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“Yeah, I’m at the park. Taking a walk.”
I pull my phone down and open my arms. One by one, my brothers and their wives all return my hug. Orrin and Deacon make plans to connect tomorrow as everyone filters out of the house to head back to their own.
“Hey,” I say, with one last wave before closing the door and turning the lock.
“Hi.”
“You’re at the park?” I ask. “Do I have time to come and see you?”
“No. It’s near to my house. I just needed to get some fresh air.”
“She believed you?”
“She did. She was pissed, but I told her I needed to tell you in person so that you would accept it.”
“I’ll never accept it.”
“Ryder, I love you, but we’ve been over this. There isn’t a way out. My mother has too much power.”
“I had my brothers and Ramsey over with their wives and Deacon tonight.”
“That’s who I heard?” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“We might have a plan. Well, we do have a plan.”
“You do?” The shock in her voice is clear.
“Yeah, we’re going to hire a private investigator. Deacon is an attorney who knows of a PI that one of his clients used. We’re going to reach out to him and get some dirt on your mom, or even your dad.” I should feel bad that I’m talking about her parents like this, but I don’t. Not after everything they’ve done and put her through.
“Ryder, that’s expensive. Besides, they’ve gotten away with this for years. If there was something out there to pin on them, it would have surfaced by now. You don’t have my family’s level of wealth and not have enemies. I can’t imagine that a PI will be able to find anything.”
“I know, but Ramsey, she’s taking care of it, and I told her I’d pay her back. It will be a fight, so I’ll more than likely end up being their full-time sitter anytime they need one.”
“Aw. Uncle Ryder,” she coos.
“I’m all the kids' favorite. Just ask them.”
She laughs, just like I knew she would, and the sound fills my soul with light.
“I’m pretty sure all of your brothers, and even Deacon, have said that same exact thing at one point or another.”
“I’m sure they have, but it’s only true with me.”
She giggles, and my smile widens. I close my eyes and rest my head back against the couch.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispers.
“I’ve missed you too, sweets. It’s going to take some time, but we’re going to figure this out. We’re going to be together, just—don’t marry some asshole before we can get what we need to make your mother back down.”
“She didn’t bring it up, so I’m hopeful that she and my father have yet to find who they deem a suitable candidate. Ryder, I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect you and your family.”
“It won’t come to that.” Conviction fills my tone that can’t be missed.
She’s quiet, and I’m ready to ask her if she’s okay, when she speaks softly, “It’s what I dream about.”
“What do you dream about, baby?”
“You. Me. Us. I want nothing more than to build a life with you in Willow River.”
“That’s the goal, but if we have to leave, we will.”
“We can’t do that. Your family.”
“My family knows what it’s like to find the other half of your soul.” She sniffs, and I inwardly curse for upsetting her. “How was the rest of your day?” I ask her instead.
“After my lecture from my mother, and once I managed to convince her it was to tell you to back off, I spent the rest of the day unpacking and hiding away in my room like a damn teenager.”
“Maybe you can sneak me into your room.”
“Too dangerous,” she’s quick to say, and I can picture her shaking her head.
“Well, one day soon, your room will be my room.”
“Ryder, it’s best we don’t get our hopes up.”
“Hope, sweets. Hope, and wish, and pray, or whatever it is you want to do. That’s a dream that we both have that will damn sure come true. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Tell me about your family. How are they?”
I launch into telling her about the recent additions to the family, the wives, and the babies. I fill her in on everything she’s missed since she’s been gone. All the things I didn’t get to tell her because we spent the weekend wrapped in each other’s arms. I talk so long it’s now dark outside.
“Did you drive to the park?” I ask her.
“I did. I should get going. It’s dark, and I’m sitting here under the lamplight on a park bench, staring at my car. I don’t want to go home.”
I want more than anything to tell her to come here, but I know we can’t do that. Not yet. “Stay on the phone with me until you get home.”
