AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silence. My new husband looks at the ground.
Again I ask him, my voice louder and harsher. “Is it true, Ranger?”
He looks up and we lock eyes. “Darcy,” he starts but then shakes his head.
“You need to tell me the truth.”
Grimly, Ranger starts talking. “Things just got crazy, and I was supposed to come over here and talk to you but then I fell off that damn horse and… honestly, I couldn’t think straight and then you took care of me and… I didn’t mean to hurt you… but you’re so beautiful and…”
I hold up my hand, signaling for Ranger to stop his stammering.
“Oh my god, I’ve been such a fool.”
It all makes sense now. How he found my farm, even though it’s miles from anything. Why he’s so good at farming. That he was willing to stay, even though I couldn’t pay him. Never talking about himself. The rush to get married.
“I always thought your last name was McLeod.” I say loud, feeling like a profound idiot. “I never asked around about you, nor met any of your friends and family. I trusted you.”
“Darcy.”
My eyes start to fill, but I refuse to cry in front of these horrible, good-for-nothing men.He was just a poor man, he told me himself. He told me he loved me.
No, he’s never actually said those words to me,I realize.
“It’s all a lie, isn’t it? You’re no journeyman ranch hand, getting by on a shoestring. You’re a billionaire. Your family’s land surrounds mine, and for years all you’ve people have ever done is torture others until they submitted to your will.” I point to Ranger’s brothers. “The McLaughlin brothers used to terrorize my father!” I drop my hand at my side. “And you’re one of them.”
I’m married to the enemy.
Suddenly, I can’t hold back as the hot tears spill down my face.What have I done?A loud sob escapes my lips as I run back into the house and slam the door in Ranger’s face. What is his real first name?
I realize that I’m not even sure.
I collapse in a heap on the entryway floor. The painful wail of my tears is the only sound in the surrounding emptiness of the house.
What have I done, what have I done, what have I done?
12
RANGER
Isit in my family’s living room at the Lazy M ranch, nursing a whiskey and wishing my dumbass brothers would shut up already. From my spot by the window, I can hear them in the kitchen, bothering our cook about dinner and recounting the day’s events. Including all about how I duped Darcy and married her just to get the farm deed. I tune out my brothers while I sip my drink and stare out the window.
Through the spotless glass windowpanes, the sun is setting on what has quickly proven to be the worst day of my life.I wish I could take it all back, I muse, lifting my glass to take another sip only to realize it’s empty.
I’m out. I reach for the crystal decanter and pour myself another generous serving of the expensive whiskey.The kind that goes down too smooth and costs a pretty penny.No point pretending I can’t afford a hundred more cases of it, I think bitterly as I take a long pull of my now full glass.Darcy knows who I am.
It’s the one thought that stands out among all the others and that has been replaying in my mind all afternoon, despite my efforts to drown it out with the alcohol. Because Darcy knows that I’m a McLaughlin, I no longer have to hide my wealth, my identity, or how I really feel for her.The problem is, I’m not entirely sure what that means anymore,I consider as I take another pull on the whiskey.
I love her.
The simple fact sneaks into my musings, and I growl slightly.And now I have to get her back.
I shake my head.No way in hell will she come back to me.I guess I have no right to be surprised by her reaction. Hell, I’d be pissed too because this is not how I wanted Darcy to find out about my family or me.
That’s the worst of it, I acknowledge.If I’d been able to tell her in my own good time, I could have explained it all, and helped her see what a beneficial thing this is.
“Shit,” I curse aloud. I wince as I think about how I pretended to be a poor cowboy with nothing to my name. On so many occasions, I wanted to just buy her a new tool or pay for a handyman, but the ruse had required I stay in character.
No diamond ring. It hurts to think aboutthatespecially. I’m not sure that Darcy ever really dreamed of a big wedding, but she certainly deserves some piece of jewelry.And instead she got nothing but a lie.
