“It was Irene’s idea!”
Pain replaces the anger in Jake’s eyes. “Irene put ya up to this?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Well, you have one breath to convince me not to pound you into the concrete.”
“Brett lied. You know it. I know it. But the thing is, no one else cares. They just want to watch a train wreck. Irene wants to go on air and go into lawyer-mode, asking them why they didn’t play the whole clip of Ali, the one where Eva Crosby presses the bottle into Ali’s hand.”
“You told them—”
“I had to. They weren’t interested in the fact that Brett lied. The only thing that made Hillary agree to come back was by spilling bigger beans.” I hand my phone to him. “Jake, you need to see this.”
Jake’s face goes blank as he reads Eva’s article. “Why would she lie like this?”
“Who knows. Some people love drama.”
“I just-I just can’t believe this is all happening. Thatyouwould be a part of it.”
“Come on—do you really think I’d ever hurt Ali?” I plead. “The truth of it is, I love her. I love her so much, but I’m nowhere near good enough for her.”
“Ret, you’re plenty good enough for her. You’ve had a tough run, and maybe you’re a bit upside down at the moment, but that’s not what makes you worth my sister. It’s who you are on the inside and how you’re going to treat her. I mean, you do realize she’s like a millionaire, don’t you?”
“Funny, because those are my exact prerequisites for guys dating my sister.”
Jake’s face falls, his gaze refusing to meet mine.
“Don’t you look away.”
“You don’t understand,” he rasps, his voice wrought with emotion.
“What’s there to understand? You like my sister, don’t you? You love her? She tells me you’ve been more than good to Lori.”
“But I’m a damn farmer, and I’ll never be anything more than that.”
“Well, good thing Lori likes cows…and ice cream…because cows can help make ice cream.”
“Irene only likes me because she doesn’t see the country bumpkin side. Day in and day out, there’s always something to be done. Tilling, trapping, feeding, fencing.”
“How about you give my sister more credit? And do you really think that when you leave the farm, you magically turn into something other than a country bumpkin? She knows what she’s in for. Manure and all.”
“And she deserves better.”
“She deservesyou.”
A heavy silence falls between us, and I can see that Jake’s wheels are turning.
“Don’t deny yourself the family you want.”
“I don’t know, maybe after all this blows over, we can talk.”
“I think she’d like that.”
“I can’t wait to tell the family you’re not the backstabber we thought you were. You have no idea the dark cloud that cast.”
“You can’t tell them,” I insist.
“Like hell. Do you know what Pa’s going through?”
