The Hard Way

by Jill Sanders

  “You grew up just down the street, basically,” her mother said.

  “Yeah,” he said, holding Mel’s hand under the table. “We figured that out.”

  “What brought you to… here?” her father asked.

  “Fate,” he said, winking at Mel before telling the quick story of how their parents had died and how he and Dylan had ended up in Haven. How Dylan had married and had a daughter now.

  He was just finishing up his story when Tyler and Kristen and their kids walked into the room. Spotting them, the family made their way towards their table.

  “Looks like we showed up just in time,” Tyler said, easily shaking Brent’s hand.

  Clare, their four-year-old daughter, climbed up into Brent’s lap, stuffed dolly and all. He held onto her, making sure to bounce slightly like the little girl liked.

  “Pull up a few chairs,” Brent said and motioned to the table next to them. Tyler and Timothy quickly pushed the tables together as Kristen held onto their youngest daughter.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Hawk, this is Tyler and Kristen McGowan. Their son, Timothy, their daughters Clare and Reagan. These are Mel’s parents,” he added.

  Tyler reached out and shook Mel’s father’s hand, then paused. “Hawk?” Tyler’s eyes grew big. “Well, shoot, if I’d known we’d be having dinner with the head of RIC, I would have…” He glanced down and then smiled. “Good, I am wearing my good shirt.”

  Kristen chuckled and slapped her husband playfully on the shoulder.

  “McGowan?” Roy frowned. “Tyler McGowan? McGowan Enterprises?”

  “The very same,” Tyler said.

  “Uncle Brent, fix my dolly’s dress,” Clare said, getting his attention. For the next few moments, he helped the little girl dress her doll while Tyler and Roy compared bank accounts. Or whatever it was rich business tycoons did when talking to one another. Mel and her mother talked with Kristen about how well Timothy was doing in sports. Really, he’d gotten the long straw, entertaining a four-year-old.

  When their food arrived, the McGowans ordered their food. Before Darla had finished taking their order, Trent, Addy, Hope, and Grace came in the front door as well. Without waiting for an invitation, the family pulled another table up to theirs. More introductions were made and, suddenly, three girls were vying for his attention and dolly-dressing skills.

  He was just beginning to wonder how the little dollies ended up naked all the time when Trey and Dylan walked in. He excused himself from the three girls and went to grab his niece from her carrier.

  He didn’t know how they had lucked out, getting all the McGowans there for dinner to help support and impress her parents, but it seemed to be doing the trick. Not only were her parents more relaxed with the McGowans around, but they stopped looking at him as if he was the most foul-smelling thing in the room.

  When he took his niece back to the kitchen to show her off to TK and the rest of the kitchen crew, TK answered that question for him.

  “You have Darla to thank for getting the McGowans in here tonight,” TK said, gently rocking Bella in her arms.

  “Darla?”

  “Sure. When she noticed Mel’s parents snubbing you, she figured you might need backup.” TK smiled when the little girl reached up and wrapped a hand around her fingers. “She even made sure the tables around you were free.”

  He glanced towards the front and watched as Darla laughed at something Addy said.

  “She’s changed,” he said under his breath.

  “You have no idea,” TK said, handing Bella back to him. “Now, as much as I’d like to spend the rest of the night playing with this beauty, I have orders to fill,” TK said with a smile.

  When he walked back out and sat next to Mel, she looked a little overwhelmed. He handed her Bella and took over the conversation for a while.

  When Darla stopped by to clear the table, he made a point to pull her aside and thank her for calling in reinforcements.

  “I figured that since they were talking down their noses at you, you should be able to rub their noses in your connections,” Darla said with a shrug. “It was the least I could do for all the hell I put you through.”

  “It wasn’t hell,” he assured her.

  She smiled. “Mutual hell then.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “Okay, mutual hell. Thanks, anyway.”

  “Thank you for not firing me after Mel gave me a chance when no one else in town would,” Darla said.

  “No one would?” He frowned.

  Darla shrugged and then turned to grab her next orders. “Water under the bridge,” she said and disappeared.

  “Who was that?” he asked Mary when she walked by. Mary chuckled.

  “We’ve been asking that question for a few weeks now,” Mary said as she ducked back out front.

  When he stepped out of the kitchen, Mel was standing and talking to his sister, who was rocking Bella back and forth while strapped in her carrier.

  “She’s fussy,” Dylan told him. “The car ride home will calm her down.” She reached up on her toes and laid a kiss on his cheek. “I think we impressed them,” she whispered in her ear. “The rest is up to you. Night,” she called out, and then she followed the rest of the McGowan families out the door.

  Yes, he thought, the rest was up to him. Now, he just had to impress some of the richest and meanest people in the world so they would stop trying to put their daughter in jail and take her away from him.

  Chapter 24

  There was nothing more nerve-wracking than having dinner with the man you loved and your parents who wanted to lock you up and send you back to your abusive ex-husband.

  Having the McGowans there through the rest of dinner relaxed things. Especially with all the kids running around, playing with Brent.

