face. “I don’t need you acting like a child, I already have one and you’re doing nothing to help with the situation. I need Abbott to warm up to the idea of Bella being here.”
“You said she doesn’t want to be here. I’m not gonna be part of some dog-and-pony show to romance a woman who doesn’t deserve my son.”
“You must be smoking crack out here in the barn at night. Mom would lock you out if she saw you acting this way.”
That stirs a reaction because he takes a step, his beer gut closing the distance between us, and I get a grease-covered finger jammed in my chest. “Your mother only locked me out four times in our marriage and I always got her to let me back in before the sun rose.”
“Right,” I agree. “For being a hard-headed idiot like you’re being now. You know for a fact she’d kick your ass out for what you’re doing to me.”
He crosses his arms and I can tell he knows I’m right. I might not have grown up with a lot but my parents made sure our family was happy and it wasn’t done by throwing money and stuff at me. They couldn’t have afforded it if they wanted to.
I lower my voice. “This is the last time I’m going to ask. I need a fucking break and I’m certainly not getting one from anyone else, so it’s going to come from you. She almost died. But she’s here now and I’m not going to let anything get in my way—especially my own father. Get your head out of your ass and act like an adult.”
He’s pushing sixty-five and has lived a hard life while working a labor-intensive job. He also loves beer and fried chicken, and it shows. His dark hair is mostly gray and he’s worked in the sun his entire life, all while wearing fifty pounds too many. There’s no question we share DNA, but I’ve somehow learned how to wrangle the control he can’t.
He narrows his dark eyes. “Abbott doesn’t need another woman walkin’ outta her life.”
“You think Bella doesn’t know that? Abbott is the only reason she walked away from me to begin with.”
“What’s changed?” he demands.
I pull in a big breath because he has me there. What has changed?
Nothing.
Fucking nothing.
But then again, everything.
This might be my one and only chance. Calling it a chance is like comparing a hangnail to a heart attack. To say everything is on the line is an understatement.
Because the woman who’s danced around my heart for years suddenly shows up in Maryland with a gunshot wound. You bet your ass I’m going to take this chance.
“Everything has changed. I’ve got my neck on the line, Red. I know you care about me so it’s time to shut your shit down and step up. I’m going to work tomorrow and I need to know you aren’t going to run her off while I can’t keep an eye on her. She damn well better be here when I get home.”
“You could really be in some hot water over this, huh?”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
He stuffs his hands in his overalls and shakes his head. “She better be worth it.”
“I’m your son,” I shoot back. “You think I’d do something that wasn’t worth it?”
“Don’t act like you’re cut from my cloth. I married your mama when she was eighteen ‘cause I was afraid if I didn’t, she’d wise up and find someone better. You’re thirty-five—you’ve played every field on five continents, attracted a crazy-ass baby-mama who might’ve given me a beautiful granddaughter, but let’s be real, son, that woman’s got shit for brains. And when you finally do find a lady worth fightin’ for, she’s got an international target on her back and you could go to prison for hiding her here.” His arms swing out before flopping to his side. Damn, he really is picking up a dramatic flair from all the daytime TV. “And now I’m gonna be an accessory.”
“Red—”
“Shut your mouth. You know I’ll do what you need me to. I’ll also be here when she leaves and you inhale another bottle of whiskey.”
I’d like to shake him for being such a pain in my ass but the girls come running around the side of the house. More like Abbott is running and Saylor is chasing her.
My daughter looks as frustrated as her grandfather.
She runs right to my side and whispers, “When are they gonna leave?”