“That’s none of your business. And I think you should leave.”
Frank swayed and glared at him. “You think you can throw me off my own land? You’re going to have to knock me out and toss me in the ATV.”
“Don’t tempt me, Frank.”
He gave a half laugh and rubbed at his face. “I was your biggest fan. I went to every rodeo. I memorized your stats. I knew which bull you were going to ride before you did, probably.”
“It’s eight seconds on a bull. It doesn’t make me someone to worship or emulate.” Trent realized the irony in what he was saying. He’d been knocking himself around for not ending his career on a high note. The high note was he was alive and had a daughter and a beautiful woman he’d someday like to make his wife. He didn’t need one last ride or a million dollars. He had everything he needed. Now, if he could only make Frank Sullivan see reason.
“I wanted to be you. And then it turns out you knocked up my daughter and left her without another word. Even if you didn’t know she was pregnant, you never called her again. I want to kill you for making her feel like that.”
Trent ground his teeth. He knew the feeling. He’d like to kill Frank for making Kelly doubt herself, and after all these years, feel she had to earn her way back into her father’s good graces. His daughter would never have to do that. “I lost my phone. There were miscommunications and then I was hospitalized and in rehab for most of my daughter’s life. I wouldn’t have left them in the lurch. I wouldn’t have thrown my six-months-pregnant daughter out of my house. You want someone to beat up or to blame for Kelly’s pain?” Trent leaned in close. “Look in the fucking mirror.”
Frank lunged for him and this time, Trent let him get in a punch. It was a solid one that rocked his head back and stung like a bitch. But it made his decision to retaliate easier. Trent cocked back his fist to show Frank the error of his ways, when Frank’s eyes suddenly rolled back in his head.
“Frank?”
His body convulsed. His knees buckled. He hit the ground before Trent could catch him.
“Frank?”
No response.
“Fuck.” Fumbling with his phone, Trent dropped it and cursed again. He scrambled to pick it up and dialed for help.
“Nine, one, one. What is your emergency?”
“I’ve got an old man flat out in the dirt in front of me. I think he had a heart attack. Send someone right away.” Trent rattled off the address and then tossed the phone aside.
Starting CPR, he prayed he wouldn’t have to tell Kelly her father died after he found out Trent was Alissa’s dad.
“Don’t you die, you stubborn bastard.” He did chest compressions to “Stayin’ Alive” by the BeeGees, because he’d once heard that matching the beats to the song was the best way to keep up a rhythm until the paramedics got there. “Kelly will never forgive herself. And Alissa still needs her pawpaw.” Sweat gathered under his hat and dripped into his eyes. His back and legs were cramping, but he didn’t stop.
Christ, did he have to go toe to toe with the old man? Couldn’t he have taken the high road and let him rant and then calm down? No, he had to argue with him. He didn’t have anything to justify to Frank Sullivan. He should have kept his cool.
The July heat beat down on his neck and he was starting to get tired. His arms shook. “Breathe, damn it.” After what seemed an eternity, Trent heard the sirens in the distance, but he didn’t stop the compressions, not even when the ambulance pulled in and screeched to a dusty stop.
“We got it from here,” a paramedic said, as they rushed over.
His hands cramping and spasming, Trent tried to get up off the ground and couldn’t. His damned knee had locked up. The paramedics had to help him up. “You all right?”
“Better than him,” Trent said. “Is he going to be all right?”
“Are you his family?”
“No.” Not yet.
“Better let them know to meet us at the hospital.”
Wincing, Trent straightened up. Where the hell was his phone? And what the hell was he going to tell his daughter about her pawpaw?
Chapter Fifteen
Kelly pulled into Trent’s studio after spending all day at the hospital. Alissa was there helping with chores, but she came running like she always did when she saw her. Kelly hugged her tight because she needed it. They both did.
“Is PawPaw coming home today?” she asked, like she’d asked every day for the past two weeks.
“Not yet, sweetie. We hope soon.” In addition to the second heart attack, he had fractured his hip when he fell. It was going to be a long recovery and he wouldn’t be riding a horse for cattle drives anytime soon. Her mother said he was going to use a pickup truck. Nate was going to have his hands full keeping him out of trouble.
“Hey,” Trent said, coming over to her and giving her a kiss.
She clung to him, determined not to cry in front of Alissa.
“Alissa, want to go watch some TV?”
“I’ll go get Flower.”
“Wait,” Kelly said. “Flower can’t come inside.”
But Alissa ran upstairs.
“I got her a stuffed sheep,” Trent said, with an embarrassed smile.
And sure enough, Alissa thundered back down the stairs carrying a white fluffy sheep with a pink bow.
She had a million stuffed animals, but Kelly couldn’t bring herself to scold him. After all, it was the first stuffed animal he’d ever bought her. And it appeared to be her new favorite.
She knew Trent would go pop some popcorn, while Kelly set Alissa up on the mats in front of the television. The popcorn and her programs would keep Alissa distracted while they went into his office and talked. And they needed to talk.
