Destined for Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 2) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  Jane’s eyes welled with tears. “That’s hers,” she whispered. “She used to talk about this dance of two lovers.” She looked at Hal. “Remember?”

  Hal nodded; his eyes were also damp.

  Jane continued. “Everything in their lives was meant to keep them apart, and against all odds, they found their way to each other.” She looked up at Rex. “Your father had that necklace made for your mother for her fifteenth birthday. She treasured it, wore it every day. One day she didn’t have it on, and when I asked her why, she said she’d put it in a safe place for someone who would need it more than she and your father.”

  Hal lowered his eyes.

  “Dad?” Rex watched his father close his eyes and rub them with his thumb and forefinger. He saw so much of himself in his father’s mannerisms that his heart clamped down, dislodging the simmering anger that had settled there only moments before.

  “Her father didn’t want us together either,” his father admitted.

  “I don’t understand any of this, but, Dad, Mr. Braden, what do we have to do to get past this family feud?” Jade asked.

  Rex stepped forward and took Jade’s hand. “If we can’t resolve this, Jade and I will be forced to build our lives without you. The choice is yours.” She squeezed his hand and leaned in to him. Rex put his arm around her. “I love your daughter. Let me love your daughter.”

  Earl Johnson stepped forward, eye to eye with Hal. “You know that I’m not buying any of this necklace bullshit, so if this is your way of having our children mend the miles of broken fence between us, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  Hal shifted his eyes to Rex and Jade, clinging together in a bubble of love so thick, Rex knew they all could see it. He brought his eyes back to Earl.

  “You screwed Adriana over. All those years ago, you threw loyalty out the window and threw us both under the bus at the same time,” Hal said.

  “I had no choice. I know we agreed not to do business with the worthless son of a bitch, but I had no choice. I’d have lost everything.” Earl’s harsh tone carried angrily into the night.

  “Bullshit. I could have given you enough money to carry you over a few months; instead you went and dealt with the devil,” Hal accused.

  “Damn it, Hal. You’re the most stubborn, bullheaded man I know,” Earl snapped.

  Treat and Josh stepped up and flanked their father, chins held high.

  “No, he’s not, Earl. Have you looked in the mirror? You’re every bit as stubborn. Yes, you needed the money, but you knew that selling horses to that man was wrong. You admitted as much then, and you did it anyway,” Jane said.

  “I was building a life with you. Without that money, we’d have had to sell the ranch altogether.” Earl looked from Hal to Jane and then to Jade.

  Jade and her mother were looking at Earl with serious eyes, almost cold. Rex felt badly for him. “I can’t even pretend to understand what this is all about, but my best guess is that you broke some time-honored loyalty to my father, and my father, being the honor-driven man he is, tossed you aside for it.” He shot a heated stare at his father. “I can think of only one solution to your mess. Forgive and forget, or kick us out of town. The ball’s in your court.”

  He took Jade’s hand and pulled her toward the driveway, then turned back to the stunned faces of his siblings. “I’ll do that one better. If you two can grow up, I’ll buy that patch of land between your two ranches and build a house there for me and Jade. Cash deal, but only…only if you two make up, because I’m not going to have my children feeling the stress of grandparents who can’t communicate.”

  “Children?” Jade asked as they headed up the driveway toward her car.

  “Son!” His father’s voice stopped him in his tracks. Every muscle clenched. This was it. No one challenged Hal Braden. He dropped Jade’s hand and faced his father.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You know what you’re asking me to do. This family lives by three steadfast beliefs: a strong work ethic, family loyalty, and honesty. If you don’t believe in family honor, then you’re the not man I thought you were.” Hal held Rex’s stare.

  Treat walked up behind his father and said, “What happened to family knows no boundaries?”

  Hal spun around and looked Treat dead in the eyes. “You stay out of this, son.”

  “It’s okay, Treat. I understand his feelings.” Rex wasn’t about to beg for his father’s forgiveness for falling in love with a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful woman. He turned to leave. Each painful step as he moved away from his father felt like a knife in his heart.

  “Son, I’m talking to you, and when I’m talking to you, eyes remain on me.” His father’s commanding voice boomed through the night.

  Rex took a deep breath and turned around. He crossed his arms. He’d known it would be hard to stand up to his father, but he hadn’t anticipated the gut-wrenching agony of a slow departure. He wanted to flee, get as far away as quickly as possible and pretend the man he’d built his life around hadn’t tossed him aside like he didn’t matter. He wanted to wrap Jade in his arms and feel her love so he would know he’d done the right thing. He didn’t want to look into his father’s dark eyes and say goodbye, but for Jade, he would do just that.

  His father walked closer, until they were less than a foot apart and he could see every whisker, every wrinkle, on his father’s face.

