Brett nearly chuckled.
“Why would I?” Trish asked. “I’m not a fan of marriage anymore, myself, but that’s my personal choice.”
She sounded so much like her father now. And like Brett. After seeing how Frank Dempsey’s divorce had nearly destroyed him, Brett wasn’t a fan of marriage either. He didn’t want to risk getting hurt like his friend had. His dad hadn’t divorced, but losing Brett’s mom to cancer had nearly destroyed him. No, he was definitely not a fan.
While he chuckled, Maci and Blake heaved huge sighs of relief.
“What?” she asked looking from him to the couple. “I don’t understand…”
“These two were worried that you or Stokes would use their relationship against the rest of us,” Brett explained. “Blake was even willing to sign away his rights to his inheritance to avoid any backlash against Maci or the other heirs.”
“Backlash?” Trish shook her head. “I don’t understand how that could be used against anyone.”
“You were contesting the will I wrote,” Maci said. “I did everything right. The only way to legally contest it would be to prove a fraud of some kind had been perpetuated. Like I wrote the will that way because I would benefit from it somehow.”
Trish shook her head. “I would never think that of you, Maci.”
Maci let out another huge sigh. Then she blinked as tears rushed to her eyes.
Blake put his arm around her, drawing her close to him. “See, I told you.”
“I did wonder about the rest of you, though,” Trish said. But Brett was the only one she looked at as she continued, “I wondered how ranch hands were suddenly included in his will. It didn’t make sense to me.”
Brett sucked in a breath. “Ranch hands?”
Frankie laughed. “You really have no idea what was going on with the ranch,” she said. “Uncle Frank nearly lost it because he had to refinance to buy your mom out in the divorce. The mortgage payments were so high that he struggled to make them.”
Trish shook her head. “That’s not true. He didn’t do that. He chose to have less custody of me, so that he could keep the ranch.”
“Let me guess? Your mother told you that,” Frankie said, stepping closer and staring intently at her. “That wasn’t true.”
“It wasn’t like she told me that outright,” Trish said. “I accidentally overheard her saying it.”
“When?”
“When I got home after that last summer, before I left for college.”
“The last time you were here,” Frankie said. “I wish you had talked to me about that. I wish you had talked to me before you hired Stokes. Why did you shut us all out, Trish?”
Brett cleared his throat. “Uh, maybe you, Maci and Trish should have this conversation in private,” he said to Frankie. He didn’t think it was fair for Trish to have to share everything with strangers. He looked at his brothers and Elise. “We can head out to the barn for a bit.” He started toward the door, confident that the others would follow his lead. But when he reached for the handle, a hand closed over his. A small female hand.
It wasn’t Elise’s.
He knew that from the jolt of awareness that shot through him. Elise was like a sister to him. So were Frankie and Maci. But Trish was not.
For some reason, he found this irritating, independent, very pregnant woman attractive. And now knowing that she hadn’t stayed away from her father because she hadn’t cared, but because she’d been hurt, changed a lot for Brett. He didn’t resent her anymore; he understood that she hadn’t thought she’d mattered that much to her own father. And his will must have reinforced that false notion she’d had, hurting her even more.
But understanding her was more dangerous than resenting her because now he didn’t want to fight with her anymore.
He wanted to fightfor her.
* * *
Trish had reachedout to stop Brett from leaving, but once her hand touched his, she lost all reason for a moment. She actually felt a little lightheaded as sensations rushed through her, making her nerves tingle.
What was this?
She hadn’t reacted giddily to a touch like this in…ever, maybe? This was even headier than when she, Frankie and Maci had had a crush on a very attractive ranch hand years ago. But Brett wasn’t a ranch hand; he’d seemed to take offense when she’d said that.
