King's Country (Oil Kings #4) - Marie Johnston Page 0,89
more than one. Daisy was comfortable around multiple people. Shit might’ve happened between me and one important person, but I had others I was learning to count on.
I exited the barn. The sun hit my eyes the same time I saw the pickup. Dawson shut his door and came straight for me.
He wasn’t stopping. His strides were long and his expression determined.
I frowned and fought the urge to retreat. “Is something wrong?”
“Yep, but I’m here to change that.”
His hard tone stalled me. Had I done something I didn’t know about? Were ten of my cattle romping through his yard? Damn, I’d just checked on them.
He stopped close. We weren’t touching, but I had to look up at him. His hair was finger combed off his head. He hadn’t put on his hat yet. Wasn’t he working today? It was a holiday but he usually gave one of the other guys the day off.
“I have to talk to you. Are you going to let me, Bristol Jane?”
“I didn’t think you had anything left to say.”
“I have a lot to say. But I wanted to make sure I had my shit together before I did.”
Daisy raced around our legs, then shot for the barn, something else catching her eye. It was only me and Dawson in the middle of my drive.
So he had his shit together. What did that mean? “Should we go inside?”
“The money’s yours,” he blurted.
“I’m not taking it.”
He scowled and shoved his hand through his hair. “Dammit, that didn’t come out right. I mean, it’s what I wanted to say. But here—I want you to have the money. I’m not getting married. To anyone. And you’re getting the money. Then I’m going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me. That way, if you say yes, it’ll be because you want to. It won’t be because of the money. It won’t be because you have to. Or because you don’t want the ranch to fold, so you need to marry money. You’ll be stinking rich. You won’t need me, or my help, or anyone’s help. You can buy what you damn well please and you’ll tell me yes because you’re in love with me, just as I am with you.”
His words bombarded me. Information overload. My mind looped and rounded back on details until it snagged on one it couldn’t shake loose. “You love me?”
“I was too afraid to say it when I knew I wasn’t being honest with you. I screwed up, and when my world exploded, you didn’t know how I felt.”
“It’s been two weeks,” I whispered.
“That’s because”—he flourished papers I hadn’t noticed were in his hands—“I had to get some arrangements made, and with a summer holiday, a lot of damn people were on vacation.”
He swiped the paper off the top and held it out. I couldn’t concentrate to read it.
“First, this is the trust. Simple. Defined.” He handed me the sheet and I numbly accepted it without looking. He shuffled another piece to the top. “And this is the letter stating that you’re receiving the trust. All our lawyer needs is your info. The account will be switched to your name and you can choose what you want to do with it. He listed several contacts who can help you decide. While I support doing business locally, I made sure he included people outside of King’s Creek. Which brings me to the rest of the reason why I took so long to come beg you to take me back.”
Dawson King was going to beg me? I shook my head. Was hunger making all this hard to follow?
“I changed banks. The King family no longer does business with Richard Lang.”
My mouth dropped open. “But your grandparents helped that bank get off the ground.”
“And maybe we’ll go back when Big Dick steps down.”
“Dawson, that’s going to piss off a lot of people.”
“Yep. It did. I also switched mechanics since Buck assaulted you. And there’s a new insurance agent that moved to town. I gave her a call and I think I made her year. With Samuel pissing all over his territory, she was afraid her firm would have to shut down the satellite office in King’s Creek.” His grin was lopsided. “Now, she won’t have to.”
“Why? Why do all of this?”
“I’ve coasted on my family’s name long enough. I can make a few waves. I don’t need everyone to like me, I just need you to love me.”