After Alissa was content, Trent handed Kelly a glass of wine when she closed the office door behind her. She took it gratefully. She was bone tired and exhaustion battled with despair. Why had she let her life get so complicated?
“How’s Frank?” he asked.
“Still not talking to me.”
“I don’t know why you keep going up there. You shouldn’t let him treat you like that.”
Kelly held out her palm to stop him right there. “He’s my father.”
“That doesn’t give him carte blanche to abuse you.”
“It’s not abuse.”
“It’s bordering on it.”
“Butt out,” she said, louder than she’d meant to. It was complicated. She knew he was right, but she was too tired to fight about it. It was over. Her father’s medical bills were the final nail in their financial coffin. Her parents would lose the ranch—all because she hadn’t told her father about Trent when she should have. “It wasn’t always like this, you know. I mean he always had a short temper, but he only started getting really nasty after his first heart attack. I keep remembering happier times when he would tease us and we could tease him back. I wish I didn’t have to see him suffer and be in pain.”
There was a tense silence for a few minutes and then Trent said, “I got the paternity reports back today.”
“What did they say?” She couldn’t be more disinterested. It didn’t matter. All her careful plans about easing her father in to the truth had exploded when she hadn’t noticed Alissa eavesdropping on their conversation. Of course, there was a chance her father would have still acted the same way. Only in that situation, he would have done it in front of everyone, Alissa included. At least finding out the way he did, it had saved Alissa the heartbreak of watching her pawpaw break down.
“Alissa’s my daughter,” Trent said.
“Yes, I’m aware of that.” She stared into her wine. He wasn’t going to like what she was going to tell him, yet there was no way she couldn’t face the situation head on.
“Michael is not my son.”
The hurt in his voice caused her to look up. The relief she felt shamed her. She hadn’t wanted to share him with another woman, but there was a little boy who’d just lost a father. “Are you okay
?”
“Yeah, nothing’s going to change. I told that to Lana and Michael. He’s a great kid and he could use a father figure.”
“I’m glad,” she said, and meant it. That was one good outcome for today.
“And I sent in my DNA samples to a bunch of different databases. I’m going to try and find my father.”
“You are?”
Trent shrugged one shoulder. “It’s a long shot. But seeing Michael looking so lost and remembering how that felt, I started to wonder who my father is again, too.”
“You’re welcome to mine.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically.
“What do you know about him?” Kelly said.
“Not much. He was a bullfighter. She followed him around for a season.”
“Did Billy know him?”
“No.” Trent smirked. “My mother slept around. Billy doesn’t like telling me that. Like I have a leg to stand on in the judgment department.”
“Don’t.” She put her hand on his arm. “There’s no judgment. You were both young and sowing wild oats.”
“Yeah, well it seemed we sowed a bit more than oats.” Trent looked out the window of his office to Alissa.
“Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for.” She finished her wine and poured herself another glass.
“You seem more down than usual. Is there something more than your father bothering you?”
And there it was. She wanted to delay telling him, but if she learned nothing from her father’s meltdown, it was not to sit on important information. “I’m going back to New York.”
“You can’t.” Trent stared at her, dumbstruck.
She shook her head sadly. “I don’t have a choice.”
“You’re giving up on the photo studio? I thought that rich chick loved the sample photos you took.”
“He kicked me out. Again.”
Trent closed his eyes. “I don’t understand why.”
“For lying to him.”
“What purpose does that serve now?”
“It’s a pride thing, I think. He’s embarrassed and angry and this is how he reacts.”
“And your mother is on board with this?”
“Surprisingly, this time she isn’t. Although, I’m not sure I trust that completely. She says she’s on my side. So are my sisters. But they don’t want to upset him while he’s recovering, so I think it’s best that Alissa and I just go back to New York.”
“Best for who?”
Kelly paced the small office, draining her second glass of wine in one grateful gulp. She wanted to feel calm and sleepy, but it wasn’t working. Instead her stomach gurgled and she tasted fire in the back of her throat. “There’s no point in staying. His medical bills are going to finish the ranch. Even if Emily gets her field of wind turbines, we’re not going to keep the creditors at bay long enough to see any of our projects take off. You and Donovan are the lucky ones. Build up your school roster and then relocate somewhere that’s yours.”
“I like it here. We’ve made a few memories here.”
Kelly blushed. “We can make more. Just in New York.”
“Stay here with me. This is where you belong.”
“Here? There’s not enough room for all three of us.”
“Then we’ll rent an apartment or buy a condo.”
She wished she could do that. She wished it was that easy. It was too soon and there was so much she had to think of. If it had just been her and not Alissa, Kelly would have jumped at the chance to live with him. But what if it all went up in flames? She had to protect Alissa’s feelings. “I love you, Trent, but I’m not ready for that yet.”
He took in a shuddering breath. “That’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me. Why does it sound like goodbye?”
“Because it is. I’m never coming back here again. After this week, I’ll probably never even see my father again. And he’s going to die, disappointed in me.” Her voice broke and the next thing she knew, she was sobbing in his arms. Kelly had wanted to be strong, but at least Alissa couldn’t see her breaking down like this. She had to pull it together, but right now she needed Trent to comfort her and help her get through this. “All my life, I wanted to be his perfect little girl. But I couldn’t.”
