Walking into Steed’s office, I stopped when I found three of my brothers, as well as Jonathon and Wade, all on the floor…making a pyramid.
“What the fuck are y’all doing?” I asked, making my way into the room.
“Christ, don’t ask,” Mitchell spat.
Steed was climbing to the top of the pile as Trevor bitched. “Your foot is on my damn face, Steed!”
“Just shut up and let’s do this damn thing,” Wade called out.
I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a roar of laughter. “What are you cheerleaders up to? Practicing a show you’re gonna put on at the branding?”
They all looked at me. If looks could kill I’d be dead five times over.
A strong slap pushed me off balance, causing me to stumble forward. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw my father. “It’s team building, Tripp. Good for them to learn to trust each other while they’re on the job.” He gave me a wink, and I knew he was full of shit. Jonathon didn’t even work on the ranch.
Focusing back on the pyramid, Steed was at the top. He got on his knees and spread his arms wide open.
“Look at me…I’m flying!”
Wade and Jonathon lost it laughing.
“Don’t laugh, assholes. You’re making it unstable,” Trevor shouted.
“I’m king of the world!” Steed went on, a huge smile on his face.
Mitchell joined the laughing. I saw it happening before they even knew it; the pyramid was collapsing.
“Great…they’re gonna fall,” my father said. “No one better get hurt.”
And fall they did.
Jonathon and Wade took the brunt force of it.
“My ribs. I think I broke my ribs,” Trevor cried out.
My father walked over to them. “You better not have. We’ve got a lot of work to do, son.”
Reaching out a hand, I pulled Jonathon and then Mitchell up.
“Seriously, Dad. What in the hell was all that about?” Trevor asked, rubbing his hip.
My father walked over to the conference table and took a seat at the head.
“No reason. I just wanted to see if you would all do it. I guess I really am still in charge.” Holding his arms outstretched, my dad said, “Look at me, I’m king of the world.”
I couldn’t help it, I lost it laughing as the five of them stared.
“I don’t understand this family. Not one bit,” Jonathon said. “I was just stopping by to pick up a lasagna your mom made and I got suckered in.”
My laugh turned into a full-blown, tears streaming down my face, bent over at the hip, trying to catch my breath guffaw.
“Fuck you, Tripp,” Trevor said, giving me a hard push and causing me to fall to the ground.
Jonathon bid his farewell and took off out of Steed’s office—probably before he got suckered into doing something else. I got up and held my sides while I made my way over to the table. Wade, Trevor, Mitchell, and Steed were all pouting.
“Oh, come on, y’all. It looked fun,” I stated.
Trevor snarled at me. “Yeah, too bad you got here late. You could have joined us.”
I sat down at the far end of the table. “That’s the difference between me and you, Trev. I don’t fall for Dad’s pranks. Never have. Never will.”
My father lifted his brows. “Is that a challenge, Tripp Parker?”
With a grin, I stated, “If you want it to be. Sure.”
When he leaned back and steepled his fingers under his chin, I knew I was fucked.
“I accept,” he replied.
“If y’all are finished with your tea party, we have a lot to talk about,” Steed said.
They were soon lost in the planning of the spring branding. I usually skipped the planning meeting and showed up ready to work…and eat. In high school I used to love this time of year. It meant a day off on Friday to get everything set up. Saturday was spent working our asses off, only for the kids to head out to one of our pastures and have our own party. My folks always pretended like they didn’t know, but they did.
I smiled thinking back to those days. We used to pitch tents and camp out. Mostly because we had paid one of our older siblings to buy beer and our parents would kill us if they knew we were drinking and driving. But then there was the fun in the tents. My body felt warm thinking about Harley crawling into a sleeping bag with me butt ass naked. We never had sex, it felt too awkward with other peoples’ tents near us, but man, did we make each other feel good more times than I could count. I could practically feel the stroke of her warm hand on my cock now.
“Tripp?”
Something hit my boot, drawing me out of the memory.
“You wanted to talk, son?”
I looked around, noticing the rest of the room had emptied out. “Hell, where did everyone go?”
He chuckled. “You seemed to be withdrawn into your own world. Steed said goodbye, but you were staring out the window.”
I forced a grin. “Yeah, I was thinking about all the past brandings.”
The way he looked at me, I could tell he knew I was a damn liar.
“Let’s go to my office. Steed will be back soon and will want his office.”
The chair pushed back as I stood. Following my father out, I reached into my pocket and checked my phone. My shoulders dropped when I didn’t see any missed calls or messages.
“Expecting a call?”
“More like hoping for one.”
He opened the door to his office and motioned for me to walk in. “Mallory?”
I let out a gruff laugh. “No.”
At the bar in his office, he poured each of us a glass of scotch. He handed it to me and gave me a questioning look. “Trouble with you two?”
“No, not really.” I half shrugged.
“Mallory is the first real girlfriend you’ve had since Harley. It’s got to be an adjustment.”
“I dated Corina,” I added.
He chuckled. “Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, son. You know the only reason you were ‘dating’ Corina was to make your brother jealous.”
