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“I’m not going to be careful, Father, because I quit. Good luck with your business and whatever plan you have without me. You’re dead to me, you hear me? Dead,” I hiss, bumping my chest with his before I stalk off and hop in my truck.
He shouts after me, a string of curses and obscenities that I pay no mind to because I can only think of one thing and that thing has a set of wild red curls and a heart that I want to hold with my tarnished hands forever.
I speed out of the driveway and back to Brooks ranch, my hand grabbing my phone as I speed dial one of my buddies from the army who lives an hour away. When we’re done speaking, I pack my bags and drive to meet with him, ready to start my future and leave my father and all of his twisted games behind.
* * *
I have somehow managed to get all my belongings in the back of my truck. It’s piled as high as my hopes, but I keep driving to meet with my buddy Allen in Yellowstone. He agreed to meet me at his office downtown. Not only is he a notary, but when he left the military, he went to law school and became one of the best goddamn lawyers this state has seen.
When I get inside, I tell him everything. About my father’s shady deals, illegal purchases, everything. Whatever I can build to use against him if needed. That’s when I show him the new agreement I’ve drawn up, an agreement made for both Earl and Claire to look over. An agreement that states that if I work for Bailey Ranch, I pledge to do so in a successful manner. And if I don’t, they get half of Brooks Ranch as a settlement. The half that I legally own after I bought it for my dad when I left the army, the half that is in my name, not his.
“And what if they don’t agree to this?” Allen asks me, reading over the agreement as he sits back in his leather chair.
“They will, I promise you,” I say, not wanting to create room for doubt.
“You have to be realistic, Hunter. What will you do if they don’t sign this?” he asks, his eyes serious as they search mine.
I sigh, sitting back in the squeaky office chair as I look at him, my mind filled with Ali and her smile.
“Then I move on. Start my own business with my savings. Leave Cannon Falls once and for all,” I say, my heart in my fucking throat as I think of what a life without Ali could look like.
As far as I know, it’s very dark and bleak. I’ll die trying to get her back. I’ll die trying to avenge both my mother and the other half of my heart.
“This girl means that much to you? I’ve never seen you so hung up on someone like this, especially not enough to practically sign your life away,” he says, assessing me as Ali’s beautiful, hurt face fills my mind.
I hate that I’ve made her cry, betrayed her enough to break the very heart that I fell for. The last woman I’ve loved like this was my mother and seeing the pain on her face before she slammed the door on me was enough to shatter me. I’m a strong man, I’ve been raised by an alcoholic, abusive father, taken care of my ill mother and walked in to find her dead and cold, not to mention I’ve fought in a desert and seen more blown-off body parts than I care to remember. I’ve handled it all, but I can’t handle losing her, not when I just got her.
“You haven’t met her, Allen. She’s…she’s special,” I say, the smell of her hair still on my shirt, lingering and killing me even more.
“Well, I’ll have to meet her sometime soon. Don’t fuck this up, Hunter. Find your happiness for once. You deserve it and if your father tries to step in the way again to take it, I have no problem attacking him for all he’s worth,” Allen says, the only other person besides Ali who knows the truth of what my father has done to me.
“I promise,” I say, trying to calm my erratic foot from tapping on the floor impatiently.
He stamps the agreement and sends me on my way, the date set for our next meeting to be tomorrow if Claire and Earl both agree to this. I drive the hour back to Cannon Falls, parking outside of Bailey Ranch as I approach the house with caution, hoping Ali and everyone has had time to calm down.
I knock on the door, breathing deep when Earl opens it and glares at me.
“I don’t have my shotgun handy, give me a moment,” he says, turning as I call for him to stop.
“Wait, I’m not here to speak to Ali, I’m here to talk to you and Claire, to show you this,” I say, slapping the new agreement against the screen door as Earl reads it with a frown.
“You couldn’t talk to her if you wanted to, she left,” Claire says when she appears into view, her eyes are sad and red.
“What do you mean she left? Where’d she go?” I ask, my nerves crawling up my spine as an iciness settles in the pit of my stomach.
“Her flight left for Seattle over an hour ago,” Earl says, his eyes still on the agreement.
Seattle? Fuck. I’m too late. I’m too fucking late.
“What is that, Earl?” Claire asks, pointing to the paper that I’m holding against the screen door.
Earl sighs before meeting my eyes. His hand goes to the handle and turns it, pushing the door open for me as I step inside, the scent of Ali’s perfume attacking my senses.
“Something that Hunter needs to explain to us and in detail,” he says, eyes narrowed as he walks me to the kitchen, my heart at my feet as the ghost of Ali lingers inside the large house.
This better fucking work and it better be enough to bring her back home, back to me.
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