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Mason wasn’t what she was looking for.
He tore away from her, spinning on his heel to head for the house. Anthony stood by the front door, ever the silent observer. Tempted to tackle the guy, Mason shot one seething dark look in the stranger’s direction. If Harley wasn’t standing right there, he might have given in to that temptation. Instead, he yanked open the door and headed inside.
The house was quiet, but the faint sound of a television led him to where Vern was resting. Mason sucked in a deep breath, ready to purge every last feeling of betrayal he had, but then Vern lifted his hand.
“Before you go and say something you’re going to regret, let me tell you something. Harriet was always going to head back to the city. She is her mother’s daughter, no matter how angry that makes her. I’ve never seen an Abrams walk away from the family fortune. It’s a curse.”
“You did,” Mason shot back. “You got all of this.”
“Is that what you think?” He twisted in his seat and stared at Mason. “The only Abrams money I took with me was what I had in my pocket. I sold everything that was mine, came out here, and started from nothing.” His eyes grew distant. “I don’t think even Blaire knows what really happened. After I refused to marry…” His focus returned to Mason sharply. “The point is, I wanted to remain in control of my life. My father didn’t approve of my decision and disowned me. Everything I have, I can safely say I earned on my own. I refuse to depend on anyone for my livelihood. You can understand that. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how hard you work. Whether it’s here or at your place, I’m positive everything will work out for you.”
“And that’s why you sabotaged my relationship with your niece? You thought that with her out of the equation, I’d turn into the kind of man you need me to be in order to get this place?”
The old man chuckled. “You misunderstand. I would never dare tell you or anyone what to do. I hated living under my father’s thumb, and I won’t be the thumb that pressures anyone else. Unfortunately, Harriet’s mother doesn’t feel the same way. They’re going to make their choices. I just gave Harriet all the information she needs to make her own decisions.”
“You’re wrong,” Mason snapped. “You might think you’re not meddling, but that’s exactly what you were doing.”
Vern shrugged. “There’s nothing I could have done to change the outcome. My sister had Anthony in her back pocket from the moment you and my niece snuck out. I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen. Perhaps now you will see things my way. This place needs a strong man who won’t be easily influenced by others.”
Mason gritted his jaw tight. The whole family needed to take a good hard look at their priorities. That was the only thing he would take from this experience. “Looks like you picked the wrong guy.” He charged from the room, ripping through the house like the last animal in a stampeding herd. If he didn’t set foot on this property ever again, it would be too soon.
He didn’t bother looking in Harley’s direction as he made his escape. Vern would no doubt tell her what had happened. But none of that mattered. He’d learned a valuable lesson.
It was just too bad his heart had been broken in the process.
26
Harley
Harley dug her hands into her scalp, but no amount of scrubbing would make her feel normal. The Harley she used to be would have jumped at the chance to get out of working her uncle’s ranch.
And marrying a cute guy? The choice should have been easy. But as she wrapped up her shower, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d made a grave mistake.
The problem with the current outcome was how she felt about Mason, pure and simple. The second her uncle had told her what Mason had agreed to, she’d realized he wasn’t who she thought he was. He cared more about money than she’d thought. For all she knew, he wanted to be with her because of her inheritance.
Well, the joke was on him. If he wanted to be with her, they’d both be penniless. At least, that was how her uncle made it sound.
But it was more than that. Why keep the money a secret? Mason could have confided in her that he was going to get everything Vern wanted to leave to him. She wouldn’t have cared.
Harley towel-dried her hair and then stared at her desolate expression in the mirror. She hadn’t agreed to her mother’s request for herself. There were deeper reasons—reasons she didn’t feel Mason would understand.
She could do a lot of good with the money that she wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. She just had to make sure Anthony was on the same page.
At this moment, he was seated at the kitchen table, waiting for her to get ready for an afternoon out—one where her uncle couldn’t spy on them. It would be nice to know that Mason wouldn’t interrupt them, either.
She still hadn’t had a chance to ask Anthony why he was on board with the arrangement. Between the conversation with her uncle and Mason showing up, she’d only had enough time to joke with Anthony about how meddlesome their parents were.
Harley sighed. She should have known it was only a matter of time before her mother would get to her. She simply hadn’t realized how far her mother’s reach would stretch. One of the biggest reasons she’d finally agreed to come out to Colorado was because she knew she could hang up on her mother if their conversations got to be too much.
Now there was a guy sitting in the living room downstairs waiting for her so they could hash out what would happen next, and all she could think about was Mason and what they’d said to one another.
A stifled groan slipped from her lips as she slicked her hair into a ponytail. She might as well get this over and done with. The sooner she found out what Anthony knew, the sooner she’d be able to make plans for her own future. Most marriages were partnerships, anyway, right?
Harley headed down the stairs, hearing only the sound of the television in her uncle’s room. There were no voices, no conversation between Anthony and her uncle. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Vern had known Anthony was coming. That fact, along with knowing what he’d said to Mason about her, was all the proof she needed to ensure she never trusted him again.
When she arrived in the living room, she stopped short. Anthony’s back faced her as he stood at the bookshelf on the far side of the room. His fingers trailed along her uncle’s books before he pulled one from the shelf and looked at it.
She didn’t have to be beside him to know he’d grabbed one that was similar to the ones Mason read. Harley had spent more than enough time looking at those books in particular, trying to get up the nerve to read even one of them. It wasn’t because she was interested—in fact, the opposite rang true. It was because she wanted to have something to discuss with Mason that he enjoyed.
