She almost groaned. "What did she tell you?"
"Several things that we need to discuss. Let's start with the tumble down the stairs, shall we, followed by a hospital stay? Along with a little girl's hiding place in case her daddy is in a mood? Stocked with food!" His voice rose as he shook his head. "A little girl is telling me these things about the man you left me for."
Valerie rubbed her face as the tears started again. She knew Ty well enough to see that his fury was on a slow burn, and she wasn't going to be able to evade the conversation anymore. Plus, she only had two days before there was a very real chance that Randall could be standing at their front door.
"He was mad at me because he felt that I had insulted one of his clients. The man made a pass at me, and I politely refused. The story that got back to Randall was that I threw myself at the man and he had to fight me off. And that's the version that he chose to believe. We fought, he threw me down the stairs and I woke up in the hospital with broken ribs. Luckily he didn't know Londyn was home, and she was safe in her hiding spot until I got home."
"Are you kidding me right now? What the hell, Val?"
"I know it sounds like I've made really bad choices, but there are reasons." She hesitated. "And I was only at the hospital for a few hours. Londyn was fine."
He held up his hand. "Let me be very clear right now. There is no reason for that, ever."
"I didn't mean his actions," Valerie protested. "I meant the reasons why I was with him."
"That has to be a great story that I can't wait to hear. But why the hell does he hate his own daughter?"
She shrugged. "I really have no idea. I don't know why he's so abusive, or why his own daughter disgusts him. He was so excited when she was born. He didn't even care that she was a girl at that point. But a couple months into it, it was like he was waiting for her to do something. And when she didn't, he couldn't handle it and wanted nothing to do with her. I could never get him to tell me what he was expecting."
"And yet you stayed with him. And had another baby." Tyson threw his hands up as his aggravation grew. "I mean, you left me for this guy? Was he one of those guys that was all sweet and lovey-dovey until he got his claws in you and then turned into a beast? There had to have been something that attracted you to him."
"It wasn't like that."
"Then tell me, Valerie. Explain it to me, and try to make me understand. I doubt I will, but you can try."
Tears burned in her throat. She had no idea where to start.
At her silence, Tyson ran a hand through his hair. "And then he kidnaps your son away from you?"
She sighed. She had hoped that Londyn hadn't gotten that far, but she did love her bubby. "I don't know why Randall is so different around our son. It's been such an ordeal that I don't even think I'm reacting correctly. What mother flees with only one of her kids? I was just so afraid that if I tried to get Mitchell when I left, I may not have been able to get Londyn to safety." The well in her heart had refilled and tears threatened to choke her. "But I am so afraid for my little boy. I'm so calm on the outside, but I'm absolutely falling apart on the inside. I left my baby."
"Wait." Tyson froze. "Did you say Mitchell?"
She nodded, unable to speak. Mitchell was Tyson's middle name.
"You named your son after me?" She could read the astonishment in his eyes. "And your daughter after the place we both fell in love with? With a spelling to include me? What is going on with you? I am so completely and utterly confused."
The tears fell freely now as he threw her entire life back at her. How could she explain the conniving bastard that Randall really was? There was no way to tell him that she had basically been blackmailed, and every decision in her life since then had been on his terms. That everything she had done was to protect Tyson and his family. If she told him everything now, and how much trouble she had potentially brought to the ranch, she'd be sent packing.
Maybe.
Deep down she didn't really think that they would abandon her the way she had them. But it wasn't a chance she could take considering she had nowhere to go.
Valerie had forgotten the effect that her tears had on Tyson. He finally ran a hand through his hair, a sure sign that he was aggravated, before he pulled her into his arms. "Don't cry. Please don't cry."
"You just don't understand, and I don't know how to tell you."
Instead of replying, he kissed her. As before, all the old feelings and sensations returned in a flash. He suddenly yanked away and grabbed her hand. "Not here."
He led her to the office at the back of the barn where he closed the door and locked it before he pulled her close. He cupped her face as he kissed her long and slow. Time stopped as their spirits reconnected and remembered. It had been so long since Valerie had been treated with kindness and respect, let alone desire. She hadn't realized how starved she had been for physical contact, and now she drowned in the intimacy that Tyson was creating.
Her hands roved over his chest, and she felt the familiar lines of his body. She made a mewling sound as passion flared. She wanted nothing more than for him to make love to her right there, right then.
She suddenly yanked away from him. His ragged breathing echoed in the confines of the office.
"What's wrong?" he finally managed to mutter.
"We can't. Not like this."
