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“Nah. She’s got enough reason to hate me, and I can’t fault her for that. I’m late to the game.” That was the thing I admired most about Phillip. He owned his stuff. He was an admitted workaholic who’d chosen his profession over his family.
“But you can just keep trying. It might not be the perfect relationship, but you can find a way to be in her life. I think she probably just wants you to fight for her.” I’d been surprised by the way my relationship with my mother had shifted when I was home. It wasn’t perfect, but we were talking more than we ever had. She was sending me text messages about ravens, which was weird as hell, but I appreciated that she felt like we’d bonded over this.
Even if it was like throwing salt in a wound every time she sent me a fun fact about the nickname that the man I loved called me.
I’d asked her if Cage and Gracie had been by the house to ride, and she said she hadn’t seen them. She’d asked Dr. Jake, and he’d said the same.
It killed me that she wasn’t riding.
I knew how much she looked forward to it.
But it wasn’t my place to tell Cage how to raise his daughter. She was his child, not mine, even if there were moments where she felt like mine.
Where I wished she were mine.
Wished thattheywere mine.
“I’ll keep that in mind every time she ignores me, and I’ll just keep trying.” Phillip smirked.
“Good morning,” Grant said as he walked into the conference room with Ben on his heels.
I gave another forced smile. Neither of them had asked how my father was doing. Neither had asked if I was okay with the divorce.
They weren’t my friends; they were my work associates.
I’d spent years trying to get their approval, and now, I just didn’t care if I had it or not. Because I didn’t approve of them.
They were both assholes. Ben would stab his best friend in the back if it made him a dollar, and Grant was not shy about the fact that he was sleeping with his secretary, Stacy, not caring that we socialized with his wife at work events.
I chuckled as I heard Cage’s voice in my head.“They’re a bunch of selfish pricks.”
That was happening a lot since I’d been back. When I’d cry at night, I’d hear him.
“You’re okay, Raven. You’ve got this. You were meant to fly.”
I’d always had so many goals. So many dreams. But now that I was actually living the one I’d worked so hard for… it was a bit of a letdown.
Nothing was really different.
These two guys didn’t respect me any more than they did a few months ago.
And I didn’t feel the joy that I thought I would feel.
A part of me wondered if I was still in a loveless marriage with Wes, if all of this today would feel so much grander. Because this was all that mattered for the longest time.
And now, knowing that there was something better I could have in Cottonwood Cove made all of this feel like less than.
“Dan Walker and his team are here,” Stacy said, and I didn’t miss the way her heated gaze landed on Grant. She was half his age, and the man had no shame.
He disgusts me.
“You can send them back,” I said, shooting a glare in Grant’s direction just because he bothered me more than ever now. I didn’t care for men who disrespected women, and Grant was a fucking womanizer.
He raised a brow at me before turning his attention to the door as Dan Walker and his team were escorted into the room. We shook hands and made some quick small talk about the weather. I’d had some pastries and coffee brought in, and I invited them to fix a plate before everyone took their seats.
I stood in front of them and went over a few things about what we would be doing for them now that they were official clients of the firm.
I’d be in charge of cleaning up their messes now, amongst other legal things that would arise.
