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“What?”
Her voice lowered to a deep growl. “Could you please call me Harley.”
“Oh, you’re still doing that, are you? Anyway, your father and I have agreed that this trip didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. You clearly haven’t learned anything if you were willing to sneak out with some hoodlum.”
“Mason isn’t a hoodlum, mother. He’s a good—”
“So, we’ve decided to pick someone out for you.”
“You what?” Harley screeched. “You can’t do that.” She became coldly calm and spoke through gritted teeth. “Give it away.”
For the first time since Harley could remember, she’d caused her mother to go speechless.
“I don’t care about the money. Give it all away. Donate it to the club. Do whatever you want. I’m not going to take it.” Before her mother could argue with her, Harley hung up the phone. She felt lightheaded and dizzy. Her stomach roiled.
What had she just done?
23
Mason
The next few days were strained at best. Between Vern’s advice hanging over Mason’s head and the pushback he was getting from his brothers, he wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore. Something told him that Harley wouldn’t want to settle down in Colorado any more than he’d want to pack up and move to the city.
He couldn’t see himself in a suit and tie. He definitely didn’t want to go to the charity functions he read about in high society. Based on what he could gather from Vern Abrams, that was what the Pembrooke family was all about.
Then Harley would enter the room and his insecurities would fade away. In a perfect world, he would be with her forever. They’d settle down and raise a couple of kids. But unfortunately, she wasn’t exactly the country girl type. It had taken a lot of convincing to get her to even ride a horse.
She’d come a long way with the work around the ranch. She’d improved her time on several chores, and she no longer made sarcastic comments about carrying her own weight. Maybe he was overthinking this whole thing.
Harley seemed genuinely interested in him. Mason just needed to bury the fear that he was making the worst mistake of his life. Right now, he’d live in the moment. They had the rest of the summer together.
And after that?
There was no telling what could happen next.
Besides, Mason had bigger things to worry about. Carter had been acting even more aloof lately. And Elijah seemed more concerned about Mason’s absence from their ranch than he was about the others in their family.
At the moment, he should be grateful at least one thing was going the way he wanted it to. That was why he planned on taking Harley out tonight to show her what Copper Creek was like.
After he helped Vern with his usual evening routine, Mason headed home to get ready for their date. Upon arriving back at the house, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
This feeling wasn’t common, but every time he experienced it, he ended up dealing with more than he bargained for. Mason was on edge. There was no other way to describe it. He didn’t know if the bad thing that might occur would happen at home or at Abrams’ ranch. It might even happen with Harley—a thought he’d worked hard to push down so deep it wouldn’t be found again.
Mason rubbed his slick palms on his pants as he stood outside the front door. He could do this. They’d spent so much time together that tonight wasn’t supposed to be so nerve-wracking. If anything, they should be relieved, because now Vern knew exactly where they would be.
He lifted his hand and knocked. Funny how strange it felt to knock on the very door he’d let himself in so many times before. Harley opened it within seconds. Her hair floated down around her face after the gust of air lifted it. Soft curls softened her features despite the darker makeup she had put on.
The dress she’d picked out matched the look she must have been going for. It fit her form like a leather glove. Low cut in the front and even lower in the back, it wasn’t exactly the kind of dress the ladies in town would wear.
Mason averted his eyes, ignoring all the warning bells that went off. This was the first time she’d worn something so revealing, and he wasn’t sure if it was even appropriate to suggest that she change. “You ready?”
“Yeah, why?” Harley said as she stepped outside and shut the door behind her.
“Don’t you think you should get a sweater or something? The weather said it would get colder later tonight.” He didn’t notice it at first, but there was something in her countenance that reminded him of when they’d first met.
“I’ll be fine. One time, I wore this dress to a New Year’s Eve party in New York.”
Mason’s eyes widened.
