Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
I didn’t know if Cody showing up here had made it better or worse. This comfort that I wanted to sink into that I knew could only be fleeting. Respite for what was sure to come.
It was stupid to allow him to stay here, to do this pretending thing out in public like he seemed set on, but I hadn’t known how to argue when he’d been standing there looking at me like that.
So freaking resolved with my daughter’s hand wrapped in his, the child jumping at his side, emitting all her joy without a single clue of what was coming for us.
Pruitt was here.
Nausea swam in my stomach, clawing its way through my insides and festering in my spirit.
Pruitt was here.
I had to figure something else out. Find a way to stop him.
Fully and completely.
My mind raced to the proof I kept hidden in a locked box beneath my bed.
But what then? What would it do to my dad? My father had been selling him horses for years. The thing was, he had no idea what was really happening with those horses, what they were being used for, the lawlessness that Pruitt embodied all while keeping a squeaky-clean name.
It’d taken me two years of living in the middle of it to discover his sins.
But I knew exposing it was the one thing that would stop him. It was the single power I possessed. I just needed to figure out how to wield it correctly.
Finally, I managed to tug free the big blanket I was looking for and dumped it on the ground then went in search for an extra pillow.
I gasped when a hand reached out and grabbed me by the elbow, and I whirled to find Lolly standing there with the most salacious grin on her face.
It slid right off when she saw what must have been written on mine.
Worry knitted her wrinkled brow.
“What is going on? I thought you were going to be happy that mountain man came knocking at your door, pushing his way right in, but I don’t see a lick of happiness right now.”
She almost tried to phrase it a tease, though I heard the concern.
The knot in my throat refused to lessen, and I took a painful, gulping swallow around it, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening.
I dropped my attention back to her when I heard Cody laughing at something Maddie said from the kitchen.
“It wasn’t Cody who first showed up here.”
Surprise jarred her features, her dull gray eyes narrowing. “Who was it?”
My tongue darted out to wet my dried lips. “Pruitt.”
Horror heaved from her lungs. A bout of anger rushed in behind it. “Are you kidding me? I can’t believe that man had the nerve to show up at your door. I’d have thought he would have gotten the message that you don’t want anything to do with him by now?”
“Pruitt has never been so good at taking no for an answer.”
Only my grandmother didn’t know how deep that really went. I’d never given her details, and she’d assumed that he’d strayed.
Cheated.
How sad I wished it were true.
“What does he want?”
A haggard laugh rolled up my throat. “What he’s always wanted…me.”
Under his thumb.
Submissive.
Playing the pretty prize to be paraded.
And you could say he’d never been much of a sport when he didn’t get his way.
I should have seen it when he’d set his sights on me all those years ago, but I’d been too blinded by my grief to realize what was happening.
So desperately needing to be loved that I’d allowed him to catch me up in a whirlwind.
“Well, he can’t have you.”
“No. He can’t.” It was a breath.
A heavy chuckle echoed from the kitchen, and Lolly gestured in that direction. “And just how did that cowboy show up here?”
“He must have heard me arguing with Pruitt.”
Except our voices had been so low there was no chance that he had. And he’d appeared from out of nowhere, manifested from thin air as if he’d been summoned by my fear.
“And now he’s staying here?” Her tone drifted into suggestion. She couldn’t help herself.
I rolled my eyes. “He’s staying here because he’s a nice guy. For one night. That’s it.”
Because I couldn’t handle him rambling around under my roof. Especially after what had happened with us last night.
Letting him touch me had been just as big a mistake as letting him stay here was going to be. But honestly, I was shaken enough—worried enough for my daughter—that I didn’t have the strength to disagree with him tonight.
“That’s awful nice of him.” Lolly drew it out.
I found the pillow I was looking for and dragged it out from between the towels where it was wedged. I leaned down to grab the blanket and held the stack against my chest.
“Don’t get any big ideas in that head of yours.”