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“This isn’t a few thousand dollars we’re talking about, Hunter. This is a lifetime of money—millions versus bankrupting myself to try to save a house that should never have been mine to begin with.”
He studied me carefully, the questions already forming on his face. Disbelief covered every corner of his features. “Then, that’s it?”
I knew the question he was really asking. But I was too heartbroken to confirm it. “You can come with me.”
He only laughed softly, sounding more like a scoff than half-hearted amusement. “My life is here. My mother…”
“She can’t manage without you for a little bit?”
Hunter didn’t answer. Instead, he stared down at the floor, his feet shifting one right in front of the other. “I really wish I had been wrong.”
“About what?” I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“You being a spoiled, rich girl,” he said, before leaving me alone in my room.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hunter
“What’s the matter, darling?” my mother asked. “You look terrible.”
“It’s nothing,” I said. “What did you need me to take care of?”
We were winding down the hours. Lyndsey had only a few hours left before her parents would know everything and either hand her back the reins to her fortune or withdraw their support for good.
And even though my mother had asked me to her home to help her with things around the house, my mind was on Lyndsey.
I’m such an ass.
I had some nerve calling her spoiled. It was not my place. She was free to live her life how she chose, even if she decided I wasn’t meant to be a part of it. Though that was partially my fault.
My life is here.
Isn’t that what I said? I’d basically told her she wasn’t worth the sacrifice. Yet, to be fair, she hadn’t been willing to stay for me either.
“Honey, you can’t tell me it’s nothing,” my mother said. “I can see it in your face. You’re upset about something. Now, what is it? Please, don’t tell me it has anything to do with this ridiculous marriage business.”
“No, it’s more like I found someone, but we both seem to want different things.”
“And what do you want?”
I didn’t even know how to answer that anymore. “A family. To settle down.”
“You have plenty of time left for that.” My mom reached across the table and patted my hand. “And, the good thing is, you can do it almost anywhere.”
“No. It should be here. I want to settle where you are and be here for you.”
“Is that what you want? Or what your father wanted?” My mother pinned me with a knowing glare, one that stole through to my very core until I shifted uneasily in my seat. “Look honey. I know you and this has never been the path for you. Yes, you want a family. Who doesn’t, eventually? But it doesn’t need to be right now.”
“But—”
She held up a hand for silence. “I know you think this is something I need right now, but guess what? I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
A moment drifted between us. One of me staring back at her with what was clearly a tragic gaze, if her own expression of pity was anything to go off of. She sighed and added, “I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t missed your father these past few months. But life is unexpected and we must be able to adapt. What I would have really regretted was loving your father and never making the sacrifices for him that I did. I would have wasted all that time together.”
“I just thought…” That what? This was how all relationships began and ended? Boy meets girl, marries girl, and then settles down. Was there no time in between for adventure and excitement? We could still spend years finding ourselves.
“Actually, that brings up why I asked you to come here,” she said. “I’ve joined the local women’s club, and they actively participate in charity work across the globe. You know, like building houses, planting crops, and teaching children. They also do things within the state, which are pretty perfect for someone with a little extra time on her hands.”
