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But now she’d seen the love in this town between the families and the men and women who lived this way and she felt more loved here than she had at home.
“Two days before your grandfather died, she tried to contact your father. She wanted to let him have one last opportunity to speak to his father, but he didn’t take her call.”
Damn him!
“He turned away his own mother. At that point, she gave up and decided that instead of leaving the ranch to him, she would leave it to you. Though she knew you had a life in New York City, she hoped that maybe you would come visit and make your own decision about the Sweet B Ranch.”
With a sigh, she knew. She knew right then what she had to do and a sense of relief overcame her.
“I wish I had met my grandmother and my grandfather. Truly I do,” she said. “I loved my father, but he could be a harsh man.”
The old woman reached out and took her hand in hers. “You’ll do what’s right. And in so many ways, you remind me of Lillian. We were best friends for so many years. I miss her to this day.”
Tears welled in Kalie’s eyes. Thank goodness, she’d come to speak to Granny Jones.
She could see the woman growing tired and she stood. “It’s time for me to go but thank you so much for helping me to understand my family. It’s given me so much insight and helped me to make my decision.”
The older woman stood and hugged her.
“Good luck, Kalie. You’re going to make your family proud.”
As she hurried out the door and climbed into the car, she knew what she had to do. Picking up the phone, she called Nathan.
“I’ve made my decision. I’m not selling the ranch. I’m moving to Texas and I’m going to learn how to run a ranch.”
The man laughed. “You don’t know how happy that makes me. Will and Lillian would be so pleased.”
Now how would Colby and Preston take her decision?
CHAPTER13
Preston kept glancing out the barn to the driveway of the house. They were working up in the loft, moving hay.
“She should be back by now,” Preston said, wishing that little red rental car would come pulling up in the drive.
“Don’t forget she went to see Granny Jones after the meeting with that lawyer.”
“Yes, but I don’t trust Jim White. If she told him no, he’d do all he could to convince her to change her mind.”
Colby threw a bunch of hay out of the open barn loft window.
“If you were offered several million dollars for land that you know nothing about, wouldn’t you take it? I know you’re keeping your hopes alive she’ll change her mind, but I think we should be thinking about packing our bags.”
The man was probably right, but Preston was hanging on to hope that she enjoyed their life together and would want to stay here.
“And you’re not hoping she’ll change her mind? I see the way you gaze at her, the way you keep trying to push her away by being more and more rough with her. And believe me when I tell you, I will never let you hurt her.”
There was more to Colby’s story that he hadn’t shared, but Preston knew prison had to do things to a man. It must have changed him. He’d been eighteen when he went to the big house.
Colby speared a hay bundle and shoved it to the side. “What in the hell would a woman like Kalie want with a man like me? I’m not good enough for her, so yes, I keep trying to push her away before she hurts me or I hurt her.”
Preston grinned. “Hey, you are human after all. Don’t you think I’m just as afraid of her leaving me behind when all I want to do is fuck her every day and maybe spend the rest of my life with her? It’s too soon, and yet she’s the one I can’t stop thinking about.”
“Me either,” Colby said. “Drives me crazy. All day, it’s all I can think about.”
“And I think she would accept a man like you. Unless you eat little children for breakfast, I don’t think there is much she wouldn’t welcome. I don’t know what happened to you, but I think you should tell her. Then you would know her feelings and you could stop this bad boy act.”
“It’s not an act,” he said.
