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“Yep. Come see.”
She pushed herself away, her little smile allowing me to mimic her. Nothing ever seemed to get her down. If only her mother could be that way. I sucked up the rest of the tears, determined not to allow the call to ruin the night. We were celebrating being together and ice cream. Maybe tomorrow I’d buy her a new book to read. That much I could certainly afford.
“Pinoko,” she said, still unable to pronounce Pinocchio just yet but in the blink of an eye, she’d suddenly turn into a little adult if I wasn’t careful.
“You got it.” I grabbed the DVD, sliding it into position. “Now, Mommy is going to make dinner. You’ll be okay for a couple minutes?”
“I’m five, Mommy. Of course.” She gave me the same look I sensed I’d given Mr. City Slicker the night before, more than once. The girl was going to grow up to be a hellion, just like her mother.
My smile waned and by the time I moved into the kitchen, I was sick to my stomach, gripping the edge of the counter as I stared at the groceries still inside the one bag. They certainly weren’t going to put themselves away. After raking my hand through my hair, I yanked one item then another from the bag, shoving everything but the ground beef and sausage away, jerking out the package of thin spaghetti as if the dried pasta was to blame for my lot in life.
Snatching a pan from under the counter, I almost dropped it on my foot, cursing under my breath. Maybe I should take up boxing for exercise. Or maybe I should track down the sexy hunk for another round. At least the thought of the mysterious stranger pulled me out of the depths of despair. Something good had to happen in my life. Right? It couldn’t all be bad news.
As I plopped the hamburger into the pan, turning it on, I accidentally hit my phone, the lit-up screen reminding me I also had a message to listen to. The moment I grabbed it, sliding my fingers across and punching in my passcode, I bristled seeing an unknown number. The last I’d heard, the fucking son of a bitch jerk who’d threatened me, almost broken my jaw, and told me I was nothing but trailer trash had moved to Florida somewhere.
Seeing the Florida area code pop up infuriated the hell out of me. Not only was James trying to destroy my life, he was also dead set on tormenting me as he’d done before as well. To hell with him. I pressed play and sucked in my breath, yanking out a drawer at the same time to find a wooden spoon.
“Ms. Logan, this is Sebastian Cawthorne, Walter Cawthorne’s grandson. I’m the executor of my grandfather’s estate, in town to possibly prepare the ranch for purchase. I need to speak with you given you’re living on the property. From what I understand, you have no lease agreement. I plan on meeting you at your home tomorrow around two in the afternoon. If that doesn’t work for you, please return my call. If it does, I will see you tomorrow.”
A perfectly nice, cold voice. My guess is that bigshot dude had every intention of selling the place. Of course. Why wouldn’t he? He’d never come to see his grandfather. Other than the single time, Walter hadn’t said a word about him. Now I had a feeling I knew why.
Goddamn this shit. Goddamn my life.
Fuck every man.
I pulled the phone away, almost breaking the spoon in half with one hand. My day had gone from bad to absolute shit. Tears formed again but this time I refused to allow a single one to fall. I’d stay up all night if I had to in order to find the lease agreement Walter had required me to sign. He’d known better, doing his best to protect me even from the grave.
I closed my eyes briefly, counting to ten to calm my nerves. That usually worked. This time I wasn’t certain anything could. I’d been dealt two terrible blows. I had to find the strength somehow to move forward.
Very quietly and gently I returned my phone to the counter before, grabbing several cloves of garlic and a huge can of crushed tomatoes from the cabinet. Every move methodical, I pulled a wineglass from the rack, sneering at the cheap wood and the fact I had a couple of glasses from the original set of eight left. As I pulled the boxed wine from my pantry, I did what I could to hold back any additional emotions. That wasn’t going to do me any good. At least I was making enough sauce for an army, which meant we’d have something to eat for a few days.
“You’re nothing but a worthless piece of trailer trash, Jessie. Do you know that? You’re never going to amount to anything. I have no idea what I saw in you. None.”
James’ words rang loud and clear in the back of my mind.
I took my time pouring a glass of wine, staring at the label on the box. Cheap red wine. How appropriate for trailer trash.
After raising my glass for a silent toast, I took a huge gulp, concentrating on the childlike sounds coming from the other room.
And even though I tried so hard, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
CHAPTER 10
Jessie
“Well, well. If it isn’t the bitch I used to be involved with.”
Hearing James’ voice used to send fear into my system. At this point in my life, all it did was instigate the kind of raw hatred that could fuel an entire town. “What do you want, James?” I wanted to ask him how in the hell he’d gotten my number, but the Jenson family were rich, powerful, and dangerous. All they had to do was remind someone of who they were and what they were capable of, and they could get anything they wanted.
No matter if it was against the law.
The man had threatened he’d continue to ruin my life. I guess he was honoring that pledge.
He and his family had walked a morally gray line for so long I was surprised they knew any differently. While their rise to power had been ongoing since I’d been with James, over the last couple of years they’d shifted their multimillion-dollar United States firm into an international sensation now worth billions.
Or so I’d been reminded of dozens of times.
I couldn’t care less how much money or clout they had or what trinkets they could purchase with pocket change. Except for one thing. They had the means necessary to take my little girl from me by erasing a portion of James’ past. To hell with them.
