He shook his head. "In the office? It wouldn't be the first time."
Guilt wracked through her. "I wasn't married then. And even though he's been served with divorce papers, this isn't right. I need to end that chapter in my life before I pick up another. It's only fair to both of us."
He let out a deep breath. "I know you're right, but damned if it doesn't suck."
"Agreed. And even though my guilt is unwarranted and undeserved by Randall, it is what it is." She touched his cheek. "The physical stuff has to wait until I'm free. Until everything is over."
"You need to tell me what's going on, so I can help it be over."
She leaned against the desk. "There's so much to tell."
"Start with the day you left."
She shook her head. "It started before that day. When I took that job in Denver."
Tyson snapped his fingers. "I knew it had something to do with that."
Before she could say anything else, she heard Londyn calling for her. Tyson yanked the door open and grinned at her. "Guess it's a good thing you had a conscience, because if we hadn't stopped, things would just be getting interesting."
"Welcome to life with kids."
They hurried out into the barn. Londyn ran toward them. "You need to get the house. All hell is breaking loose."
The cuss word registered with Valerie, but she didn't say anything as she scooped her daughter up and ran after Tyson.
Chapter Twelve: Chapter 12 Title
Tyson “Ty” Hale
Shouting could be heard before they got back to the lodge. Tyson groaned and slowed his steps. Valerie pulled on his arm. "Why are you stopping? What's going on?"
"Can't you hear Mom and Sarah? This isn't the first time they've had a knock down drag out fight."
"Aren't you going to go break it up?"
"Seriously? You really want me to get in the middle of that?"
Valerie hollered for Londyn just as she disappeared inside. "Great. Now she's in the middle of it."
Colton let out an exaggerated sigh. "She's going to get trampled. Come on, we better go save her."
Vinia and Sarah were both squared off just as he had predicted. He tried to get Londyn's attention to get her to go back outside, the little girl's eyes were wide and focused on the women in battle. He tried not to laugh. If she had a sister, she'd know exactly what was happening. As it were, she'd have to wait about ten years before she experienced the same thing with Valerie.
"You can't just come and go without telling anyone where you are. What if there's an emergency?"
"Oh, come on, Mom," Sarah argued back. "You're just mad because I won't give you every detail of my life."
"Why is it such a damned secret?" Vinia was so angry her face and neck were beet red. Tyson noted with some amusement that Sarah actually looked a little more flustered than usual. He really wanted a big bowl of popcorn. Then he happened to see the expression on Valerie's face and continued his efforts to get Londyn out of the middle of the fray.
He had just picked her up out of the chair when Colton came in and all hell really broke loose. "What are you two screaming about?"
They both tried to tell their sides at the same time. Tyson carried Londyn over and handed her to Valerie. "You might want to take her outside. It's about to get really loud in here."
Colton held up his hands and let out a piercing whistle. "Get ahold of yourselves, ladies." He pointed at Sarah. "And let me tell you something."
Tyson's heart sank. This had been coming for a long time, but right at that particular moment wasn't it.
"I don't know where you're going," Colton continued, "or what you're doing while you're gone, but you're a part of this family. If you're too ashamed of whoever you're seeing that you have to keep it such a damned secret, then maybe you should rethink your choices. But as long as you're living on this ranch, we have a right to know where you are."
