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)
Dad’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“They emailed me a form that you had signed, giving permission to add him to the account. I’m going to guess he somehow slipped it in with other papers for you to sign.”
His eyes closed. My father was pretty well known for just signing things and not reading them. My mother was forever getting on him about that.
“I treated him like a son. He ate dinner with us every night. I trusted him.”
I tried to ignore the pain building in my chest over that confession.
He glanced at me. “You’re sure he took the money?”
I nodded. “He transferred it from the account four days before your heart attack.”
“That’s when he left on vacation…but I’m guessing he packed up all of his things, stole my money, and took off.” Letting his head drop, my father took in a few deep breaths.
“Dad, don’t get worked up about this. I told you, everything’s taken care of. There’s money in the bank and all your bills have been paid. Not just the business bills, but all the household bills, too. You and Mom do not have to worry about anything except your healing and getting better.”
When he looked up, a tear was moving down his cheek. I hadn’t seen my father cry since Grady died.
I dropped the knife on the counter and made my way over to him. Dropping to my knees, I took his hands in mine. “Dad, please don’t be upset. Please.”
He squeezed my hands. “Thank you, Colt. Thank you for taking care of us.”
“Dad, it was nothing. It’s the least I could do. I’m so sorry I left you and Mom. I’ll never be able to make it up to you both.”
“That’s nonsense. You saved this farm, Colt. I have some stocks, of course, but I’d been trying to build up our savings. Now you’ve saved us from ruin.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t do any such thing.”
He sighed. “Let’s keep this between us, please. Your mother doesn’t have to know how stupid I was. She’ll never let me live it down.”
I grinned. “I have a feeling she’d let it slide. But I agree, she doesn’t need to know. We’re a clean slate now, Dad. I’ve got everything covered from this point on. You’re in full retirement mode.”
“Now, I don’t know about that. I don’t want to be sitting around getting old and fat.”
“I highly doubt Mom will let that happen. You can work on that garden you guys have talked about for years. Fiddle around with veggies instead of horses.”
He rolled his eyes. “Your mother already told me she’s going to be planting kale. What the hell is kale anyway?”
I laughed, leaned up, and kissed my father on the cheek. “Wait until you find out about the nice-cream she has planned for you.”
“Nice-cream?”
“Ice cream made from bananas and protein powder.”
Groaning, my father said, “For fuck’s sake. I don’t need to worry about another heart attack, I’m going to starve to death!”
I laughed as I made my way back to the apple and peanut butter. We spent the next thirty minutes going over his client list to make sure there wasn’t anything specific I needed to know. By the time we were done, my mother had returned, triumphantly declaring she’d convinced Vivianne to give her the recipe for her kale salad.
Ensley
The second I left the Owens’ ranch, I went directly to my parents’ house. I hadn’t been able to stop by yesterday because of everything I’d stumbled upon with Jacob and his missing money.
I pulled up and parked behind my mother’s car. I could already feel the tears starting to build.
“Do not cry, Ensley Wilde. Do. Not. Cry.”
Grabbing my phone, I opened the truck door and slid out. I drew in a few more deep breaths as I walked up the steps to their porch. Before I got to the door, it opened, and my mother stood there. And that’s when the dam broke. I instantly started to cry as I walked into her outstretched arms.
“Oh, my sweet, sweet girl.”
The next thing I knew, we were on the sofa, a blanket over both of us, while my father handed us cups of his famous hot chocolate.
“How did you know?” I asked, before blowing my nose into a tissue.
“Gatlin stopped by earlier to tell us that Colt’s back.”
My father added, “He also told us about Jacob’s ranch hand stealing from him.”
I nodded. “I think that’s why he had the heart attack. I saw the bank statement on his desk, showing an overdrawn balance. That’s when I called Gatlin to come and help me figure things out. Colt, I guess, is going to take care of paying everything for his father.”
“Is he staying in River Falls for a while then?” Mom asked.
Sighing, I said, “He’s back for good.”
My parents exchanged a look. After Colt left ten years ago, I’d spent what felt like days in my parents’ bed. My mother would simply hold me while I cried, until I couldn’t cry any longer.