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"You won't do that to Dad?"
Colleen's eyes widened at her mother's uncharacteristically loud tone.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but your father isn't here anymore. I am."
"Mom! That's all the more reason not to sell, to honor his memory. That's more important than money."
Her mother slumped down in a kitchen chair and rested her elbows heavily on the table. "Honey, I loved your father—I will love him until the day I die, and I would never want to dishonor his memory. But this house, this place... it's so hard being here alone."
"Uh, thanks Mom."
Eileen shook her head. "You're here, but for how long? And even so, you've been working so much and spending nights elsewhere," she said with a raised eyebrow, "you're not exactly great company."
Guilt settled in her stomach even as her throat tightened at the thought that she wouldn't be spending any more nights away. "Now that I've got the money from Gregory, I won't have to work so much. And after today, I'll be spending my nights here."
"And I'll appreciate having you around, but that's not how I want you spending your life, living with your old, widowed mother so she won't be lonely. You're only thirty years old Colleen. Plenty of time to remarry, start a family—"
Colleen cut her off. "Again, I think we established today that my taste in men has not improved sufficiently for a new relationship to be a possibility. And as for kids..."
Her mother's expression was full of sympathy. "Just because it was difficult doesn't mean it's impossible. And as for what happened today, I think you may have been unfair to JT."
"He said himself, they talked about buying us out," Colleen said tightly. "They would have never made a serious offer without him knowing." A little voice niggled at her, reminding her of all the times JT had talked to her about how frustrating dealing with his family could be, how they constantly undermined his efforts to make changes.
Was it possible they had done this completely behind his back?
She shoved the thought aside. She was grasping at straws, looking for a way to excuse him, just like she had when she'd first found out Gregory was cheating. And look where that had gotten her.
"Far be it from me to try to change your mind, but I think you're making a mistake."
"Maybe so, but I'm not going to compound it by letting you sell this place when you don't have to."
"Did it ever occur to you that no matter how much I love your father, maybe I don't want to spend the rest of my life scrimping and saving just so we can hold onto this place? I'm only fifty-six, so I'm looking at thirty or so more years, God willing, of trying to keep up with the mortgage, not to mention all the upkeep this place requires."
"But Liam and I are here to help you, with money or anything else you need. You know that."
"I do, and I appreciate that, but you two have lives of your own and I want you to live them. Work on your own houses. Save your money for yourselves and your own families. Not to mention, now that your father's gone, it would be really nice to live closer to town, to be able to see my friends without having to drive an hour round trip. If this winter is anything like last winter, I could be stuck here alone for a week!"
She shook her head again. "I moved out here and fought for this place because I loved your father. Now that he's not here, I'm not willing to sacrifice the rest of my life just to hang onto a piece of land. Maybe that makes me cold and callous, but that's how I feel."
Though every fiber in her body resisted the idea of selling out, Colleen couldn't help but be sympathetic to her mother's position. Now that her husband was gone, Eileen needed to find her own new normal, her own new life.
And as much as it killed her to admit it, if her mom didn't want to be here, what was the point? Liam didn't have any desire to move out here, and even if they could swing a rental in town for her mother, was Colleen really committed to staying in Big Timber indefinitely?
Yesterday, full of love and optimism for a future with JT, she would have said absolutely. But now, as her heart squeezed in her chest, circumstances had changed.
And yet the idea of giving up on the legacy her father had worked so hard to preserve made her stomach churn.
She reached across the table and squeezed her mother's hand. "I understand where you're coming from. We'll figure this all out. I promise."
JT drove back to the ranch on autopilot, barely noticing the road as he was consumed in equal parts by rage at his father and devastation that Colleen so easily believed he would scheme behind her back.
He pulled the truck up his driveway. He had mountains of work to catch up on up at the office, but he was afraid he was going to punch a hole in the wall and scream at the first person who looked at him sideways.
He stomped up his front steps, shoulders stiffening when he heard the sound of a vehicle pulling into his driveway. He turned and hooked his thumbs in his waistband as his father parked and got out of his truck.
"You want to tell me what the hell you're thinking, Dad? Offering to buy the Murphys out without even talking to me about it?"
Robert's heavy footsteps thudded up the steps as he made his way onto the porch. "Like I said back at Eileen's, we did discuss it, back when Cort was visiting."
