I just didn’t think she was going to be ready to say yes to all of that in a matter of weeks.
I couldn’t say that we really didn’t know each other that well.
Hell, I’d discussed things with Lauren that I’d never told anyone before in my life.
She’d shared a lot more with me, too, over the last month.
Her feelings.
Her fears.
Her dreams for the future.
We’d become more than just lovers.
We were best friends.
She was my everything.
There was no damn way this womanwasn’tgoing to become my wife. I was just going to have to give her time to get used to the idea of sharing space with me full time.
She spent three nights a week at my place.
Maybe I could start spending a few nights during the week at her house.
I suddenly heard my phone ding from an incoming text.
Lauren sat up. “Do you think it’s important?”
I pulled myself into a sitting position and pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Normally, I probably would have ignored a text message for a while, but it was Saturday.
The only person who texted me on the weekend was Asher, and we had a situation pending right now.
My whole body tensed as I read the text.
“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked in an urgent voice.
“It’s confirmed,” I told her. “The remains found on Millie’s property belong to my mom.”
Skeletal remains had been found two weeks ago on Millie’s property after Asher had ordered the LIDAR for the route that would have been traveled between our ranch and Millie’s on foot.
Asher and I had both given a sample of our DNA for identification purposes.
It had taken a while, but the results were now scientifically and undeniably confirmed.
My mother had been buried almost exactly halfway through that route to Millie’s house from our property.
There had been a bullet hole in her skull, so her cause of death was no mystery.
My father had killed my mother in cold blood.
We’d never know exactly what had happened, but at least we’d found our mother.
“It’s over,” Lauren said softly as she wrapped her arms around me. “Somehow, he must have found out that she planned on leaving him. Or maybe she told him.”
There was no other explanation.
