AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sylvie let out a satisfied hum as she snuggled closer, pushing her ass into me. “The baby is moving again.”
My hand moved across her belly, and I nuzzled my nose into her hair. I wanted to memorize every tiny detail about the woman in my arms—the way her hair smelled like cinnamon and sunshine, the way her laughter built from a shy chuckle to a full-on belly laugh when something really got her going, the curve of her hip and the swell of her belly.
I needed every detail committed to memory.
Sylvie’s voice filled the darkened room. “Did you always want to be a farmer?”
A humorless laugh puffed out of me. “No.”
I could practically hear her mind turning and the thoughtful frown tug the corner of her lips. “That surprises me. You seem to love it—the way you walk the fields every day, how you treat the people you work with with such kindness and compassion. I can see how much the farm means to you. I guess I just thought that was something that came naturally, since your dad ran the farm before you.”
I was quiet, then offered her the simple truth. “I learned to love it.”
Her patient silence and the gentle stroke of her hand on my forearm gave me courage to open myself up to her. “When Mom died, it was tough—on everyone. Kate and Lee were so young. Wyatt was wrapped up in football and girls. Mom was the glue. She was a special woman.” I didn’t bother to hide the hitch in my voice. Even after all these years, it hurt like hell to talk about her.
“You loved her.” Sylvie softly sighed.
I nodded. “Still love her, but life moved on. Dad did what he could to manage without her. Aunt Tootie stepped in and helped where she could.” My eyes stung and my chest ached, but I kept going. “When Dad got sick, things really changed.”
“I can’t even imagine what that must be like. MJ has made comments that he’s very sweet, but sometimes he has bad days...”
Sylvie was curious and I didn’t blame her. “He does. It all happened so subtly, you know? Little slips here and there. He’d call Kate by our mother’s name or forget the day of the week. Dad’s always been upbeat, but he’d be moody and sullen. It started affecting the farm. Bills went unpaid, people were quitting or refusing to work for him because of his erratic moodswings. It was rough.” I sighed. “I realized there was no one else to take over the responsibilities. It was completely up to me.”
She was quiet. I stroked her arm and let myself find comfort in her soothing calmness.
Sylvie pulled in a deep breath and held it for a fraction of a second. “It was so different when my mother left. I woke up one morning and she was just... gone. No note, no tearful hug goodbye. She just left us.”
I pictured young Sylvie, alone and confused when she realized her mother wasn’t coming back. “Jesus.”
A watery laugh spilled out of her, and I banded my arms around her. “The sad part? I wasenvious.” Her voice quieted to barely above a whisper. “No one else knows that.”
I gently kissed her bare shoulder and considered her confession. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“The strangest part of all of this? My whole life, I’ve been invisible. I was never special enough to warrant my father’s attention, and my own mother left without even saying goodbye. I used to be relieved that I was invisible, but now I’m all anyone’s talking about.”
My hand moved to the smooth curve of her hip. “I’m sorry about that.”
Sylvie had never been invisible, at least not to me. There was alwayssomethingabout her that wouldn’t allow me to look away. Even her ridiculous asshole brothers should be able to see that.
Sylvie lifted a shoulder. “It’s okay. Hopefully soon someone will come along and stir up some better gossip.” She sighed and turned the conversation back on me. “So if you weren’t destined to be a farmer, what did young Duke aspire to be?”
I chuckled, half laughing at the dreams of a kid who had no clue who he was supposed to be. “I was gonna leave this town behind in a cloud of rodeo dust.”
“A bull rider?”
“Nah. I was always built too big for that. Though I was a damn good bulldogger.”
Her back pressed into me in a nudge. “What is that?”
“The technical term issteer wrestling.”
Laughter and disbelief danced in her voice. “Steer. Wrestling?”
I chuckled along with her. “Yep. Steer gets a head start, then you chase him down, slide down the side of your horse, and wrestle him to the ground. You grab him by the horns and bring him down.”
“That sounds kind of mean.”
I laughed. “I suppose it is. Though the rodeo takes damn good care of the animals. In fact, back when I won a pretty big title, I bought that steer and retired him here to the farm. He lived out the rest of his life in an unused pasture.”
