Grandpa turned another page.
“December 24, 2021. Christmas Eve. Brett asked you whether the old man would notice if you took the antique tractor from the barn. You told him I wouldn’t notice if he took the entire barn.”
My cousin Brett immediately sat up.
“That’s not what I meant!”
Grandpa looked directly at him.
“Then perhaps you can explain what you meant.”
Brett opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
I had watched my family argue countless times. They blamed one another for broken fences, unpaid bills, missing tools, and ruined holidays. However, I had never seen them this afraid of a man they had spent years treating as though he didn’t exist.
Grandpa closed the notebook.
“I didn’t bring this up because I wanted to ruin Christmas,” he said. “I brought it up because your grandmother isn’t here anymore, and I’m tired of pretending I don’t know what kind of people you’ve become.”
