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Her eyes darted up to meet his, and she straightened a little. “More than you know.”
“I suppose money has its own kind of problems.”
Harley shrugged. “I don’t know. Money seems to be the only thing that helped. With money, I was able to escape. I got into a school across the country. I could buy the best gadgets and cars so I could escape the life my mother insisted I have.” She pulled her tank top off one shoulder. “You should have seen the look on her face when I came home with this. That had to be the best day of my life.”
Mason glanced at the tattoo and then looked away as if he were embarrassed to be looking at her.
She returned her strap back to her shoulder and bit back a smile. He had the cute, innocent cowboy thing going for him. If she wasn’t so intent on getting her trust fund and moving far, far away from where her mother could reach her, then Mason might just be the kind of guy she would want to get to know better.
“Anyway,” she continued. “That’s why I’m here, you know? I have a trust fund that I was supposed to get when I turned twenty. But here I am, twenty-four and…” She shrugged. “No trust fund. My parents amended the legal documents when I turned sixteen. They put something in the fine print that prevents me from getting a dime unless one of three things happen. Either I graduate from a college with my bachelor’s, I marry a college graduate, or I demonstrate undeniable maturity.” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, it’s like… how vague is that?”
Once again, she couldn’t maintain eye-contact with him. One glance in Mason’s direction had her too embarrassed to go on. There were a thousand things he could judge her for, and her wanting the trust fund money was only the tip of the iceberg.
“Sounds like you need to distance yourself from your folks.” He said it so quietly she wasn’t even sure she heard him correctly. The way he stared off at a blank spot on the wall had her wondering what he was thinking about.
“I know, right? That’s why I’m here. This is how I’m supposed to demonstrate maturity. They said if I could last three months out on Uncle Vern’s farm, then I should be able to make mature decisions when it comes to my inheritance. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m here to prove that if I can handle working hard under my uncle’s thumb, then I can handle anything.”
“And what would you do with the money if you got it?” He was watching her as he asked his question this time. His eyes drilled into her so deeply that she almost felt like he could see right through to her soul.
Harley squirmed beneath that piercing gaze. Before she’d met him, she might have said that it didn’t matter what she wanted to do with her money. It was hers, after all. But now she felt like she needed a good reason.
The problem was that she didn’t have an inkling of what she could do with that much money. Swallowing hard, she looked away. “I suppose the first thing I’d have to do is make good on that promise I made you.” She glanced up at him, but his expression was unreadable. “You know, the one where I build you a cottage or another barn or something?”
Mason was quiet for a long time—longer than she’d expected. He didn’t like that answer. Or did he? She couldn’t tell, no matter how long she stared at him. Finally, he cleared his throat. “You don’t have to do that. Your uncle is compensating me just fine.”
She shook her head. “Uncle Vern might be well off, but I assure you, when this is all over, I’m going to have more liquid assets than he does. He’s in retirement. I doubt he’s budgeting to give you what you need.”
“It’s fine,” Mason muttered, pushing away from the fridge. “I should probably get going. We’re going to have a rough couple of days getting everything figured out and on a good schedule. What time do you want to serve your uncle breakfast?”
Harley’s voice died in her throat. The whiplash from the change in subject wasn’t kind to her. “What?”
“Breakfast. I assured your uncle that I’d be here for his first meal, so you don’t have to see him… indisposed.”
For a countless moment, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Mason was practically a stranger, and here he was, preparing to move heaven and earth to be there for her uncle.
“Well?” he asked.
She blinked. “Breakfast. Usually, he gets up at four… though I doubt he will do that tomorrow. Should we plan on six?”
“I’ll be here at five-forty-five.” Mason nodded to her and then headed for the kitchen door.
She turned to watch him go, torn between walking him out and staying put solely because she wasn’t sure she could get out a coherent thought. It was already nine o’clock. For him to be here at that early hour meant he wouldn’t get much sleep—at least she wouldn’t. It always took her an hour to fall asleep, and that was on a good day.
Today had been, well, it had been one for the history books. It was best to leave Mason be. He was stuck in a bad enough situation as it was. She didn’t need to add insult to injury.
* * *
True to his word, Mason arrived at five-forty-five on the dot. Vern wasn’t up when there was a knock on the door, but Harley was quick to answer so as to let her uncle sleep.
It was strange the way her world had tilted on its side since coming to Copper Creek. She still hadn’t figured out what she was doing. For reasons unknown, she wasn’t nearly as bitter.
She’d fixed a simple breakfast, miraculously not burning anything. Mason wandered off to do his own thing, coming to the kitchen only to grab Vern’s plate before disappearing again. After about ten minutes, he returned and fixed himself a cup of coffee.
Harley sat at the table with her own mug, watching Mason with veiled curiosity. The rebel inside her wanted to push against everything he represented. If her uncle hadn’t been injured, she would have debated whether it was better to mess with him to make him quit or if keeping him around suited her more.
Now, she could see that the answer was definitely the latter, though it wasn’t without its own drawbacks. Harley got to her feet and moved across the room to stand beside him. Each of them seemed lost in thought, the only sound coming from the early morning news that Vern watched on the television down the hall.
“I hope you had breakfast,” Mason said before taking a sip of his coffee. “You’re going to need all the energy you can get.”
