The Outsider Series

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

“Well, who’s first? Dad, Mom, Brad?” Jed glanced at each of them, and they looked at each other.

Jed crossed his arms. His back was beginning to ache from sitting up for so long, and after the long ride home from the hospital. He pushed away, stood up, and swayed.

“Are you okay?” Brad grabbed his arm.

“Yeah, just stood up too fast.” Jed steadied himself against the edge of the table.

“Jed, come sit on the sofa. Put your feet up.” Rodney hovered on the other side of Jed. Becky glanced down the hall to Danny’s room, a flash of worry set on her round, motherly face.

“Don’t, Mom. Don’t start worrying Diana.”

Becky firmed her lips and gave Jed another hard, motherly glance. “Sit down on the sofa, Jed. You probably shouldn’t be out of the hospital yet.”

Jed let his mother fuss as his brother walked him over. When he was settled, the dizziness passed, but his family still hovered. “Sit down. You’re all making me nervous.”

Rodney and Becky sat on the loveseat, and Brad took the rocker.

“So how much are these workers here costing me?” Jed snapped.

“Jed, it’s costing you nothing. Andy brought them. They’re his people,” Brad said.

“So does Andy know my financial problems, too?” Jed asked, watching the three glance at each other.

Rodney cleared his throat. “No, son. He offered to bring his people over—”

“I suggested he help. You know, like a community barn raising.” Neil now hovered in the open doorway, then closed the front door behind him. “Jed, this is family business, which is us. Andy’s our cousin, and there are some things that aren’t shared and stay between us. I’m smart enough to know that.”

Jed watched Neil, appreciating his dynamic older brother, who was the clown of the family. He never realized how much Neil understood his feelings. “Well, thank you for that, at least.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, but I did go ahead and pay for everything, including modifying your covered area to include a heated inside viewing area to keep overstressed parents dry, happy, and out of the way.” Neil flashed a smile, showing his white, straight teeth.

Jed noticed his mother was worrying about how he’d respond to that.

“Redesigned, huh? Please tell me you haven’t included some four-star fancy upgrade that is absolutely useless.” Jed smiled at Neil.

“Hell, no. Just some necessities: coffee and tea station for the parents, some comfortable chairs to sit in. And you’ll be happy to know they’re just cheap cloth, not the leather ones.”

“Well, thanks for that. I suppose you’re not going to tell me how much everything came to or let me pay you back?” Jed asked.

Becky gasped, and Rodney and Brad shared a glance.

“We thought you’d be furious,” Brad said.

Neil winked at his brother. “I told you he was softening.”

“This is for Diana. So… thank you.” Jed watched his dad and Brad stare at him and wondered if they were about to call the doctor and ask what happened to their son.

“Just don’t go spending any more money. We don’t need fancy. Just doable,” Jed added.

“Son, I wanted to talk with you about the bank.” Rodney leaned forward, clasping his hands between his legs.

“I’ll call the bank, take care of them. I don’t need—”

His father interrupted. “Son, I paid off the mortgage.”

The only thing that could be heard was the squeak of the rocker in Danny’s room as everyone waited for Jed’s response.

“Now, Jed, don’t be mad. I want you to understand I’ve never been so proud as I sit back and watch you do all this on your own—”

“Oh, Dad, stop, please,” Neil interrupted again. “Jed, we all had a family meeting. Brad, Dad and me. Mom told us we had to talk to you first. Sorry, Mom. We didn’t listen to you.”

Diana stood in the hallway just outside the living room, watching. Jed saw her hesitation. He held out his hand. “Diana, is Danny asleep?”

“Yeah.” She strode over to Jed and sat beside him, linking her fingers with his. The softness in her vivid blue eyes, the way she leaned closer to him, squeezing his hand, he knew she was uncomfortable.

“Neil was just telling me about the family meeting.” Jed watched his wife and the frown that formed between her brows.

“Jed, your family is just trying to help,” Diana said. “We should talk about this.”

“Don’t come down on Diana, Jed. We actually didn’t ask her, either. She has enough stress and worry,” Brad interrupted. “If you’re angry at someone, then pick me.”

“No one is going to be mad at anyone,” Becky said. “It’s done. And there’s one thing, Jed, you may not be aware. Each of you boys was left property or money. Jed, you may not realize, but each of you boys has something set aside from your granddaddy. You may have decided to walk away, but that money is still yours. What were we supposed to do with it? Throw it in the street? Yes, you’ve shown everyone, this entire family, that you can do it on your own, you stubborn kid. But I stuck what was yours into a trust in your name.” Becky stood up and strode to the kitchen chair, which her purse was slung over. She reached in and pulled out an envelope and walked back over to Jed. Everyone watched her.

“Here.” She held out the envelope to Jed. “Take this.”

He couldn’t help but admire his mom and wonder what she’d gone and done. He hesitated and then took the envelope, opening it and pulling out the papers inside. He unfolded them, and Diana gasped as she pressed against him, reading the statements.

“There, it’s in your name. I’m not keeping it, and neither is your dad. It’s your money. You can save it and pass it on to Danny or give it away.” Becky sat beside Rodney again, and he shook his head, chuckling under his breath.

“Jesus Murphy, Mom, what did you do? There’s almost a million dollars in here. What am I supposed to do with all that?” Jed felt beads of sweat dampen the back of his neck, and something warmed in his heart, maybe because everything had changed, and so had his future.