Smiling, I sat down in one of the two large, leather armchairs facing my father’s large oak desk. He sank into the chair opposite and took a drink while staring me down. “What’s on your mind, son?”
I blew out a breath. “Women.”
He laughed. “That’s usually the answer. That, or politics, with you.”
I let out a slight chuckle, then frowned. “Dad, I’m so confused right now… I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”
“Well, take it from me, son. Women will do that to you.”
I finished off my drink and set it on his desk. Leaning forward, I let out a frustrated groan. “Yesterday Harley told me she lied about there being another guy. There never was one. She claimed she told me that because she knew I would have left Oak Springs and ended up resenting her for it. She said she heard us talking at the hospital and she panicked.”
My father’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a bombshell.”
“Sure is.”
“And she never thought to tell you the truth?”
I looked down at the floor. Guilt had been tearing me apart since yesterday when I was in Harley’s office.
“Tripp?”
Clearing my throat, I sat back and lifted my brown cowboy boot over my leg to rest it on my knee.
“She said the first time she came back into town after graduation, she was going to tell me the truth. But I’ve avoided her completely…for years.”
He waited for me to continue, but I knew he already knew what story I was going to tell. The moment I found out she was in town, I convinced Cord and Mitchell to go camping with me. We packed up and left town and I turned off my phone the entire weekend.
“She must have called my cell over a hundred times. Begging me to meet so we could talk.”
“You went camping, if I remember right.”
“Yeah, I did. I went with Cord and Mitchell and then deleted every one of her
messages without listening to them or reading them. I was still hurt, thinking she’d left me for another guy.”
“Well,” he said before taking a drink. “I also believe every time Harley came into town, you had some excuse to leave. She stopped by the house a few times, never told your mother and me what really happened, but we certainly saw the pain in her eyes and the regret in her voice.”
“Yeah, she said she wanted to tell me before anyone else. She never even told her parents the truth until recently. Also said it wasn’t something she wanted to leave on a voicemail. Not that I listened to them anyway.”
I stood up and scrubbed my hands down my face and cursed under my breath.
“Fuck.”
Turning back to face my father, I shook my head. “All those years we wasted because she didn’t trust that I knew what I wanted.”
“What prompted her to make up the fake love interest?”
Dragging in a breath, I told my father everything.
“So, she lied about this guy because she knew you would follow her and you were certainly not going to let her break up with you.”
“Yes, sir. That’s what she did.”
“You did tell me that day, son, you didn’t want to do what Harley wanted. Would you have?”
I shrugged. “I guess I would have. I mean, at the time, I would have followed her to the end of the world if it meant she was happy.”
“Tripp, would that have made you happy?”
I looked my father in the eyes, wanting him to help me out of this mess, not wanting him to make me doubt my feelings for Harley.
“Dad…” A sigh spilled out.
Leaning forward, my father placed his forearms on his knees and shot me a serious look. Like his life depended on the next words out of my mouth.
“Why do you think Harley was afraid to tell you what she wanted to do?”
My breath caught in my throat. I knew where he was going with this. “Because I always talked about my dreams as if they were hers.”
“And why do you think she never said anything?”
With a harsh laugh, I threw my hands up in the arm. “Fucked if I know, Dad.”
“She didn’t tell you, son, because she didn’t want to ruin your dreams. When she finally mustered the courage to tell you, she overheard our conversation. She didn’t want you to resent her for making you leave.”
“That’s the thing! She wasn’t making me do anything. I offered to do it. I mean, it was a few years away. I still had law school and she still had vet school. She made a choice for both of us, Dad, without thinking, without trusting that my love for her was enough.”
Leaning back, he nodded. “You’re right. She did. Sort of like your brother, Steed, when it came to Paxton. Or Mitchell when it came to Corina. We make mistakes, and sometimes we live with the regret of that mistake. Now I’m not excusing what she did, but I’m also saying you need to see that she tried to make it up to you, and you’re to blame for the separation all these years.”
My jaw dropped. “Me! How in the hell am I to blame for this, Dad?”
His brow lifted. “If you don’t know the answer to that, nothing I say matters. You’re better off moving on and forgetting about Harley. You seem to be somewhat happy with Mallory.”
I swallowed hard. Forget about Harley. Is that something I can even do? I honestly don’t think that after almost ten years it’s even a possibility.
Sinking into the leather chair, I let out a defeated breath. “I don’t know what to do. For once, I met a woman I enjoy being with. And Harley comes back into town and messes with my head. I pretty much told her yesterday I was done with her. That I had nothing left to say to her.”
“Did you mean it?”
I focused on the large painting on the wall behind him. My mother had painted it years ago and had given it to my father on their first anniversary. It was my father on a horse smiling down at my mother. She said she knew the moment she saw him she was madly in love. My mother believed in one true love, and that no matter what the problem, love would overcome.
My muscles tensed, and I cut my eyes over to my father. “I don’t know. Maybe at the time I said it I meant it. Now I’m not sure what to think.”
“Tripp, I think you came here with the hope and expectation that I would tell you which woman to pursue. I can’t tell you that. You’re going to have to decide on your own. Sounds like you told Harley things would never be the same, and like I said, you must care about Mallory or you wouldn’t be conflicted. Only you can find the answers.”
