Oh my God. Father had usedmeas a pawn to keep the ranch.
“Why not take the boys, too?” I wondered.
“Because they’re not hers. Only you are.”
“Holy shit,” Colt muttered.
“You cheated on Mom.”
Father laughed and laughed.
He really was crazy. And ruthless. And an asshole. I’d never know how they ended up married after Father got rejected by Mrs. Wilder all those years ago. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
“None of us expected Mom to die, so you kept my inheritance a secret.”
Father didn’t say anything, just eyed me with… hate.
Colt must’ve seen it, too. “Conrad Trout, you’re under arrest for fraud, misappropriation of funds, probably embezzlement and theft.” Colt pulled out his handcuffs and finished with the usual Miranda rights as Trout shouted over him.
“I took care of this place for you! You weren’t old enough for the money. The responsibility.”
“I should have known I was wanted by someone,” I snapped. “That I wasn’t a pawn. That I was loved.”
A second later, Hayes pulled me into his arms. “Easy, slugger,” he whispered. “You’re wanted by me. I’m thinking we paint the house green.” He spoke loudenough so Father could hear. “Maybe put in a dirt bike track by the indoor ring you want to make. We’ve got, two to three million to play with, don’t we, princess?”
“I’m sure the accountant will find more than that,” I replied. “Won’t they, Father?”
“These charges won’t stick,” he hissed as he fought against Colt’s hold.
I shrugged. “Maybe not, but you won’t have a dime. And the Wilders will have Two Rivers Ranch.”
He shouted and swore as Colt shoved him in the back of his patrol SUV, unintentionally–or maybe very intentionally–whacking his head as he did so.
When the door slammed shut, it fell quiet. Colt tipped his Stetson at us as he went around to the driver’s side. Smiled.
He drove off and I turned to Kyle.
“You’re the one who’s run this place for years. I need some time with my husband to figure out what I want to do.”
Kyle looked at me, then Hayes. “You married him?”
I nodded.
“Good, that’s real good.” He shook Hayes’ hand.
“Yeah, it is,” I said.
“You ready to go home, princess?”
This time, when Hayes asked me that, I didn’t freak. I grinned. Because I was standing, technically, atthe entrance to my home. This vast property was all mine.
But the little house that I shared with my husband on the Wilder Ranch was my home.
There was nowhere else I wanted to go.
23
HAYES