  “I hate the way you handled this,” his father said.

  No doubt. I should have told you fifteen years ago. “Yes, sir. So do I.”

  “But I hate how I handled it even more. This crazy-ass feud took over, and when your mama died, I let that feud run all kinds of crazy into my head. I had so much anger inside me, son. I needed an outlet.”

  A lump lodged itself in Rex’s throat. He felt Jade slide her hand into his, and he drew strength from her touch.

  “I had six kids to raise, and I couldn’t take it out on each of you, but damned if I didn’t need a place for it. And that feud was a solid outlet. I didn’t think it would hurt anyone, and what he did was wrong. He sold horses to a man who caused all sorts of hell for your mother when she was younger.” Hal lowered his gaze, then looked back up at Jade and shook his head. “Rex, you’re more of a man than I could ever be. You were loyal to me for far longer than I probably deserved. I knew how you felt about Jade when you were younger, and I should have released you from my grip back then, but I couldn’t. Every time I thought about your mother and the way that old neighbor, Joe Richter, treated her, how he tried to stand between us, how low he made her feel, I saw red. You’re loyalty lasted thirty-four years, son, and now it’s doing what it should. It’s shifting to the woman you love. It’s shifting to your family.”

  Rex looked at Jade and wiped the tear that slid slowly down her cheek with the pad of his thumb. Then he turned to his father, but words eluded him. He stepped forward and embraced the man who’d taught him how to be a man.

  “I’m sorry, son. We do the best we can in this world, and sometimes that’s not quite good enough.”

  “You did fine, Dad. Thank you for your support.” When they pulled apart, Rex bit back the tears that threatened to fall as his father approached Jade.

  “Jade, you’re a feisty, beautiful woman, and you did not deserve our family’s back turned on you for so long. I hope you’ll accept my apology. I’m truly sorry.”

  “Of course,” she said as he scooped her into his big arms and held her close.

  Rex barely heard his father whispering in her ear.

  “That boy of mine has never had eyes for any other woman, and damn if his mother didn’t know that you two were meant for each other. Hell, even Hope knew it.” He looked at Rex and shook his head. “Son, one thing you need to know. As much as we hate to admit it, women are right most of the time.” He turned back to Jade. “Now, don’t you let that go to your head, because I’ll deny ever saying it.” He winked. “And another thing, don’t you hurt him, ya hear?”

  Jad
e cracked a wide smile. “Not on your life.”

  His father pulled away from Jade and said, “Now we gotta talk to that stubborn mule of a father of yours.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  THERE WAS SOMETHING different in Jade’s mother’s eyes. In the space of ten heated minutes, the subservient softness had been replaced with confidence and an underlying beat of disturbance. Jade stood before her now and wondered if her mother was going to stand up and fight for her and Rex, or if she was going to be up against them both.

  Under the light of the moon, the Bradens stood on one side of the driveway and the Johnsons on the other, with the exception of Rex and Jade, who stood in the space between.

  Savannah and Josh came to Jade’s side. Savannah set her hand on her shoulder. All the wonder that Jade had felt about being accepted into Rex’s family was replaced with gratefulness, and as she watched her father’s clenched jaw and furrowed brow, she still had no idea how to soften his resolve.

  “Jade Johnson, this is the position you put me in, after all the years of love I’ve given you?” Her father’s desultory tone told of his own wavering surety of the accusation.

  Jade drew her shoulders back and opened her mouth to speak, but her mother stepped in, cutting her off.

  “How dare you thrust this on Jade! Jade isn’t putting you in any position. She’s fallen in love, Earl. Do you even remember what that feels like? Remember how you used to call me at night and never want to hang up? Or all the walks we took in the moonlight? Don’t you have any memory of holding my hand those first few dates and telling me how it was all so new to you? Remember how much you ached when we had to say goodnight and go our separate ways?”

  Jade couldn’t even imagine her father doing those things. She watched her mother searching her father’s eyes. Savannah squeezed her shoulder, and without thinking, Jade covered her hand with her own. She saw Treat walk up behind them, and she felt his hand on top of hers. Rex’s family was every bit as loving as he was. She felt safe with them as she watched her mother drawing emotion from her father’s stoic gaze.

  “Earl, Jade can’t have that. She can’t have any of it. They have to go to another town just to spend time with each other. She has to lie to her own father to see the man she loves.”

  Shit, how did she find out? Rex squeezed her hand and Jade held on tight, bracing herself for her father’s harsh reaction and for possibly losing him altogether.

