Claiming The Rancher's Heir (Gold Valley Vineyards #2) - Maisey Yates Page 0,55
you do?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Try me.”
“She said she loved me.”
Jackson made a choking sound. “What a travesty. Your wife is in love with you. However will you survive?”
“That’s not what this was supposed to be about.”
“Oh, your marriage isn’t supposed to be about love? What the hell is it supposed to be about, then?”
“I told you. It’s complicated.”
“I’m all ears.”
“And why exactly do you think you’re an authority on any of this? It’s not like you’ve ever been in a real relationship.”
“Maybe I’m not an authority on relationships, but I’m an authority on you. And you’re miserable. Which means you need to sort it out.”
“There’s nothing to sort out. Nothing changed on my end. I offered her everything that was always on the table. I bought her the house she wanted, I told her she could do whatever she wanted when it came to work, and we set fire to the sheets. I don’t know why the hell she thinks she needs more.”
“It’s this weird thing where people tend to want to be loved. Weird, I know. Especially since it’s never been a major priority for either of us. But I think maybe it’s not astonishingly strange.”
“I don’t understand why she needs it.”
“I don’t understand why it’s a problem for you. Hell, you seem like you’re in love with her.”
“It’s impossible. I can’t do that. I already... Look, I wasted all my emotion. I can’t love her.”
“You can’t? Or you won’t?”
“She asked me the same question. But it amounts to the same thing.”
“What’s the real problem here? Because I don’t get your resistance to this.”
“The problem is that I didn’t... I didn’t get to love my son the way that I was supposed to. So now I’m just supposed to move on? Just make a new family, make a new life? I thought I could. For a little while, I thought I could. But I can’t. It’s wrong. I can’t just decide to get a do-over. I wanted to, but it’s killing me. The guilt of it.”
His brother just stared at him. “What do you mean you didn’t love your son? It wasn’t your choice not to be with him. Not to be around him. Louisa chose that for you.”
“I could’ve fought harder. I’ve seen him around.”
“Yeah. And you loved him enough that you didn’t go crashing into his life and make it about you. You loved him enough that you let him have the family that he knows. Loving somebody doesn’t just mean being in their lives every day. And I never would’ve thought of that if it weren’t for you. But I’ve never doubted that you love that kid. Because I saw what it did to you all those years ago. It tore you up. But you had to make a choice not to make his life a war zone, and you made that choice. And every time you’ve ever seen him at an event, including the one a few months ago, you’ve made the choice to put his happiness above your own. That is love, Creed.”
“It hurts,” Creed growled.
“No one ever said love didn’t hurt. Hurt makes sense. But not guilt. You’ve got nothing to feel guilty for.”
The problem was, his brother’s words rang true.
And if there was no guilt... Then there was nothing standing in his way. It was all a matter of being brave enough to step forward. Brave enough to allow Wren to have all of him.
Even though his emotions had been savaged, his heart torn to pieces.
He didn’t know if he was brave enough.
But what’s the alternative?
Another life spent with so much distance between himself and the people who held his heart.
No, he’d never gotten a chance to be a father before. Not in the way he wanted to be.
But he had the chance now. And not just to be a father, but to be a husband.
It was all well and good to fantasize about how well he’d do those things, but entirely different to take the steps toward being those things.
“It’s terrifying,” he said. “I’ve been so certain all these years that I would’ve been great at this, but... What if I’m not?”
“Well, then you’re not. That’s just part of life. Sometimes you’re bad at something, and then you learn to be better at it. Was Dad perfect?”
“Hell no,” Creed said. “He’s still not.”
“Do you love him?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, there’s your answer. Did you need perfect, or did you need a father?”