AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Money is all that woman is after,” Nate said as he walked into the kitchen as Bella walked out. “I told you then, and I’m telling you now. That boy isn’t yours, it’s all too perfect.” He opened the fridge, grabbed two beers, and made me follow him to the living room. We’d always had good discussions here, I was going to miss having him around when his house was complete, but we all needed to live our own lives. He tossed the beer to me and I sat down in my chair. The chair I cuddled with Nora in, the chair that smelled like her because she read here while she took breaks in the afternoons. My heart clenched and I wanted to go to her, tell her I didn’t mean a word of it. “Kipp, you need your mind in this room, not the one across the hall. Listen to me, don’t you think it’s funny after all these years Bella never once tried to tell you Nathan was yours?” Cracking his beer, he took a long pull. “Like the kid is almost three, where has he been all this time? Her husband is bankrupt.” He arched his brow and stared at me. “Think that makes it a little more lucrative to try to get money from you?”
“How sure are we about this?” I asked, finally lifting my beer to my mouth. The cold liquid hit my stomach, and I briefly thought I was going to be sick.
“Phil called before you got back. Still waiting on the DNA results.” Nash looked at me, and I hadn’t seen him that concerned for a while. “I’m going to bed. We have to head south in the morning. You’re going to need to be with us.” Nash stood and walked past me. “If you’re looking for any advice, leave her alone, talk to her when we get back. We will have answers then and you can tell her exactly what’s going on.”
The kitchen was silent when we all woke up, but breakfast was waiting for us on the table. It was the first time in months Nora hadn’t been standing at the counter when I walked in. Her smile was absent and I missed the feel of her lips on mine before I’d had my coffee, before the rest of the house was awake, just our few quiet moments together. Nobody said a word, nobody dared to. Things had gone so wrong in the last few days, I wasn’t sure where to start fixing them. “I know there’s a lot going on here but we need to focus and get last-minute summer things wrapped up. The fence down south still needs work and if we all just put our heads down, we can get it done in a few days,” Nash said, looking at me. Standing, I took my plate to the sink and headed out the door. I couldn’t stay in the house with everything happening.
Standing in the barn, I bent over and took long, deep breaths. Maybe the smell of the straw would calm me enough to saddle my horse. Pepper neighed from her stall and I walked over to her. “Hey girl. You feel it don’t you. Something’s shifting here and it’s not good,” I mumbled into her neck. She dipped her head and I felt like she really did know the woman that made us both happy was about to vanish. That was her MO from what Phil had said, she was there one day and gone the next. I hated that I was leaving, but I couldn’t stay to babysit her and make sure she stayed.
Giving Pepper one more pat, I saddled the horses and was ready for the guys. “Let’s ride,” Griff said as he hopped on the back of his horse. The rest of us weren’t quite as energetic, but followed him out of the barn.
“It’s going to work out,” Nash said as he rode up beside me and I nodded. I wish I could be as sure as he was. Turning to look back, I saw Bella smiling smugly on the balcony. She was my greatest regret.
Turning my horse back, I rode as close as I could to the house. “I want you out. If Nathan is my son, I will be more than happy to welcome him into my home, and he will have a place here, but you are no longer welcome. If you aren’t gone in an hour, the sheriff will be called and I will charge you with trespassing.” Turning away, I didn’t wait for her to say anything. Sure it might make me look like an asshole, but I didn’t care anymore. She’d made me say things I didn’t mean to try to protect Nora, but in the end I was the one who’d caused more damage and I had to be the one to fix it.
CHAPTER THIRTY
NORA
“Cooper, come on, we're going to town,” I said as he rubbed his eyes. Stealing a truck wasn’t really what I wanted to do, but it was the only way to get out of here.
“Mommy, don’t I get breakfast?” He flopped back down on the bed and my heart ached making him leave this place.
“You can have something at the Steam n’ Sugar.” I picked him up and carried him out to the truck. I would explain all this later but right now I needed to go. Staying in this house any longer was a dagger to my heart. I needed to forget this place and the dreams I had for here.
The truck roared to life and I was glad the guys were gone. It would have alerted them all and I wouldn’t have made it to the highway. The sun was already high in the sky even though it was only seven.
I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a rider on the crest of the hill behind us silhouetted by the sun behind him. Deep in my soul I knew it was him. He was watching me leave. I so desperately wanted him to follow me, tell me not to go, tell me what he’d said last night to Bella wasn’t how he really felt. I needed to know I mattered and wasn’t just someone he’d had a bit of fun with while I was working for him.
Every mile that passed, was an added weight on my shoulders, and the pit in my stomach grew until I thought it was going to swallow me up. Hitting the large screen on the dash, I paired my phone with the bluetooth and pressed the call button. “Call mom,” I said as my voice wavered. I hadn’t talked to her in years, but I didn’t know what else to do.
The phone rang and rang, and I wondered if she would even be up yet. Time changes and I hadn’t ever been best friends. “Hello?” She sounded older, but still the same.
“Mamma, it’s me.”
“Oh Lordy, Nora.” Her words were whispered. “Ray, it’s Nora.” Her muffled voice called as if she’d pulled the phone away from her head.
“Nora?” My fathers voice made me tear up instantly.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m driving back into Weston Gap. Would you both be okay if we came home?” The prairie flew by and I tried my best to keep my eyes on the road. I didn’t need to wonder about what Kipp was doing or keep checking for a ranch truck speeding up behind me.
“Yes.” There was no hesitation and they answered in unison. “Will that nice Kipp Miller be coming back with you?” my mom asked, sounding very hopeful.
“No, he won’t be, Mamma. I don’t work at the ranch anymore.”
“He was here less than twenty-four hours ago head over heels for you darlin’ what happened?” My father sounded confused and I couldn’t blame him, I didn’t even know what was happening myself.
“I just wanted to come home and I wasn’t sure how long I would be gone, so I gave notice.”
“You’re lying, daughter.” My mother was as perceptive as ever, even over the phone.
“It’s complicated. I will explain it all when I get there.” The last thing I wanted to do was get into my personal life over the phone. We hadn’t ever discussed my personal life, so it didn’t need to happen now.
“When are you coming?” Mom asked, changing the subject away from Kipp.
