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He was about to leave another message when she picked up. “What’s wrong?” he asked at once, already hearing hurt in her voice. He groaned inwardly. “You’ve seen your mother.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, Tilly,” he said, hearing so much in that one word.
“She kicked me off the ranch.”
“Where are you? I’ll come get you. I drove straight through and just got home. I didn’t want you to have to face your mother alone.”
“Oakley was there. We got an apartment over the general store in town for now—at least until the wedding.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “You know that wasn’t necessary. My father told you—”
“I know I’m welcome out on the McKenna Ranch, but I need this time. I have a wedding to plan.”
“So...we’re going through with a big wedding?”
“We most certainly are. That is, if you’re game.”
“You know I want what you want,” Cooper said and heard her fighting tears. “It will be the best wedding anyone in this county has ever seen.”
“Thank you,” she said through her tears. “I’m not going to let her ruin this for me, for us.”
“Good,” he said, hearing the pain in her voice and wishing there was something he could do to lessen it. But while confronting Charlotte might make him feel better, it wouldn’t help the situation. “Maybe she’ll come around.”
Tilly laughed. “We both know better than that. It’s better she won’t be at the wedding or CJ, either. Anyone who doesn’t support our love isn’t invited.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, hoping to lighten the moment. “When can I see you?”
“What are you doing right now?”
OAKLEYDIDN’TSEEanyone around as she parked in front of the ranch house. Her brothers Brand and Ryder wouldn’t be coming back until lunch—if that. The staff would be busy, always giving the family a wide berth when possible. With luck, she would have CJ all to herself.
As she climbed out of her pickup, she caught movement from the corner of her eye. She turned to stare at the guest room window, the curtains open, the sun glinting off the glass.
For just a moment, she thought she saw CJ standing there. She stared at the window and realized it had to have been a trick of the light because there was no one there. CJ couldn’t have been standing there watching her drive up because he couldn’t walk or stand, could he?
A little shaken, she hurried up the steps, across the porch and opened the front door. The house had felt oddly empty without her mother’s domineering presence during her absence. It felt even emptier knowing that she’d left CJ alone. What had been so important that her mother would do that?
“What are you doing here?”
CJ had startled her as she’d stepped into the living room. So he had seen her drive up.
“I thought you were in your room.”
A satisfied grin played at his lips as he saw that he hadn’t just surprised her. He’d startled her. He’d always like scaring her and Tilly with every gross thing he could find to shove into their faces.
There were cowgirls around who thought her oldest brother handsome. They only saw the chiseled face, the thick ash-blond hair, the green eyes. They didn’t see beneath the veneer or get a glimpse of the sneering, brittle coldness behind those eyes like Oakley did right now.
“I live here.”At least for a while. “Where’s your guard dog?” she asked as she took a step toward him. He’d never been able to intimidate her, even when they were little. She’d refused to cry when he’d hurt her. She’d learned early on not to go to their mother for help. CJ always lied and Charlotte always believed him over the rest of them. Her brothers had learned to keep their distance from CJ and still did. Since he never really “worked” the ranch, their paths seldom crossed.
The twinge from her gunshot scar should have been warning enough of how dangerous CJ had become since they were kids. But Oakley didn’t back down as she closed the distance between them, putting her hands on the arms of the wheelchair to lean her face close to his.
“I know you lied about the shooting,” she said. “I thought that with just the two of us here at the ranch you’d have the courage to admit the truth.”
His expression said it would be over his dead body. “How do I know you aren’t wearing a wire?”
She laughed. “I’m not, but you being worried that I am confirms what I’ve suspected. You have something big to hide that you’re terrified I’m going to remember, don’t you?”
