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I nodded, stiffening. Was this about Tyde? My stomach knotted.
“Well, he’s Madeline’s father. The MC are the guys who took Madeline that time. She had never met her dad. They are close now, and all is well. Garrett knows about Micah. I don’t want secrets between us. He also knows about Tyde, and we don’t have to worry about him anymore. Liam has disassociated from him. He is no longer in the MC. Garrett said he won’t ever come here.”
I stared at her, wondering if there was any more news that was going to shock me. Trev had already promised that Tyde was gone. But the Liam thing—I hadn’t seen that coming.
“Tyde got on this property. They caught him. What did they do to make him stop stalking me?” I asked her.
She frowned at me. “I’m not happy about you not telling me about the stalking. I could have protected you. That little shit was screwing with the wrong woman’s daughter.”
“Mom, he is a psycho. What were you going to do? Hit him with a frying pan?”
She shrugged. “Or a baseball bat.”
“I’m sure that would have sent him running.”
She smirked at me, and then a laugh bubbled out of her. “Well, he’s gone now.”
“But how? Do you know what they did to him?”
She looked down and then lifted her eyes back to me slowly. “In this family, there are some things you don’t want answers to.”
“They wouldn’t have killed him, right?” I asked, not sure again how I felt about that.
“Who knows what they chose to do?” She turned back to the room and looked around. “Now, what do you think about bold colors? Maybe an emerald green.”
This was an answer I wouldn’t be getting. Maybe she was right. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
Twenty-Nine
Gypsi
Three Days Since Trev Walked Out of My Room
Mom and Garrett were both at the dining room table when I came down for breakfast. It had just been Mom the past couple of mornings. Trev was MIA. I hadn’t seen him in three days. I’d run him off from his home with three dreaded words—I love you.
“Good morning!” Mom said brightly as she put her cup of coffee down. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,” I lied.
I had tossed and turned most of the night. When I had slept, I dreamed of Trev, and I would wake up sad, alone, and broken.
“Ms. Jimmie made a lovely spread today,” Mom said, waving her hand at the food that went down the center of the table. It was all placed attractively on fancy silver serving trays.
I picked up a plate and began to put some fruit on it, then moved to get what looked like tiny pancake towers, layered with whipped cream and strawberries, before taking a seat.
“Your mom tells me you would like to work,” Garrett said.
I looked up at him as he set the Wall Street Journal that had been in his hands down on the table beside him.
“Yes, sir. I don’t think I can just do nothing. I like working, and I want to make my own money,” I explained.
He nodded. “I respect that. She also mentioned you enjoy photography.”
“Yes.”
“The ranch—the horse racing part of it at least—has its own social media. Madeline convinced me it was needed once she started working here. She does what she can with taking photos and keeping it updated. The horses, the races, that sort of thing. It helps bring more potential customers to us. However, Madeline will tell you herself that photography isn’t her strong suit. She also struggles with balancing that with all the other jobs she has in the office and having time with Cree. If you would be willing to take over the social media part of the stables, go to the races, take photos of the day-to-day operations at the stables and the work put in with the horses, I will supply you with the equipment you would need. It would be salary based since hours could be heavier on some weeks and lighter on others. One hundred twenty-five thousand a year. With bonuses.”
I sat there, silent, staring at him. He was offering me a job I would have never dreamed of getting without a college degree. There was no way I could accept that salary. It was entirely too much when I was already living in his home and eating his food. The clothes in my closet he’d purchased for me were more than I could ever repay him.
“If you want to attend college, I can arrange for you to do so in the fall. It would be safest for you to attend the private college a little over an hour from here. You can do many classes online, and the days you need to be on campus, I can send one of my men with you.”
