“Obviously.” She glowers at me. “But youcandecide a year from now that the horse training business isn’t for you. And I can decide a year from now, that living back in quiet, little Cedar Hill, isn’t for me. Maybe we don’t look at this as a permanent situation. Maybe it’s more of a temporary solution until we can improve the numbers. Pay back some of the debt. Wait for the property value to make another leap. So much can happen over the course of a year. Hell, look at what happened over the course of one night. Or three weeks. I don’t think it’s smart to say this is it, forever. You can’t live in a fucking room in the barnforever.”
I consider what she’s saying, mulling each sentence over, letting it seep in until I feel something I know is mine and not hers. Nor an obligation I feel toward Trent.
“Fine.” I lean forward, reaching my hand out in her direction. “Let’s do it for a year. Wait for Trent’s risk to pay out to try and save the ranch and their home. Twelve months from now, we re-evaluate. Decide what to do next.”
Neither of us says what we're both thinking.If we can last that long.
She stares at my hand for several seconds before she places her palm in mine and shakes. “Deal.”
CHAPTER THREE
LIZ
“You know you didn’t have to come with me,” I say for what must be the tenth time. And the last, since we’re standing on Tammy and Abe’s stoop, moments from ringing their doorbell.
“I do know,” Jovi says. Again. “Why do we keep having this conversation, Liz? Is your short-term memory shot or something?”
I shake out my hand. My fingers are numb and tingly from clenching a fist for so long. I didn’t realize I was doing it until I went to ring the bell and couldn't feel the tips of my fingers. “I prefer doing things on my own,” I mumble, giving my wrist one last flick before I press my finger to the button.
“Well, you’re going to have to get over that,” he grumbles back. “Trust me, you’re not my first choice for teammate either, but this is it for the next year. We might as well get used to it.”
I don’t want to get used to it. I don’t want to get used to any of this. I want to fight it. Every step of the way, with every fiber of my being.
I want the powers that be to know, that this is not okay. ThatIam not okay. That I’ll never accept it. Never stop wishing I could go back. Back to the life that made sense. The life I was already used to.
This twisted, hideous new version? I don’t want to get used to it.
Whether I intend to convey any of this to Jovi is irrelevant. The door opens, revealing Tammy and Abe waiting on the other side to greet us.
Maybe greet is the wrong word. They look more like a couple of armored knights with a blood oath to protect the prince and princess within than a welcoming committee.
“Jovi.” Abe smiles. Sort of. And then that's it. Silence.
I guess we’ve established I'm the enemy among us.
“Abe. Tammy.” I do my best to show some sort of kindness on my face, but everything feels stiff and heavy. It’s possible my attempt expresses only bitterness.
“Can we come in?” Jovi asks when neither Tammy nor Abe respond to my minimalistic greeting, let alone make any effort to step aside and invite us in.
There’s an awkward moment where we all know they’d prefer to say no, but then, Tammy concedes to her manners and gestures for us to enter. “Of course, please.” She points down the hall off the foyer. “Let’s go sit in the den. The children are watching a movie in the family room. No need to disturb them.”
Jovi’s face turns from pleasant to put off while I fight the urge to insist on seeing the kids, who surely would find a visit from their aunt worthy of having their movie interrupted. Even Jovi, who certainly elicits no such feelings from me, would be a welcome distraction to them.
“The den would be fine,” I force out with a fake smile.
One insurmountable task at a time.
Jovi says nothing but falls into step behind me as we all make our way down the hall and further away from the family room.
We’re two steps into the small room when Tammy starts in on us. Well, me, but Jovi is still behind me, so it feels like it’s directed at both of us.
“You can’t take them. We’ll fight you. And we’ll win. Any judge in their right mind would see that we’re more qualified to raise those children than you are.” She shakes her finger at me, and I can’t help but wonder how many times Trent stood here in my shoes, at the receiving end of her wrath for some shenanigan or another.
I imagine she’d like to be yelling at him right now too. Dying before her is no doubt the least forgivable shenanigan he ever committed. Choosing me to parent his children coming in at a close second.
“Who told you?” Jovi asks before I can formulate a response.
Tammy yanks an envelope from her back pocket and waves it angrily. “Trent. His lawyer brought it by this afternoon,” she bites the words out, each one ragged with pain and fury. I can’t fault her for her reaction one bit. Still, I can’t side with her on this either.
