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A young boy ran by, squealing in laughter. Megan smiled at him then frowned at her father. “Whatever happened to ‘respecting everyone’? Nash is not going to respect you if you don’t respect him.” His lips parted, but she quickly continued, “If you could see past your own pride, you would see that you respect how he stands up to you. Because we both know that’s exactly the type of man you would want me with.”
Dad frowned. “I don’t like him.”
She paused, stared at him. Hard. “Do you even know why you don’t like him?”
“He’s a hard-headed, stubborn sonuva—”
“So, again, he’s just like you.” She rolled her eyes.
Dad harrumphed again, crossed his arms, and scowled at the grass.
Megan smiled to herself. Sure, her dad sat stewing, probably thinking up lines to say, then realizing she’d only shut them down.
In the silence, she watched the kids playing on the playground. Going into all this, she knew her situation with Nash wasn’t an easy one. And that was fine. As long as everyone tried to make this happen, it would be a work in progress. She could handle that. But they had to take steps forward. The second someone stopped, a decision would have to be made. And she didn’t want to have to make that decision. Because if she knew anything, after seeing that fight today, matched with the anger on their faces and the hatred burning in Nash’s and her father’s eyes, she knew she would never allow her child to be exposed to that.
Not ever.
Knowing she had to get through to him as much as she did Nash, she broke the silence, gesturing at the father, child, and grandfather. “Do you see those people over there? That’s what I want in the future.” Her dad’s mouth parted, but she continued, not letting him cut in, “You don’t need to like Nash, but you must tolerate him. It’s not going to kill either one of you to smile and nod and be happy that you’re there with your grandbaby.”
“I am not the problem—”
She frowned. “You both need to swallow your pride and pretend that everything is fine and happy because you’re grown-ups and can do that.” She placed a hand on her belly, and her dad stared there before his soft eyes returned to hers. “I can’t live with this anger anymore. I don’t want this little one to see what I saw today. It needs to stop. This feud is stupid.”
Dad’s brows shot up. “Stupid?”
“Yes, stupid. You’ve won. You have the largest cattle ranch in Colorado. Why do you need to rub that in still?”
“That boy is . . .”
Megan sighed. Again. “It’s got to stop.” Tears rose in her eyes, a show of mixed frustration and sadness that intermingled because of this whole situation. “I want this baby to know love. That’s it. It’s so simple.” She pointed at the dad chasing the child again, who now had the grandfather joining in. “That’s all I want. A life of smiles and laughter. A life where my child will never know how mean people can be.” She paused then the tears fell, and she couldn’t stop them. “There is so much hate in this world. So much that children have to deal with every day.” She wiped at her face. “They shouldn’t have to deal with that at home too.”
“Ah, sweet girl.” Her dad took her hands in his. “Don’t cry. You know how it breaks me. What do you need me to do?”
This was the father she knew. The dad who would read to her every single night. T
he man who made her laugh all the time with his dry humor. “No more yelling. No more anger.” She sniffed. “I’m not expecting you to get along with Nash. You don’t need to be BFFs.”
His brows furrowed. “What’s a ‘BFF’?”
“Best friends forever.” She snorted a laugh at the confusion crossing his expression. “I’m just saying that we need to make this work. He’s the father of my baby.” Dad cringed, but Megan pushed on, needing to get this out. “Nash is in our life now, no matter if you like it or not. And he makes me really, really happy.”
Dad paused. Then, “He’s respectful?”
“Incredibly.”
Something changed in her father, then. All the hardness faded away to the warm softness she knew her dad had in him. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her heard. “I’ll figure out a way to make this work. Will that make those tears go away?”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “It’s a step in the right direction.” As she looked at the mom pushing her little girl on the swing, it occurred to her that was all she could ask of anyone.
One step forward.
Then another.
And another . . .
Chapter 13
At twenty-five minutes after eight at night, Nash drove up Shep’s driveway in no mood to be around anyone. He’d spent the remainder of his day looking for Megan. And failing miserably at finding her. Then he’d received a text from Shep telling him to come to the farm at eight o’clock. Only then had he given up trying to find her.
