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“Really? Why?”
“You had a lot of dreams and ambitions. Do you remember how you wanted to save your mom by becoming a millionaire?”
“After Jasper came, she didn’t need me to do that.” I smiled, thinking of those years after Jasper came to us. How he’d made us a stronger family. “He’s the best, you know. Loved my brothers and me even though he didn’t have to. The missing piece we needed and would never have had with Rex Sharp.”
“My dad remarried too. I have two little sisters.”
“So, he’s good?” An image of Mark in Mama’s kitchen, weeping at the table, came to mind.
“Yeah, Dad’s great.” A smile played at the corners of Annie’s full mouth. She wore almost no makeup, just a little mascara and lip gloss, her cheeks pink from the cold, not blush. “He’sproud of me. Even though the last few days have probably brought back a lot of the pain from that time.”
“I saw the interview,” I said simply. “And all the other stuff. I’m sorry.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Yeah. This time of year always brings back memories anyway, but this just compounds it.”
Scout, apparently giving up on her dream of playing catch, plopped down near Annie’s feet.Traitor.One look at beautiful Annie and my loyal dog had forgotten all about me.
“I guess I should have known you’d all see it,” Annie said. “You’d have to be living under a rock not to, right? Or not watch television or go online.”
“I mostly have a television to watch you. As far as the internet and social media, I’m out of the game now that I’ve sold my company. I’m reading my way through classic novels instead of wasting time looking at feeds of humble brags. Alphabetically.”
She gave me a quizzical look.
“The classics. I’m reading them alphabetically,” I said.
For some reason, that made her laugh. “You haven’t changed a bit,” she said before sobering. “The whole thing’s so mortifying.” Annie closed her eyes for a second, as if a wave of pain had hit her. “They dug it all up—all the old articles and photos.”
“I saw,” I said.
“Why does anyone care about something that happened so long ago?” Annie asked, obviously rhetorically.
“That’s the world we live in,” I said. “People love anything that hints of scandal.”
“Especially if it’s salacious.” Her voice wobbled.
My chest ached, and my stomach clenched. The tabloid vultures disgusted me.
Scout lifted her head and licked the tips of Annie’s fingers. She knelt and scratched the dog’s ears. “Thanks, Scout. I shouldn’t have done the interview. My team wanted me to, as away to take control of the narrative.” She made air quotes. “I went kind of Montana on that reporter.”
Despite the seriousness of the subject, I barked out a laugh that sounded strangely like Scout. “You did. It was awesome.”
“Actually, I can’t totally remember what I said. I’ve blocked it all out.”
“You gave her a proper tongue-lashing. Well-deserved. She’s awful.”
“Right? So rude and obtrusive. Anyway, I lost it. Now I’ve made it all worse. Everyone’s probably talking about me like I’m unstable. Most likely blaming my red hair.”
“I doubt that. People are smarter than you think. I bet people were cheering you on.”
“Not everyone’s like you and your family,” Annie said. “Trust me. Hollywood’s full of snakes and leeches.” She drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as if trying not to cry. “The main thing is—I don’t want you and your family hurt over this. If it got out that it was your father involved, it could ruin your business here.”
“The coverage could hurt the dude ranch, I suppose. But probably not. We’re tough, you know. Worst case, if business slowed, I can help fund us for a while.”
“It’s weird, isn’t it? To have money.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“You did what you said you were going to,” Annie said. “Your family must be proud.”
