Marry Me for Real, Cowboy - Valerie Comer Page 0,58
explained what she knew about her dad, but it said nothing about when — or if — she was coming back. Just a few terse words then her name signed with a heart over the i in place of the dot.
Alexia did that, too. Adam had noticed it on the painting she’d given him. It probably didn’t mean anything, but it was all he had to cling to.
A rap sounded on his door. With his sisters grooming Jupiter and Nathaniel driving Riley, Adam could only hope it was Noah. But when he opened the door, he found his stepfather waiting on the stoop.
Adam took a deep breath and stepped back. “Come on in.” Unformed prayers tumbled from his mind into the ether. Please, God. Please help me. Those were the only words he could form and repeat.
Declan stepped inside and closed the door behind him, his gaze never leaving Adam’s face.
“Have a seat?”
“I don’t think so. Tell me what is going on with Riley.”
“I, uh...”
His stepfather crossed his arms as his eyebrows rose.
How much had Declan figured out? Was he guessing, or did he know something? “I doubt I know much more than you do.” Adam lifted the note. “She’s gone to be with her family.”
“And you didn’t go?”
“I didn’t know before she left. I was out riding Jupiter. I, uh, had some thinking to do.”
“Is she two-timing you with Scott Erickson? Because gossip came to my ears last night.”
Adam let out a long breath. “There are rumors, but they aren’t true. He refuses to leave her alone.” This was the end of all Adam’s dreams. Right here. He breathed another frantic prayer. “Truth is...” Oh, Lord, did he really have to go here?
Declan stared at him.
“I didn’t think you’d let me have Running Creek if I couldn’t prove to you I was ready to settle down. And, when I met Riley, I figured the best way to prove I was ready to settle down was to come home engaged.”
If only something twitched on Declan’s face, but no. The man’s dark eyes bored into Adam’s head same as they had a few minutes ago.
“I...” Adam sucked in air. “I asked her to consider a fake engagement. She agreed, but it was all my idea. I take full blame, sir. Things got kind of out of hand.”
“Do you love her?”
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? “I didn’t when this idea came in my head and out my mouth, sir.”
“And now?” Maybe Declan’s eyebrows had inched up, just a smidge.
“I think I do, but she doesn’t return it. For her it was all about a chance to disappear from the public eye and make a little extra cash.”
“Love...”
Adam huffed. “What do you know about it? You married my mother, but you’ve never loved her. She’s practically a prisoner here, so don’t start telling me how marriage should be founded on love.”
“Don’t make assumptions about my relationship with your mother.”
“Please.” Adam managed to stifle the eye roll.
“It’s none of your business.”
“She’s my mother.”
“She’s my wife.”
It took all Adam’s self-control not to explode his way down the path of this particular topic. Much as he hated to admit it, Declan was right. Mom was not a prisoner. If she wanted to leave Rockstead, she could. But Adam’s hope of reinstating her at Running Creek was fading quickly, right beside his own dream of reclaiming his dad’s legacy.
Declan shifted from one foot to the other. “We’re talking about Riley here. I don’t need to explain to you that you’ve screwed up everything, do I?”
Adam looked down, feeling like a five-year-old caught trying to mount the green-broke horse his dad had warned him against.
“I know, sir. I apologize.”
“Some things require more than a sorry when you get caught.”
“I can’t prove to you that my conscience has been bothering me before this happened, but it was. I came back from my ride ready to release Riley and then talk to you, but she was gone.”
“Easy words to say now.”
“I know it looks bad, sir.”
“And you call yourself a Christian, like that’s some lofty thing that makes you better than the rest of us.”
Adam stared at the pine boards beneath his feet. Had he come across that way? “I’m sorry, sir.”
Declan scoffed. “I bet you are.”
“I asked God to forgive me and help me make things right while I was out riding.”
“Make things right? Do you really suppose there’s a way to do that?” Declan’s voice was hard. Unrelenting.
“Perhaps not with you, sir, though I will ask your forgiveness