“Are you okay?”he asked.
“Of all the things, I didn’t expect her to tell me that I was going to ruin my life by taking care of Marjorie.I guess I didn’t expect that she would want to get rid of her own granddaughter.”
“Well, she’s half Porter.”
She looked at him, her heart twisting.“I’m sorry she said that.”
“I don’t need an apology.It’s how a lot of people feel.”
“But it’s not fair.I meant what I said.You’re like me, Clark.You hold the line for the person in your family who’s most vulnerable.And we both do it because we know that’s what love is.”
He nodded.“Yeah.It is.”
“Just because you’re used to being treated badly by people in town, that doesn’t mean you have to accept it.”
“I don’t accept it,” he said.“I’ve never accepted it.Why do you think I went off to the rodeo?Why do you think I bought this ranch?Because I’ve always thought I was better than these people let me be.Because I’ve always thought I could do something with my life.I’m not mad about it, though.I don’t need to fight against it.Every day, I fight against anything that could send me down a path I don’t want to be on.I don’t have time to fight other people.Especially not when a lot of what they say is true.The best revenge is living well.I just live well.Not angry.Not tangled up with people who wouldn’t like me no matter how much I succeed.Who wouldn’t like me no matter what.”
“Well.I’m mad for you.And I’m mad for Marjorie.Because she deserves better than a grandmother who looks at an innocent baby and thinks such negative things.And better than a grandfather who will barely look at her at all.”
“You’re not going to get much better with my side of thefamily.My parents can be good.When they’re actually present.But that’s not often.”
“I’m just … I don’t understand why family has to be so hard.”
“It’s a good question.I hear that some people really enjoy spending time with their family.”
“I want that for her,” she said.
He looked at her, and her heart turned over in her chest.“So do I.”
CHAPTER10
Her mom started texting apologies almost immediately after they left, but it took a couple of weeks for Ellie to respond.
Even longer to agree to meet her mom for lunch.
But she told Nancy in no uncertain terms that she and Clark were adopting Marjorie together, and that if she wanted to be in her granddaughter’s life, she wouldn’t be speaking to anyone the way she had that day they’d come to visit.
Ellie and Clark got their court date surprisingly quickly.And because they were the baby’s aunt and uncle, because the parental rights had been signed away with no coercion or second thoughts, the adoption went smoothly.
After two months of living with Clark and Ellie, Marjorie was ready to be adopted.
Ellie dressed the baby in an outfit that was essentially a giant ruffle, and put on a pink sundress of her own.Clark was wearing black jeans, black cowboy boots, a black T-shirt, and a black hat.And he looked mouthwatering.
Honestly, it was getting harder and harder to be in closeproximity with this man all the time and not have inappropriate thoughts about him.
She would have thought that it would get easier.That she would get used to him, or something.
But no.
If anything, it got more difficult the longer she was exposed to his pheromones, or whatever the attraction was.
It was so strange, because on many days she felt more grownup than she ever had.
The house was a very real house.Very adult.
And Clark was a real adult roommate.Unlike Jason, who’d propped things up on cardboard boxes and played video games for half the night.
Clark just had it all together.