  When he’d been holding Bella, her mother had leaned over and whispered to her, “At least he’s good with kids.”

  What did that even mean? Was her mother trying to tell her that she approved of Brent? What about trying to ship her back to Ethan?

  Sure, they had sat upstairs and listened to her side of the story. Her father had even called his lawyer, Jim Parker, to look into her legal issues. Did they really not know what they had signed? That they were basically turning on their daughter and having her hunted down by the police? As the reporter had put it, she was one of the most wanted women in the States because of them. Still, she figured she’d play along with their game, just as long as Brent and the rest of the gang were standing by her side.

  Besides, the way she figured it, the longer her parents hung around, the less likely it was that Ethan would do anything crazy.

  The entire time they’d been together, he’d gone out of his way to impress them, lying and hiding everything he’d done to Mel.

  It had stung that her parents had so easily taken his side. Then again, her entire childhood had been them buying her off one way or another. They thought money solved all of their family issues, including absolving them from the need to show love.

  Growing up, she hadn’t minded. She hadn’t wanted or needed love. Not when they had given her a credit card without any limits, new cars that rivaled those driven by movie stars, clothes from only the best designers, and anything else she’d asked for. She could look back now and realize just how spoiled she’d been.

  She’d been ripe for the picking by the time Ethan came around, giving her something she’d never had before. There was no doubt why she’d fallen hard and fast for him.

  She kept telling herself that she would never fall for anyone like that again, and as she lay wrapped in Brent’s arms that night with her parents across the hallway, she knew she hadn’t. Brent was nothing like Ethan. Nothing.

  No matter what happened, she couldn’t imagine Brent losing his temper or hitting anyone. But every man had his limits.

  “I can hear you thinking,” Brent said, breaking into her thoughts.

  “Sorry.” She smiled and looked down at him. “I thought you were sleeping.”<
br />
  “I was. Those gears up there”—he tapped the side of her head lightly—“woke me.” He leaned up and kissed her. “What’s up?”

  She sighed before speaking. “It’s weird, right? My parents.”

  Even in the dark, she could see his eyebrows arching upward. “If you mean how much you look like your mother, then yes.”

  She sighed again. Her entire life she’d tried to avoid looking like her mother. Now, however, she no longer cared. She was what she was.

  “I mean them sticking around here. I’ve never known them to stay in a place with fewer than five stars and two butlers.” She shifted slightly so she could relax against his chest.

  “If they expect me to butler around after them, they’d better get used to disappointment,” he said, making her chuckle.

  “I doubt it. My mother was impressed with your skill to tame the girls tonight,” she added, unsure of why she was bringing it up.

  “I do have a way with the ladies,” he said easily as his arms tightened around her. “Maybe they’ll leave in the morning?”

  “One can hope,” she said with a sigh.

  “Do you think they’ll call off the law?”

  She’d been wondering the same thing but hadn’t wanted to voice it for fear she would get her hopes up.

  “I’m hoping,” she admitted. “Daddy looked shocked after hearing what Ethan had tricked him into signing. It’s strange—my father has always been a very shrewd businessman. But where Ethan was concerned, it was as if he was suddenly a blind man being led by the devil himself.”

  Brent was quiet for a moment. “I won’t be so easily fooled.”

  “No.” She leaned up and looked down at him again. “You wouldn’t be.” She placed a soft kiss on his lips.

  The next morning, since it was a Sunday, Brent woke early and headed downstairs to make their usually Sunday morning meal. She showered earlier than normal, since she knew that her parents were late risers, and headed downstairs to help Brent cook.

  By the time her parents came downstairs, they were sitting out on the back patio, her sipping her tea and Brent on his second cup of coffee. The scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast they had made sat in the warmer waiting for them to come downstairs. She had cut up some fresh fruit for her mother and had put out some yogurt since she understood her mother had been on a diet her entire life.

  Not that she’d needed it, since she and her mother weighed the same.

  “This is nice,” her mother said, stepping out on to the back porch, “having the entire place to ourselves for the morning.”

  “We’re closed on Sundays,” she supplied.

  “We’ve made breakfast,” Brent mentioned. “Coffee?”

  “Oh no, I don’t touch the stuff. If you have tea…” her mother said.

  “I’ll get it.” Brent stood up and offered her mother his chair next to the firepit. The morning was a little chilly, even though she knew the late-summer heat would hit mid-morning. “Do you like honey? Sugar?”

  “Milk,” her mother said. “Half and half, if you have it.”

  “Roy?” Brent asked.

  “Coffee, black,” her father replied, taking a seat across from her.

  When Brent stepped inside to get their drinks, her dad turned to her.

  “I just got off the phone with Jim. He’s assured me that by the end of today, all the charges against you will be dropped and any history of your arrest will be cleaned up as well.” Just hearing her father’s words allowed her to release some emotions that had kept her wound as tight as a spring for months.

  She actually started seeing stars and had to take a few deep breaths as she looked out over the countryside to get back in control of herself.

  “Thank you,” she said finally.