“No one could live up to what he wanted.” Trent stroked her back and kissed her head. “Do you want me to talk to him?”
She hiccupped against his shirt. “Do you want him to have another heart attack?”
He stiffened under her hands. “Does your family blame me?”
“No, no. I was making a dumb joke. You’re not the first person he lost his temper about. Thank you for not pressing charges against him for assaulting you.”
“Well if he hadn’t had a heart attack right there in front of me, I probably would have assaulted him back. I still might,” Trent added. “Stay.” He cupped her cheek and tilted her head so she looked up at him.
“I don’t want to be here when he gets out. I don’t want to subject Alissa to that. I’ve booked our flight back for the end of the week.”
“That soon? Why didn’t you talk this over with me before you bought the tickets?”
“There’s nothing to say.”
“And if I want my daughter here with me?”
A muscle worked in her jaw. “Trent, don’t do this to me. Not now.” She couldn’t take one more thing going wrong.
“What about what you’re doing to me?” He tried to take her back into his arms, but she moved away. “Frank may be discharged out of the hospital soon, but they’re going to put him in rehab for his hip for a few months. Emily told me and Donovan a few days ago.
“I need to get back to my life and stop chasing this silly dream of saving the Three Sisters Ranch. I need to make my own dream of having my own business come true.”
“There’s nothing you can’t do here that you’d be doing in New York. Stay. Forget your father. Stay for me and for Alissa.”
“There are too many bad memories in that ranch house for me to stay, whether he’s there or not.”
“Then stay here with me or at the Bluebonnet Inn. We can even go a few towns over.”
“I need some space, Trent.” She needed to lick her wounds and recover from her father’s latest insanity. Anger simmered inside her. How dare he kick her off the ranch, when she’d dropped everything to come here and save it?
“Then leave Alissa here with me until you figure things out.”
She gasped. “I can’t do that. She barely knows you.”
“Her aunts and grandmother are right next door.” Trent jerked his thumb in the direction of the ranch house.
“Her home is with me.”
“She has two homes now. Wherever you are and wherever I am.”
“How can you be so cruel as to take her away from me?” Kelly cried out, wiping furiously at the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
“I could ask you the same question.” His face was sad, but stoic.
“Do what you have to do, Trent.” She stormed out of his office, slamming the door. “Let’s go,” she said, hauling up Alissa, not caring that the popcorn spilled all over the floor.
“Noooo,” Alissa complained. “I want to stay.”
Kelly’s broken heart shattered into a million pieces, but she didn’t let Alissa go. Once they were in the car driving back to the house, Kelly tried to keep it together. This was for the best. Or was it? Hell, she didn’t know what she wanted, anymore. But it wasn’t this.
Chapter Sixteen
Trent sat in his office drinking the rest of the bottle of wine before switching to whiskey. By the time his glass was empty, he had already made his decision. He called up Enrique Chavez and hoped he wasn’t slurring his words.
“Have you got my purse money yet?” he asked as a conversation starter.
Enrique was ready for him. “If you wear patches on your vest of a few of my handpicked sponsors during every interview you do and during the ride, you get your thre
e million dollars—if you go the full eight seconds. Otherwise, you get one million.”
That would have to be enough. “I’ll have Billy call you to iron out the details.”
“It’s good to have you back, Trent.”
Three million dollars for eight seconds.
Billy was going to kill him.
Chapter Seventeen
Kelly was in the waiting room of the hospital playing Chutes and Ladders with Alissa and another little boy who was there with his father. She wasn’t sure why she bothered coming in. Her father still refused to see her. She glanced at her phone, hoping Trent would return her messages. He’d stopped answering his phone. Kelly wondered if he really was ghosting her this time. She wanted to see him one last time before she left for New York. She wanted to make it right.
She was going to offer him school vacations and then all summer, as long as she was there too. Kelly knew it wasn’t ideal, but it was the best she could do. They could FaceTime every day. But in her heart, she knew if the situation was reversed, she would be wretched. She didn’t know how to fix this.
Emily burst through the waiting room doors, her eyes wide and panicked. Fear slammed Kelly’s heart against her rib cage. “Get in there,” she said. “I’ll stay here with Alissa.”
Emily gave her a quick hug as she rushed past. Kelly didn’t know what to expect, but when she rushed into the hospital room, her father scowled at her. “Get out. And turn this shit off.”
No one was paying attention to him. Janice was riveted to the television set, her hand over her mouth. Her mother was staring at Trent on ESPN. He was wearing full bull-riding gear as he spoke to Lana.
“What’s going on?” Kelly asked.
“I said turn this shit off,” her father grumbled.
“Shh,” Janice said and raised the volume.
“Are you sure your body is recovered enough to get back on a bull? And not just any bull, but Corazon del Diablo,” Lana said, her perfect face taut and unsmiling.
“I can do anything for eight seconds.”
The Cowboy’s Daughter Page 17