Three days later, my parents showed up at the motel where Lucas and I were staying. They didn’t ask whether we had slept, how many animals we had saved, or what the fire had taken from us. Instead, my father sat down and immediately brought up my late grandfather’s estate.

He insisted they deserved half of whatever money would come from the ranch because it had originally belonged to our side of the family. My mother nodded in agreement, speaking as though dividing an inheritance mattered more than everything we had just lost.

I could still smell smoke on my clothes while they discussed percentages and payouts. Lucas remained silent until he calmly reached inside his jacket and placed a cream-colored envelope on the table between us.

He looked directly at my parents and quietly said, “This is the real reason you came here, isn’t it?-