You know me, son, and I know you. I raised you like you were my own, and after your mother died, I saw what it did to you, how you shut yourself off to the world. I couldn’t reach you, and neither could your brothers, but I couldn’t watch you do that to yourself. Is this extreme? Possibly, but there is a method to my madness.
I can imagine him writing this, bent over the desk in the office, holding that pen far too tight. I can feel the indent left in the paper. He had a heavy hand, and we all used to joke about how he was trying to tear through the paper instead of actually writing. When our grandmother was still alive, she used to do all his writing for him because he never learned to stop being so hard with the pen. It seems ridiculous, and a part of me always thought he did it so he didn’t have to handle paperwork.
I know you think love is meant to doom us, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I loved your grandmother more than I can even explain, and losing her was the hardest thing I have ever experienced. They take parts of you, little pieces of your soul that you never want back. You were adamant you didn’t want it, never wanted to experience it, and you didn’t even try. Love is the most precious thing in the world; to never experience it is a life wasted.
Maybe this won’t work out theway I hope, maybe the woman you choose to marry won’t be the one to change your mind, but then what if she is? What if you finally get to see what you’ve missed out on all along?
Your mother would have wanted you to find happiness, as much as I want the same for you. What happened to her is my biggest regret. I wish I had done more, but you knew your mother, how fierce she could be. I raised her that way, and I am still proud of the woman she became.
One day he will pay for what he did to our family.
And for you, son, I want you to try.
That’s why I put the clause in; that’s why I forced your hand. You can hate me for it, but I don’t regret it.
The ranch is yours now. It is our name, our legacy, and you are now responsible for it, but don’t lose touch with who you are, Roman.
Live.
Keep living.
Find the small things in life, the things you can’t live without, and protect them, earn them and cherish them.
I did it with your grandmother; I found it again with your mother and then again with you three boys.
I’m proud of you, for everything you have done and achieved, proud of the man you are.
Now go find more.
P.S., give my apologies to whichever poor woman is going to have to put up with you. I know she’s going to be a tough cookie, and maybe she’ll teach you a thing or two about living.
All my love.
Pops.
My shoulders shake with my laughter. That fucking bastard.
I glance at the deeds and then at the ranch sprawling before me, the horses in the pastures, the cattle grazing on the hills and the mountains that tie it all together.
I have the ranch, now I have to figure out how to keep the girl.
Chapter 25
“He did what!?”Ashley thinks she’s being quiet with her whisper hiss, but she may as well have just screamed it across the bar. Several heads whip our way, and I bundle her toward the supply closet, pulling the door firmly closed behind us.
“Would you keep your voice down?” I whisper even though we’re behind a door. I don’t trust anyone not to come snooping.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ashley’s voice has taken on a high-pitched quality that makes my ears itch, “Was I supposed to act calm when you told me you let Roman —”
I slap my hand over her mouth. “Don’t say it.”
She mumbles something, so I let her go.
“— finger fuck you in the middle of the woods!?”
“Ashley!” I think I’m a puddle on the floor.
“What?” She laughs and then wiggles her finger in my face. “You’re blushing.”
