go.”
“It’s not your problem,” Jack says matter-of-factly. “You can thank me later.”
He walks off the porch and toward the barn, not waiting for my reply. I start after him. Dad puts a hand on my shoulder.
“There’s no point in arguing. He did what neither of us wanted to do. You’ve been picking up so much slack because of Lane. I overheard him threatening Paulo one day because he was working, and Lane didn’t want him to show him up.”
