Page 35 of Falling for the Maverick

“No way,” Michelle said, laughing. “I’ll be okay here, but I’ll check on Grandpa every day when I’m not at the daycare center. When are you leaving?”

“I’ve reserved a flight for tomorrow afternoon,” her father said.

“Do you want me to drive you to the airport?” Michelle asked.

Joseph shook his head. “I’ve already made arrangements with a rideshare to take us.”

“How long have you been planning this?”

Her mom didn’t hide her excitement when she replied. “Your father and I were talking about taking a vacation several months ago but decided to put it off until after Shane and Ellis’s weddings. And now that he’s secured the deal to buy that land on the northwest quadrant, we’re finally doing it.”

“Good for you guys.”

Joseph dipped his head and kissed his wife. “Good for me because now I get to spend some alone time with my princess.”

Michelle groaned. “I think it’s time I move out and get my own place. Seeing my parents act like teenagers is making me a little uncomfortable.”

Patty met her eyes. “That can become your reality, too, if you just open your eyes and see what’s in front of you.”

Joseph looked at his wife. “What are you talking about?”

“Lucas Brandt. He has a ranch and a house where our daughter could live if she decides to move out.”

An expression of confusion swept over Joseph’s face. “Are you talking about that boy Aaron is so against Michelle seeing?”

“He’s not a boy, Daddy.”

“Okay, the young man,” Joseph corrected. “What’s wrong with him? He seems rather nice to me.”

“And he is,” Michelle said in defense of Lucas. “It’s just that your son wants to start trouble.”

Joseph slowly shook his head. “It’s time for Aaron to take care of his own love life. I don’t see him bringing a woman around to meet the family. Maybe I should have a talk with him before I leave.”

“Please don’t,” Michelle pleaded. “This is between me and Aaron, and I’ll handle him.”

“You know I won’t allow my kids to fight with one another,” Joseph said, frowning. “If Aaron gets out of line, I want you to tell me.”

“I will,” Michelle lied smoothly. She had no intention of involving her father in a situation she hoped to resolve before the end of the month. Either she would stop seeing Lucas or she would continue to see him out in the open, with or without Aaron’s approval.

Although she cared for her brother, she was determined not to allow his perspective on Lucas to interfere with her relationship with him. What Aaron failed to realize was that she didn’t need rescuing if she and Lucas decided to stop seeing each other. She was no longer a wide-eyed twenty-five-year-old ready to be taken in by an older man who made promises she wanted to hear. She’d done a lot of maturing, and she’d learned to guard her heart. She’d begun writing in a journal following her breakup. On the first page she’d written a quote from Proverbs: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Michelle turned to the fridge to pull out the milk. “I’m going make a cup of hot chocolate, then turn in.”

“You need to know that half the cake you made is gone,” Patty said. “Aaron and Tristan were like piranhas.”

Michelle smiled. “I’ll have a slice tomorrow morning for breakfast before they come and devour the rest.”

“Good luck with that,” Patty said under her breath. “I still need to pack, so I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night, Mom. Dad.”

Michelle waited until her parents left the kitchen to brew a cup of hot chocolate. As she watched the warming milk, she wondered why dating Lucas had evolved into a family conflict that was so unnecessary. She wasn’t a teenage girl who’d hooked up with the town’s bad boy, and Lucas’s inability to commit was none of Aaron’s concern. Maybe it had nothing to do with her. Maybe there was something else about Lucas that Aaron just didn’t like.

That no longer mattered. She intended to continue seeing Lucas until it reached the point where their relationship had to be resolved. She just had to make sure that was before she lost her heart.

* * *

Michelle sat at a booth in the Silver Spur Café waiting for Lucas. He’d sent her a text message saying that he was coming to town and wanted to meet her for lunch. It would be the third time they would be seen together, and she had to pretend they were friends who just happened to run into each other.