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“Well, she failed, and if she tries that shit again, I’ll make it so she won’t ever come back to Oak Springs.”
A smile moved across my aunt’s face as she lifted the water that the flight attendant had just handed to us.
“Thank you,” I said to the flight attendant.
“Sure thing. We’re about to taxi.”
When the flight attendant left, I pulled out my phone and called the woman who had possibly just ruined my entire life.
“Cord, how are you feeling?”
“I want to know one thing. When you crawled into bed with me, did you touch me in any way?”
“What?”
“Don’t play around me, Kylie. Amelia got the truth out of you about your husband. You played Maebh, now I want you to tell me the goddamn truth right now.”
She sighed. “No. I was getting dressed when I heard her come back in. I undressed and crawled into bed with you as she walked into the room. As soon as she ran out, I got dressed because I knew Marge would be back. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t run into Maebh.”
“Why, Kylie?”
The line was silent for a few minutes. “I was hurt, and I needed you. I needed to forget.”
“The fact that I had a girlfriend meant nothing to you?”
She laughed. “Right. Like that’s ever been a concern of mine.”
The plane started down the runway. “Don’t ever call me again. Don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t even breathe in my fucking direction. I love Maebh and will only ever love her.”
I hit End and tossed my phone on the seat next to me.
Aunt Vi lifted her bottle of water up. “To winning the love of your life back with a plan that you haven’t come up with yet!”
I lifted my water to hers. We hit the two plastic bottles together, and I flashed her a smirk. “I’m a Parker, Aunt Vi. Nothing is going to stand in my way.”
She winked and nodded her head. “There you are. For a few moments I thought the pussy fairies had swooped in and taken over my favorite nephew.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “And here I always thought Tripp was your favorite.”
Aunt Vi waved me off. “Tripp? That boy is too serious. No, my favorite as always been the rebel son. You remind me of myself, only a male version.”
“Rebel son?” I asked with a hard laugh.
With a slight lift of her shoulders, Vi gave me a knowing smile. I’d been a bit of a rebel my entire life. My father had expected me to work the ranch and when I made it known I was going to college for a business major and had plans to open up my own bar, my father had nearly flipped out. I had graduated high school early, headed to the University of Texas and worked at night and weekends bartending, saving every single dime after living expenses to build up the money to buy the run-down building on Main Street.
I wasn’t even out of college when I bought the building where Cord’s Place now resided. My parents saw my drive and were behind me a hundred percent, even fronting the down payment for the loan to remodel the bar. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t own that bar. Hell, I was young and had built a successful business because they backed me. I was fucking lucky and I knew it. Although, my father reminded me often I never did finish my degree because I was too focused on owning a bar.
And now all of that focus was on Maebh.
“You’ll get her back, Cord. Don’t stress. Drink up that water and then lie down. Have I mentioned that you look like fucking shit? Maebh’s gonna take one look at you and run for the Irish hills.”
I shook my head and laughed. Aunt Vi never was one to beat around the bush. She motioned for me to drink the water.
Tilting the water back, I drank it. Staring out the window, I let my thoughts start gathering as I thought about how I was going to prove to Maebh that I was hers, only hers.
Little did I know that my aunt had already begun that process. Along with the help of my mother, Paxton, and Amelia.
The cool wind rushed over me face as I sat on top of the paint horse. We both stood, frozen on the high cliff that overlooked the blue ocean below, reminding me of Cord’s beautiful sapphire eyes.
The jagged rocks coming out of the water seemed to mimic how me chest felt. I was a mess of confused emotions that went up and down, like the waves as they pummeled the shoreline. Me heart felt empty, me soul destroyed, yet there was something I couldn’t put me finger on. A nagging in me chest as I stood here, my gaze trained on the beautiful water below. Something didn’t feel right. For the first time since I ran from Cord’s house, I felt it. Why had I run? Why hadn’t I marched past that bitch, and right to Cord, looked him in the eyes and demanded he tell me what he had done?
