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After he helped her into the truck, she realized he had a top-of-the-line vehicle. But then again, why wouldn’t he? He’d won the freaking lotto, and she didn’t know if that was a help or a hindrance.
Once he was inside, he started the truck up, and they traveled down the road.
“How was your week?” he asked.
“I gave my notice at the firm and they aren’t thrilled I’m leaving. Even offered me a pay raise, but I said no. I want out of there. Is it wrong to want a slower lifestyle with time for me and with my mom?”
“No,” he said, glancing at her. “You never know when a tornado is going to completely destroy your life.”
With a sigh, she felt like a heel. She’d forgotten that was how his parents were taken. That day in high school, she would never forget. It had gotten so dark, and then the winds came. She remembered huddling inside the hall with the other students, her hands over her head, kneeling in front of the lockers. Like that would do a lot of good if a funnel of wind swirling three hundred miles an hour hit the school building.
“That day was a living nightmare. Do you remember the sirens blaring and the winds howling?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “All I could think about was that Dad had promised Mom for twenty years that he was going to build a storm shelter. And he never did.”
Madison remembered when they finally let school out, Adrian and his brothers rushed home and discovered the destruction of their home and their parents buried beneath the rubble holding one another. Nothing was ever the same on the ranch after that.
A gust hit the side of the truck and she noticed how he gripped the wheel. “The wind is really fierce today.”
“Yes,” he said.
“Often,” Madison said softly, “I think that if my mother had not been at the grocery store that day, she would have been in the house with your parents.”
“Yes,” he said with a slight squeak in his voice before clearing his throat. “Now any home built on the Kissing Oaks Ranch must have a storm shelter built inside. Either a room or a cellar beneath the house. If I can help it, we will never lose another family member to a tornado.”
They rode in silence for a few minutes and she enjoyed the scenery along the highway.
“Tell me about winning the lottery. Were you surprised?”
A smile crossed his face. “After Mom and Dad’s deaths, you left for college and I’d been in charge of the ranch. Of course, I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. We were close to losing the land. I bought the ticket on a whim. I never thought we would win, but I was kind of desperate.”
She’d never heard that he was about to lose the ranch. That was surprising. And to think that money he won saved his inheritance.
“It wasn’t until the next day that I heard the winning ticket had been sold there in town at the Beer and Bait shop, which was where I purchased the ticket. I found the ticket and then I sat there stunned.”
Reaching across the seat, she squeezed his arm. “I’m so happy you won, especially since you were about to lose your home.”
The ranch had been ingrained into his soul and she knew he would’ve been devastated if he’d lost the family home.
“What was the first fun thing you did?”
“I took my brothers on a trip to the Bahamas where I laid some ground rules. This was my money, but I wanted to share it with them. But in order to receive their trust fund, they had to finish college. Only Blake fought me. The rest were good. This way, they received an education in case something happened to the ranch or we lost the money. They need to know how to take care of themselves.”
After a pause, he asked, “Whatever happened to that gaggle of girls you called half sisters?”
She laughed. The “wicked witches” was a more appropriate title. But being they were truly her half sisters, she couldn’t say that out loud.
“Mother took my father aside and told him that if they mistreated me again, he would never get to see me.” She sighed. Families could be difficult and it was one of the reasons why she never intended to marry or have children. She didn’t want anyone else to suffer what she’d been through. “I never saw him again.”
Adrian’s head swiveled toward her. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. Not a birthday, Christmas card, or graduation event did my father attend. I guess the wicked half sisters were more important,” she said.
Even today it hurt to think of how he’d chosen them over her, and how he’d laughed when her mother told him how the sisters had treated Madison when she went to visit him. He didn’t love his own daughter.
“Damn,” Adrian said.
“Yes, damn,” she agreed. “With a childhood like mine, how can you have your own family? My biggest fear is getting married, having a child, and then divorcing.”
