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“She knows how you feel about her?” Griz asks, and I nod. “And she loves you too?”
“Yeah.”
He smiles at how I say that, and I clear my throat. Part of me still can’t believe that the girl I’ve been obsessed with since I was a kid feels the same way about me. I never should have made that stupid promise to Clara. Then Oakley and I could have been together since high school. We’d probably be well on our way to starting a family by now.
That’s why I have to make this right. We’ve lost so much time already, and I need to know she’s mine forever. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to go back to waking up in bed alone, with a gaping hole in my chest.
“Then I think you need to go home and let her scream at you,” Griz tells me, startling me out of my thoughts. “I mean, I would be upset if our parents had just up and sold this place without telling us,” Griz says. I nod.
“Maybe that’s what she needs to do,” Remy says. I frown at him.
“What? Scream at me? Because to be honest she kind of already did.”
“No, maybe she needs to confront her parents.”
He might be right about that. If our parents had done this, all of us would have had some questions for them. Our parents are great, though, and Oakley’s are pieces of garbage.
I still remember when Clara burst into my room, frantic about Oakley running away. I grabbed my jacket, threw on my boots, and went searching for her in the dark. I found her at her favorite spot on the far side of her farm, a fallen tree log overlooking the hills and valleys.
I held her while she told me about the fight she had with her parents, smoothing my hand up and down her back as her tears soaked my shirt. She was so vulnerable, so precious, so fucking mine, even back then.
“I still can’t believe they never mentioned anything about selling the place,” Wyatt says. I grunt.
“I mean, I kind of can. They were never very nice to any of us,” I remind him. Griz nods.
“Yeah, and if you’re not on the same social standing as them, then forget about it. They don’t even see you,” Griz says.
“But you bailed them out! You obviously have more money than them,” Wyatt reminds us.
“Yeah, but I don’t wear fancy suits or have a chef.”
“Oh yeah, then screw you,” he says sarcastically. For the first time in the last hour, I crack a smile.
“It’s shitty of them to treat their own daughter like that, though,” Remy says. My smile drops.
“Alright. I’m going to go untie her and try to talk to her. If she wants to go talk to her parents then I’ll offer to go with her. If she wants to scream at me, then I’ll let her do that.”
“Good luck,” Wyatt says, and I smile.
“Thanks, guys. If you don’t hear from me by Friday, maybe start looking for my body,” I half joke.
“Man, if I don’t see you for a few days, I’m definitely not searching for you,” Wyatt says, making my other two brothers chuckle.
I give him a questioning look, and then Griz adds, “If the farm house is a rockin’, we won’t come a knockin’.”
The three of them laugh while I glare at them. I hope they’re right.
I head back over to my horse and climb on. We’re over on the west side and when I turn to head home, I can see all of our property. I’ve lived here my whole life and I can’t imagine losing it.
I can understand why Oakley was so upset when she heard the news. Not only is her future being threatened, but her past is being destroyed. I send up a silent prayer that she’ll let me pick up the pieces and show her a brighter future with her by my side.
NINE
Oakley
“I’m goingto freaking kill him,” I mumble to myself as I work on untying my hand.
I’ve almost got my left hand free, and once I do, I can unhook my right and head home to talk to my parents.
