“You will now be getting a fixed monthly allowance. If there is a time when you feel the need for your allowance to be raised, you may contact the lawyers, and the case will be reviewed. Not by me, by neutral parties. The allowance is generous. It has nothing to do with the success of the business. It also does not fluctuate as the business does.”
“You can’t do this to me,” his mother fumes. “I am your mother. I gave you life.”
“The way you just spoke to Arden is reprehensible, Mother. I’m ashamed to be your son and be related to someone who could say such things. I don’t know who you are and why you became this version of yourself, but I no longer want you in my life. I don’t want you to have anything to do with Sagebrush; you never appreciated it.” He scoffs, “Clearly, I heard that too.”
The look of disgust on his face, directed at his own mother, is heartbreaking. But I understand it and I’m not going to stop this train from rolling.
Pure hatred, rage like I’ve never seen before, contorts her face. “You’re going to regret this,” she spits out the words, but they sound flat.
“I don’t think I will,” my man’s voice takes on a note of sadness, and I slide my arm around his waist while knowing it’s not nearly enough. “But you will regret it. I hope.” He sighs. “Instead of meeting Arden, the woman who I will be marrying and who will be the mother to your grandchildren, you threw vitriol at her. You tried to claw her down. And why? For ego? Or because you’ve been so entitled for so long that you can’t recognize what really living is like?”
Crystal has tears shimmering in her eyes, but Barbara is not affected in the same way.
Personally, I’m about to fall on my ass. Did he just say he’s going to marry me? And we’ll be having babies together?
The wail of rage that Barbara lets out is right on the edge of comical. Then she’s storming to her car, and Crystal is left to hobble after her, looking more and more like a kid’s drawing of a giraffe the longer I look at her. When she finally makes it to the car and reaches for the handle, her head comes up and she looks at her brother.
Even I can see the war there.
“Crystal,” he calls out to her, his voice carrying, “if you ever need a place to land, if it’s ever too much, you are always welcome here but only if you want to remember who you really are.”
She swallows hard and just when I think she might step away from the car, Barbara revs the engine. Crystal jumps before somehow managing to get into the car without falling.
It’s a miracle, honestly.
Ford grips my shoulders and turns me toward him. His whiskey-colored eyes are filled with concern. “I’m so sorry,” his voice is rough and I find myself blinking up at him.
“What do you possibly have to be sorry for?”
“What she said?” He swallows hard and his eyes glisten with emotion which has my throat closing up.
“Ford,” I grip his shirt and yank him a little to make sure he’s listening to me. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Yes, she was awful, but you defended me. You didn’t have to do that. Do you hear me, you can still take it all back.”
His fingers dive into my hair, and he holds me in place as if I’m about to disappear. If enduring Barbara Conners is the price of being in Ford’s life, then I’ll handle it.
“I’ll never take it back. If she wants to keep being this person, it’s her choice. I’m done. I want a future that’s mine. I want to be proud of Sagebrush and of my legacy. She’s toxic.”
“Ford Conners,” I shake my head while I look up at him, “you’re a good man and a damn good cowboy.” I arch an eyebrow and remind him, “You also said a lot of things we need to talk about.”
He smirks as he scoops me up in his arms and walks us back inside. I can smell the soap on him as I let my head rest on his shoulder.
“We can talk,” he rumbles, “but we’re doing it naked and in bed.”
My giggles follow us all the way to his room.
CHAPTER 13
FORD
I kick my door closed behind us and the sound of it latching feels final, like I’m closing the door on the man I was before Arden came into my life. I’ll be the first to admit the transformation has been slow over the last year, but I’m here now and my woman is in my arms. The woman I didn’t even know I needed, but the one I waited for all the same.
When I put her down, I let my gaze roam over her. She’s stunning.
“You shouldn’t have been put in the situation you were in,” I growl the words, hating what I found when I went looking for my woman because I thought I heard a car door slam as I was getting dressed. I quickly realized that my mother and Crystal must have shown up while I was taking a shower.
I wanted to meet Arden and steal a kiss before taking her to the barn. There was no fucking way I was going to be dirty after not being able to see her for a few days.
Not seeing her has been killing me. Don’t even get me started on the issues I’ve been having sleeping which has been damn near impossible. I slept with my Sunflower in my arms for one night. I’m already hooked.
