Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 51744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“Fine, she didn’t tell you. But you have a child and you haven’t even talked to him. Is that what you want to be, an absentee father like Jonathan Bridger?”
I see red and shove Miles for those words.
“I’m nothing like him. None of us are.”
“Then prove it,” he snarls. “Get your head out of the past and look to the future. You decide what you take from our father. Know what he did, and don’t do any of it. Be a man. Be there for your kid.” Miles turns and storms out of the barn.
Austin studies me. “He’s right. You got the shaft. I’ll give you that. But you love her. You love your child, even if you haven’t met him. Go get them. Make a life. Give Jonathan Bridger the middle finger by living it with love. With them.”
“He’s right.”
A new voice has me spinning around. A voice I’ll always remember.
Avery.
She’s here.
31
AVERY
* * *
I went to the main house first and was met by Sadie and Carly. They wanted to pull me inside and talk because they hadn’t had any opportunity while I’d been in town for the investigation. They know the truth now. All of it.
Chance told Austin and Miles, who told Carly and Sadie, what happened in Phoenix, and I was thankful I didn’t have to catch them up.
There was so much. A nightmare of a story that spanned fifteen years.
They hugged me. I cried, which isn’t a surprise since I’ cried all the way here. The person beside me on the plane kept giving me weird looks and then bought me a drink from the flight attendant.
That made me cry even more.
Being the romantics they are, Sadie and Carly pushed me out the door—never actually letting me go beyond the front porch—and toward the barn where the guys were slinging hay bales.
Equal parts excited and terrified, I made my way there, then inside. I stood in the shadows and listened to Miles and Austin rip into Chance while I ached for him.
Of course he’s angry. Of course he’s conflicted. I pushed him away. I never told him how I feel. I fucked him in a conference room at work. I told him he had a teenaged child. Mental whiplash.
I couldn’t leave him like this a second longer, so I spoke up.
And he turned.
And there’s the man I love.
“Where’s Grady?” he asks.
“With my mom.”
“He’s okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. He’ll be fine.” I look around. Miles and Austin have vanished.
“What are you doing here?” he asks.
I swallow.
“You pushed me away. I left.”
A tear slides down my cheek and he steps close and groans at the sight. With his dusty fingers, he swipes it away.
“Don’t cry. Fuck, I can’t stand it when you cry.”
“It’s my own fault. I’ve messed everything up.”
“No. My father did. Your mother.”
I nod.
“I drove you away instead of telling you the truth.”
He cups my jaw and I meet his eyes. The ones that could always see into me.
“I love you, Chance.”
A groan rips from him.
“I do. I always have. I never stopped. I didn’t tell you about Grady because of the letter. Then I didn’t tell you last week because I didn’t trust you. No, I didn’t trust us. I was afraid you’d take him from me.”
His eyes flare wide.
“Never.”
“I… you were so angry. Rightfully so. What would keep you from taking him? I mean, you have the means. I couldn’t fight you.”
“You’re his mother.”
“And you’re his father. I’ve kept you from him.”
“You have, but you had your reasons. My brothers told me to stop living in the past. I think they’re right.”
I nod. I agree.
“You. Me. Grady. We belong together.”
“You aren’t angry?” I ask.
“Oh, I’m fucking furious so much kept us apart.” He slides a lock of hair behind my ear. “But no longer. The best revenge is living a good life. To be loved and love in return.”
Tears fall now and I can’t stop them. He pulls me into his strong, sweaty embrace.
“That’s a lot of tears, kitten.”
I pull back and he loosens his hold.
God, how can I tell him this? I gulp. “In the future, I can’t… I can’t give you more children. Grady’s it for us. The delivery was so bad they took my uterus. I—”
He pulls me into his embrace, squeezes me tight. “Oh, my sweet baby. I’m so sorry. I should have been there for you. Helped you through everything.”
“You’re not…disappointed?”
He put his fingers over my lips. “Only that I wasn’t with you when you needed me. God, Avery. The pain that must have caused.”
“Oh, Chance…” I sob.
“Shh… I’m not a greedy man. All I ever wanted was you. Now we have Grady too. That’s enough. It’ll always be enough.”
“God, I love you.” I get up on my tiptoes to kiss him.
He kisses me back and we get lost in it.