  “I’ve also pulled a few strings to find out about your ex.” Her ex? The fact that her father hadn’t called him Ethan or her husband told her that the bromance was officially over between her father and Ethan.

  When her father had been under Ethan’s spell, the pair would hang out and watch sports and go on excursions together. The kinds of things that her father had never done with her.

  “And?” she asked after a moment.

  Her dad took a deep breath. “It appears that after he withdrew the five hundred thousand—”

  “Five?” She sat up. “You mean two hundred thousand.”

  Her father frowned at her. “No, there was five hundred in that account.”

  She shook her head. “What?” She swallowed. Just then Brent stepped out holding a tray of hot drinks over his shoulder, much like a waiter would have done. The reality that he was in fact butlering for her parents had her holding in a chuckle and forgetting all about her ex stealing half a million dollars from her and her parents.

  Smiling, she watched Brent pass out the drinks.

  “Will you press charges?” she asked her father after he took a sip of his coffee.

  “I’m having Jim hunt the man down,” her father said when Brent sat next to her on the sofa. “Apparently, after he cleaned out the account, he took an extended leave from his job for a few months. He came back shortly after you went MIA, then took off again about a month ago. Rumors are that he has a place in Mexico somewhere.”

  “Ethan hates Mexico.” She frowned. “Well, foreigners at any rate.” The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Ethan would probably hate American Indians as well. Anyone with dark skin had been a target for him.

  She glanced over at Brent and relaxed into his arms. If she wanted proof that the two men were nothing alike, all she had to do was look at the people they kept close.

  “At any rate, his father says that he’s due back in the office this next week. We’ll get some answers from him one way or another,” her father finished.

  “So, you’re planning on returning to Seattle?” she asked.

  “Yes, our flight leaves this evening,” her mother said. “We were hoping we could convince you to tag along, at least for a while?”

  “No,” she automatically answered, then she glanced over at Brent. “I’m needed here. I have a job and…” She turned back to her parents. “I don’t want to leave just now.”

  Her mother nodded. “We thought so. Anytime you want to come back, for a visit,” she added quickly, “you’re welcome.” Then her mother turned her eyes to Brent. “You as well, Brent. We can’t thank you enough for taking our Melinda in when she needed someone.”

  “I’m the lucky one,” Brent answered, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer.

  “Now, did I hear someone mention bacon?” Her father stood up.

  They all sat on the porch under the new awning, which Brent had finished a few days previous, and ate breakfast.

  Less than an hour later, they walked her parents out to their rental. She stood stiffly when her mother hugged her and said her goodbyes.

  “I like your new man,” her mother had softly. “He has a nice family.”

  Mel understood and translated her mother’s words easily to mean that she’d been impressed with Brent’s connections to the McGowans.

  When her father approached her, a very stern look upon his face, she stiffened even more. She was shocked when he wrapped his arms around her and whispered.

  “I’m sorry.” Nothing more. Then his arms fell away as quickly as they had grabbed her.

  In all her years, she’d never once heard her father apologize for anything.

  She stood with Brent’s arms wrapped around her as her parents disappeared down the road in their rental car.

  “Well, that went better than expected,” Brent said as they started walking back inside.

  “My father apologized,” she blurted out.

  “Good.” He turned her in his arms.

  “They’re dropping the charges and expunging my arrest.” She turned back to look at the empty road. The dust from the dirt lane was still settling.

  He smiled. “Think they can do that with
my records?” he joked, causing her to smile.

  “I never thought…” She shook her head and felt tears stinging her eyes.

  “Don’t do that,” he said softly, cupping her face.

  “I can’t help it.” She smiled as the tears rolled down her cheeks. “For almost a full year, I feared I’d end up in some cell waiting for Ethan to come get me.”

  “He’s not going to get close to you. Not ever again,” Brent promised her, and she believed him.

  Then he leaned down and kissed her. “Let’s go on a hike. It’s a nice day and we have nothing to do now that we got rid of your folks.”

  She smiled. “I’d like that. Maybe we can cross the creek? See your land? Plot out where you want to build that log cabin.”

  He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “That is an amazing idea.”

  They headed back upstairs and changed into their hiking clothes, which consisted for her of her worn jeans, an old T-shirt, and a sweatshirt, along with the waterproof hiking boots that she’d purchased on her last trip to Helena.

  Brent’s attire was basically the same with the addition of the small backpack that he wore, which carried their refillable water bottles and some snacks for later.

  They crossed the field, taking their time to stop and talk about where they would put each of the thirty-five RV spots, the firepits, the swimming pool, and the general facilities, which would include laundry rooms, bathrooms with showers, and a large outdoor dining area attached to the pool area. They also talked about where they planned to build the gazebo for those special events TK had suggested.

  When they entered the trees, she was surprised at just how far the creek was beyond the tree line. The thicket had gotten denser, and the orange flags were no longer visible through the underbrush.

  “Wow, I guess things have really grown up since the last time we were out here,” Brent said. “It’s amazing what a few weeks can do.”

  “It’s been almost two months,” she said, turning to him. “How can it be only two months?” She shook her head as he pulled her closer.