All I could do was nod in agreement. My father stood.
“One piece of advice I will give you: if you truly believe you cannot forgive Harley, let her go. Give her forgiveness so she can also move on. It seems to me she waited for a chance to explain her actions to you, and you offered her no hope. Be prepared for her to move on.”
“Move on?” I pulled in a breath. It felt like a ton of weight had settled on my chest.
He rested his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “It isn’t fair to either of those ladies if you hang on to old feelings.”
He headed toward the door. “Where are you going?” I asked while standing.
“I have a tea date with my beautiful granddaughter, and I don’t intend on missing it. If I do, Patches will get my scones.”
Letting out a laugh, I lifted my hand to say goodbye to my father.
He headed out of his office with a smile on his face. My father loved his grandkids with every ounce of his being. I was glad to see him letting my brothers run the ranch more each day, giving my father time to spend with my mother and the grandkids.
Running my hand through my hair, I rubbed the ache in the back of my neck.
“Hell, I’m still confused. Maybe even more.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw her name. I wasn’t about to admit that it wasn’t the name I wanted to see, though.
Mallory: I’ve got a mommy’s night out with the other moms planned for tonight. We’re heading into Uvalde for a painting party. Were you going to stop by the house in a bit? I could use a bit of attention before Laney gets home.
I stared at the message. Was she fucking kidding me?
With a shake of my head, I cleared my thoughts and responded.
Me: I’m out at my folks’ and will most likely be here for the rest of the day helping out. Have fun tonight.
Mallory: I’m sure I will. Talk tomorrow!
Me: Sounds like a plan. Bye.
I headed out of the office and made my way down the hall. I stopped when I heard Amelia talking to Wade.
“She was really upset. I’m worried.”
“Just make sure y’all stay out of it, Amelia. That’s Harley’s business, not yours.”
My chest tightened at her name, and I found myself holding my breath.
“I know. We promised her we wouldn’t tell my folks or the boys. She wants to handle it on her own.”
Wade laughed. “And I suppose I’m not a boy?”
Peeking around the corner, I saw my sister up on her toes, kissing Wade. “You’re all man.”
I held back the gag.
Pulling back around the corner, I didn’t move. Amelia clearly knew why Harley came to my office that day. She was in trouble and was now hell bent on me not finding out what it was.
But I knew exactly where to go to get answers.
Karen.
Lady looked up at me with a sigh as I flopped onto the couch.
“Sorry, girl. Didn’t mean to disturb your slumber.”
My golden retriever lab mix stared for a moment before settling back into the couch.
“Here we are, girl, on a Friday night sitting at home fixin’ to watch an Outlander marathon. We’re party animals.”
She let out a whine.
“I know. We’re losers.”
My doorbell rang, and I froze for a moment. What if it was him? Here to harass me some more…
I pulled up m
y security cameras on my phone and smiled when I saw Paxton and Amelia standing outside my door. Waylynn and Corina walked up, and I knew my Friday night had just taken a turn for the better.
Turning my alarm off on my phone, I rushed to my front door.
“What are y’all doing here?” I asked as I hugged and kissed each of them on the cheek and ushered them in.
Amelia walked in holding a dress bag. “We had a free night off and decided you deserved a night out.”
“Yep, I’m kid-free for the evening. Steed and his folks are having movie night tonight.”
“And Jonathon insisted I get out for a few hours while he watched Liberty.”
My cheeks burned from smiling. “Y’all don’t have to cheer me up. I’m fine. Honestly.”
Corina rolled her eyes and let out a humph. “You’ve got another person claiming to be the rightful owner of the vet clinic, and Tripp is being…well…”
“An asshole,” Amelia and Waylynn said together.
I’d told Paxton all about how Doc’s brother was making a claim on my vet clinic, and she had shared the information with the rest of the Parker women.
“I can’t blame Tripp. It’s my fault. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough to tell him the truth. I could have left it on his voicemail or something.”
Paxton hooked her arm with mine while she guided me to my bedroom. “You sent him a letter. He obviously never read it.”
I nodded. That was true. I had sent a letter to Tripp two years ago, explaining everything and begging him to call me. He clearly hadn’t bothered to open it. “A part of me wonders if I should have come back to town. I’ve always wanted to settle in Oak Springs. Raise a family here. But maybe it was a mistake to come back.”
Waylynn grabbed my upper arms. “Don’t say that. You stayed away long enough, and now that we know the truth, we’re glad you’re back. If Tripp wants to be an ass about it then let him. It’s his loss.”
I tried to smile. “Then why do I feel like it’s my loss too? Maybe he’s in love with Mallory.”
They all laughed. Waylynn brushed my comment off with a wave of her hand.
“Please. Tripp panicked because you were back, and he’s using Mallory as another one of his places to hide.” She pulled the plastic off the dress and held it up while studying it. “Now don’t get me wrong, I think he cares about her. Otherwise I don’t think he would have stayed with her as long as he has. But love her? No.”