I freeze. I never knew that.
"Then, after you had no choice but to accept that you were going to school out of state, I remember you tried to take a year off. Told your father you wanted a gap year to help out at his shop and learn more about business to get a head start before college. But we all knew it was bullshit, and no one was surprised when he refused you."
His thumb strokes the edge of my jaw. "You left, Liz. Not because you're selfish and it's what you wanted. You left because it's what everyone who loved you wanted for you. And you still fought to give it up."
"I could have come home after school," I say, certain he's remembering things wrong. That his perspective is tainted. Because it couldn't have gone the way he's saying. I know, I was there. The guilt of leaving, of going to school to study something as frivolous as photography when my family needed me, when Lena still needed me, haunted me for months. And then continued to resurface for years after.
"Come home for what?" He shakes his head. "Lena was grown. Her and Trent were already building a life together. Your father was gone. And there was no pursuing your passions here in Cedar Hill."
He lowers his head until he's so close I can feel his breath on my lips when he speaks. "And you came home plenty. You were here for every birthday. Every holiday. Every celebration and milestone. Every call for help from Lena. You've been here."
When I open my mouth to argue, his thumb comes to rest on my bottom lip to stop me. "Like you're here now, Liz. How you'll continue to be here. Because you're wrong. You’re not weak. You're not selfish. And you're not afraid of commitment. You're afraid of failing. And being that afraid of letting others down that you'd carve out the last pieces of your heart and hand them over just to ensure that they were safe, is the very reason I know I'm right. I know Lena and Trent were right. You're the best person to raise those kids, Liz. And they deserve the best. They deserve you."
I'm too stunned to form words. So, I do the only thing I still have the capacity for. I nod. And he presses a kiss to my forehead.
"That's my girl."
JOVI
"You need to get down there," she says. But both her fists are still curled into my shirt, and my arms have no plans to release her.
"I'm exactly where I need to be," I tell her. When she rolls her eyes in response it's such a Liz thing to do, I almost laugh with relief. "I'm serious," I insist, tugging her to me even closer.
"Fine," she concedes. "If we're doing it like this, you have to play full-out."
I cock my brow, curious. "Full-out how?" I can think of a lot of ways I'd be happy to stop holding back when it comes to her.
"Tell me what's going on with Brennan. And don't bother telling me you're handling it again. If you think you can swoop in and fight my battles with me, you better make room at your side for me to do the same."
It takes everything I have not to kiss her. Not just because it's a total mindfuck to have someone want to stand beside me. To fight for me, be my partner in the trenches, carry that soul breaking weight with me. No, it's because she looks so goddamn fierce jumping to my defense, tears still sparkling in her long lashes, bottom lip raw from digging her teeth into it to stop from crying.
She broke in my arms only minutes ago, and here she is, a mosaic goddess, all her broken pieces ready to fight again. For me.
So, I give in. And I do what I should have from the start. "Brennan is claiming Kimber kicked his mare last Friday, breaking two bones in her left hock. He's demanding I pay for the damage. Surgery. Physical therapy after. Then, cover some hypothetical value she would have provided as a roping horse pre-injury."
Her lips tighten. "Or?"
"Or he'll start spreading the news that our events are dangerous and I'm incompetent, because I can't even train my own horse well enough to keep her from hurting others." It's impossible not to sound bitter saying those words.
Ire flashes like a wild flame igniting the blue in her hazel eyes. "Interesting."
My brow crinkles, and I snort. "Yeah? How so?"
"You'll see." Then she blows my fucking mind again by pressing up on her toes and placing a soft kiss on my lips. "Go down there and do what you do best. I'll handle Brennan."
Then she pats my chest and pulls away to start climbing down the ladder. It's all I can do to stare after her, before I finally get my head straight, my heart back into a regular rhythm, and go down there to do as she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LIZ
"Hey Brennan, wait up a sec," I call out when I see the bastard. If I hadn't caught a glimpse of his inflated ego the night he made me that job offer, I might have been surprised he had the balls to show up here in the midst of blackmailing Jovi.
Ever since then, I’ve tried to sort out if I missed the red flags he flies so freely now when we were in high school, or if he’s changed so drastically in the last twelve years. I always knew there was tension between him and Jovi, and Trent never cared for him much either. Though I always assumed it was more loyalty to his best friend than anything Brennan was doing. Now, I’m not so sure.
He turns, smarmy smile bright on his face the second he sees me. "Liz, always a pleasure to run into you." He starts walking in my direction to meet me. "Any chance you're tracking me down to tell me you've reconsidered and want to take me up on my offer? It still stands, you know."
I smile back, though only an idiot would think it was genuine. "I would hope so, since you're trying to destroy the ranch my family's well-being is financially dependent on."
