could put something together in just a couple of weeks. Still lots of time before your big birthday.”
“No.” My tone was firm. “You forced me into this, so now I’m doing it my way. You lost the right to have an opinion about who I marry or how it happened when you decided to tie my happiness into the future of Fort Davis.”
My mother sighed. “Jackson—”
“No, Ma, I’m sorry. I know you’d like to help plan a whole big thing, but this is Pop’s doing. Take it up with the man who made the contract. The faster I can get married, the better. Now, is there any other family business we need to get too?”
“I think that about sums it up,” Walker said.
I could tell he was anxious to get out of there and go find out from his men who Hailey was. I didn’t care what he did, if I were honest with myself. I didn’t give two shits what any of them did anymore. I’d been backed into a corner, and I didn’t like it. Still, the grin on my face persisted. At least if I were going to get stuck in a marriage, I would have Hailey right there with me.
As dinner finished up, I ducked out as soon as I was able. My mother wanted to talk, but I was having none of it. There was nothing left to say. The instant I was in my truck, I started making phone calls to get everything ready. There was no time to waste. Knowing that Hailey’s mother would need care was my main focus—that and making sure she had something to drive besides a truck that never seemed to work when she needed it.
I briefly thought about inviting Natalee down with Hailey, but I’d been gone for a week. There was a good chance that my questions had caused a rift between the two women. It would be another in the long list of things I needed to fix. Hailey didn’t need to know just how happy she had made me. She was only in it for her mother, something I had to remind myself of frequently though it didn’t dull my excitement.
Knowing that I would be with her was enough.
12
Chapter Eleven (Hailey)
Just hours after getting off the phone with Jackson, as the early morning sun rose, someone knocked on my door. A sharp-looking man in his early fifties confirmed who I was and asked me to come to the parking lot.
It was almost a brawl when I saw my old pickup loaded onto a flatbed until I realized who he was.
“Mr. Wheeler said you needed this brought down to the farm shop to have some work done on it,” he said.
I nodded. “Yeah, but what the hell am I supposed to drive with my truck gone!”
He grinned, jerking his head in the direction of a pickup with thirty-day tags. My heart started to race. Instead of making the poor man answer any more of my questions, I let him take my old pickup as he dropped the keys to a beautiful black F-250 into my hands. It was worth more than the entire apartment build I lived in. Instantly I called Jackson.
“Do you like it? The dealership was a little limited on what they had.”
“You bought a truck?” I stammered.
“Well, I bought you a truck. I know it’s a little bigger than what you’re used to, but I know you can handle it too. Consider it a wedding gift.”
“Wait, this is mine?” I could barely speak as I approached it.
“You bet it is. You didn’t think I would just loan you a truck, did you? No ma’am. That is all yours. I even have the title here ready for you to sign. I wasn’t sure what last name you wanted to use, so I didn’t fill anything out. Do you like it?”
“It’s…. it’s too much. You shouldn’t have done this. It wasn’t part of the agreement.”
“Yes, it is. Everything that you get for the next year is part of it. I know you are only doing this for your mother, but I’m not. I’m doing it for both of you. So, you are going to have to get used to me buying you things. After the year is up, you can sell it all if you want and never think about it again. Until then, I want to know that you are safe and happy.”