Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Friends?”
She studied me for a minute—then started to laugh. “Wait…do you honestly think I’d ever get back together with you?”
When I didn’t say anything, she jerked her hand out of mine. Turning to face me fully, she pointed at me.
“You had your chance, Colt. I was ready to make you my entire world, and you walked away. The sooner we both come to terms with that, the better. I want to move on, and you being home again doesn’t change that.”
“That’s fine, Pip, if you want to move on. And you’re right, I am the one who walked away, and I’ve paid the price for that every day for the last ten fucking years. But it doesn’t change the fact that you deserve the truth.”
She rolled her eyes. “The truth? I know the truth, Colt. You left. You stayed away for ten years. Ten years! There’s nothing else that I need to know. Nothing that will ever make that okay.”
Spinning away from me, she stomped off toward her truck.
I closed my eyes and whispered, “Fucking hell.”
Later that day, I found my father alone in the kitchen, his head stuck in the freezer.
“Looking for something?” I asked.
“Ice cream. Your mother hid it, and I have no idea where it is.”
I smiled. “I think she threw it out.”
My father shut the door and turned to look at me, a horrified expression on his face. “She threw it away?”
Nodding, I replied, “I believe so.”
“Well, shit.”
“Where’s Mom?” I asked, grabbing an apple from a bowl on the counter and holding it out to my father.
He rolled his eyes. “Can I get peanut butter with that?”
Laughing, I motioned for him to sit at the breakfast table. “Yes. Take a seat. I’ll cut it up for you.”
Dad sat down and started to speak, but I went first.
“Everything’s been taken care of. The checking account and all the bills.”
His eyes widened in shock. “What do you mean, it’s all been taken care of.”
“I paid all the bills and put back the money that was stolen from your savings account. I think tomorrow we need to go to the police department and file a report. Also, was Ryan the only one working on the ranch? Ensley mentioned he was.”
He nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Tim and Jack, the ranch hands who have worked for me forever, retired this last year. I thought I could handle this place on my own, but I was wrong. I hired Ryan to help out. He’s a nice kid. Polite and all.”
I sighed. “Well, being polite doesn’t mean you’re honest.”
He frowned and looked confused.
“Does Mom know?”
He shook his head, looking at the table.
“Dad, when did you find out about the negative account?”
“The morning I had the heart attack.”
Nodding, I got to work on the apple while Dad got up and went to the pantry.
“What in the fuck is this?”
He walked out with a jar and showed it to me. “When in the hell did your mother change out my peanut butter?”
Dad was holding up a jar of all-natural peanut butter. I couldn’t help it; I laughed.
“Probably earlier today.”
He set the jar on the counter and returned to his seat. “I’ll pay you back every cent,” he said quietly.
“You will not, and I don’t want you worrying about it, Dad. I have money saved up. A lot of money. I’ve been living rent-free the last five years on the ranch, so it wasn’t a hardship for me to take care of it for you.”
His eyes filled with tears, but he blinked them away.
“I feel like this is my fault. You wouldn’t have hired that little punk in the first place if I’d just come home.”
“Son, it wasn’t your fault. Are you talking about Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“Ryan’s a good kid. Just talk to him, he’ll tell you he didn’t have anything to do with it. How in the world would he have even been able to get the money?”
I glanced up from where I was cutting the apple. My father didn’t know Ryan was missing. Fuck. I was going to have to be the one to break it to him.
“Dad…Ryan’s gone. He left.”
“What do you mean, he left?”
“He’s not here. I checked the cabin where he was staying and everything of his is gone. Turns out, he paid someone to come each day and check on the animals. Did you see him the day of your heart attack?”
Leaning back in the chair, Dad said, “He was on vacation. Your mom texted him, and he said he’d take care of everything and that we shouldn’t worry. I thought that meant he was coming back to the ranch.”
I shook my head. “He’d already taken off with your money, Dad.”
He slowly shook his head. “But how?”
“I called the bank, and they informed me that Ryan was on the account.”