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I’ve got no time left to figure it out. Travis is back, and he’s having none of my bullshit. I can see it in his glower. Not that I blame him.
“C’mon, we gotta go.” His hand lands protectively on Lacy’s shoulder, urging her away from me.
Nodding absently, she turns to leave.
“Wait,” I blurt. “Can we talk sometime? For real?”
“You’ve wasted enough of her time.” Travis scowls harder at me. “She’s got nothing to say to you and doesn’t need to hear any more lies from a Kincaide.”
“Lacy?” I urge, hoping she at least stands up for herself, instead of letting her brother do it for her.
But she doesn’t.
Instead, she jerks out of Travis’s hold, turns her back on both of us, and walks away.
He points his finger in my face again. “Leave my sister the fuck alone, or next time I won’t be so nice.”
Not bothering with a reply, I stalk back across the street and straight into Walter’s.
I understand his anger. If the tables were turned and he’d gotten one of my sisters pregnant, I wouldn’t have bothered with a warning. I’d have pummeled him just for the sake of it. Still, if he thinks he’s scared me off, he’s sorely mistaken.
As I pull open the door to the fanciest restaurant in town, a blast of cool air hits me, along with the weighted realization of the decision I’ve made.
I’m not turning my back on Lacy or my kid.
With my chest tight and stomach aching, I step inside to find Mama’s been watching from this side of the glassed-in foyer.God, how much did she see?
“What’s going on, Ridge?” Her cool tone does nothing to hide her irritation. She props a hand on her trim hip and shoots me a look I’m sure is meant to intimidate. “Who is that trashy-looking woman you were talking with?”
Something inside me snaps.
I’m so done with this. Done with the lies. The games. I don’t care how bereft she is after the death of my father, her attempts to browbeat me into submission end now. I’m not a pawn. And I’m tired of playing nice.
“You mean that smart, strong, all-natural beauty?” I snarl. “Sheis the future mother of my child. Congrats, Grandma.”
6
LACY
Mean old Mrs. Stanton glowers at me from under the brim of her sun hat as I stomp across Main Street toward her. I’ve been walking around town, stuck in my head, trying to get my roiling emotions under control.
I’m only feet from where the overwhelming stench of testosterone made me sick while Ridge and Travis went head-to-head, acting like overbearing idiots. I had to get away from them, and luckily, enough time has passed that they’re both gone. Good riddance.
Stuck in my thoughts, I nearly collide with the pious Edith Stanton, once my fifth-grade teacher and famous for whacking your hand with a ruler without provocation. Let’s just say, I wasn’t one of her favorites and to this day my left palm stings at the mere sight of her.
“Watch where you’re going,” she snaps, making a big show of cowering while stepping to one side like I’m some threat to her.Please.
“Excuse me,” I mutter and quicken my pace.
It’s hotter than hell today for September and I’m already fuming from the run-in with Ridge outside of the doctor’s office two hours ago. I don’t know who I’m madder at—Ridge or Travis. Dumbass hotheads.
It’s bad enough growing up the town trash with everyone talking behind your back. But today is an all new low. Many townsfolk witnessed our tussle with the king, Ridge Kincaide. I can only imagine what the gossips will say.
“Did you see those nasty Hallmans trying to pickpocket Ridge Kincaide?”
Or maybe, “Travis, the big thug, beat him up and you know, that Lacy, the loose one, she threw herself at him.”
Delirious laughter erupts as I imagine how ridiculous the stories will be that are sure to spread. At the same time, my stomach churns and emits a shocking rumble.