  “Earl.” Jane softened her tone. “Your daughter can’t love the man she should because you are too scared to say you made a mistake. I lost my best friend and never got to mourn her or hold her children while they grieved for her. I never got to tell them how much she loved them. I was never able to help Hal with all those hurting babies because of your childish behavior. I can’t get those years back, and neither can they. When I think of all the promises I made to Adriana, all those previous years that I swore to Adriana I would share with them. They’re lost, Earl. Lost!”

  “Mom.” Jade reached out to her.

  Her mother kept her eyes trained on her father. “No, Jade. This is between your father and me. Damn it, Earl. I love Adriana’s family as much as I love our own family. I’m with Jade on this. If you want to keep us together, you need to apologize to them—all of them—and move forward. Hal has done his part. He’s accepted Jade into his family. Please. Rex is a good man.” She turned tear-filled eyes toward Rex. “He’s a wonderful man, and he loves our daughter very much.”

  “Damn it, Jane. I was trying to save our property and allow us to have a future. All we had was what we made on the ranch. We didn’t have any money to fall back on. Hell, we didn’t have money to start breeding horses, which is why I bought from someone other than the guy Hal recommended in the first place, but it turned out to be too good to be true. I wanted to make something of our ranch for you. I wanted to be successful so you could be proud.” He turned away and rubbed his chin, then brought his attention back to his wife and spoke with a softer tone. “I failed at horse breeding because I tried to buy the horses for less than the normal price. I didn’t know they weren’t real thoroughbreds.”

  Jane gasped. “Oh dear.”

  “It’s not an excuse, Jane. It’s the truth. I was tricked, and it ruined me. Do you know what that felt like, to admit defeat? Do you have any idea what it felt like to fail so badly that I had no choice but to sell all those beautiful horses and go to work at that goddamned company? That wasn’t our plan.” He turned to Hal. “Remember, Hal? Our plan was to be ranchers, breed horses. Well, no one wanted my damned horses because they weren’t thoroughbreds at all.”

  Hal’s jaw clenched; his eyes narrowed.

  Earl continued. “I’m not proud of what I did, but what choice did I have? I either had to admit that I’d been hoodwinked—which would only prove to you that I was cheap in the first place—or try to cheat the system once I realized that I’d been tricked. You know I’d never do that. I’m not that kind of man. My only other option was to do what I did and sell them to that bastard Richter. He was the only one who would buy them, and the only way I could keep the ranch was to do just that. Hal, it’s true that I knew what he’d done to Adriana, and I’m not proud of my decisions. But I couldn’t have looked you in the eye—or, Jane, God knows I couldn’t have looked into your trusting eyes—and told you what had happened. I couldn’t lose you both, so when it came down to it, I knew I couldn’t lose the woman I loved. Hal, this was the only way I could figure to at least keep my marriage alive.”

  “Earl,” Jane said, “I’ve never cared about material things. We could live in town, or in an apartment, and I never would have cared. Even now, we’re having financial issues again. So what? Sell it all off.”

  Earl grew silent. He took his wife’s hand in his. “We’re not having financial trouble, Jane. I told you that because I knew if I told you the truth, you’d fight me on it. I want to sell some of our land so that if something happens to me, you can remain in our house without needing to do anything more than have someone tend the yard. I’m tired, Jane. I want time with you. More than anything in this world, I want to spend less time worrying about horses and property and more time enjoying your company.” He held his hands out to his sides. “Look at me. I’m not gonna live forever.”

  “Oh, Earl.” Jane wiped a tear from her eye. “You make the worst decisions, for the best reasons.” She drew him into her arms.

  Jade watched her parents change right before her eyes. Her strong, self-assured father, the man she both feared and loved, approached her, looking deflated and relieved.

  “Darlin’, obviously I’m in the wrong here. I’m often in the wrong, though I am terribly embarrassed that my little girl has to know that.”

  “Daddy—”

  “Let me finish, please, before I lose my nerve. I’ve always tried to do the right thing by you. And now the cat’s out of the bag. Your daddy is not the man you thought he was, but my love for you and Steven and your mother is more real than the mud on my shoes. If you love Rex Braden, well, hell, then I’ll love Rex Braden. If your heart hurts, my heart hurts.” He looked at Hal. “Ain’t that right, Hal?”

  Hal nodded.

  “Family knows no boundaries,” Earl said.

  “Family knows no boundaries,” Hal repeated.

  “Hal, I’m sorry about disrespecting Adriana by dealing with that thief, but if I was going to keep up with you and make a go of the ranch, I had no choice. It was the only way I could afford the horses—and, it turned out, I’d have been better off not having a ranch at all.”

  “I could have fronted you the money. Hell, Earl, you didn’t need to breed horses at all,” Hal said.

  “That was our plan. I wanted our plan to work. Then one thing led to another, and suddenly I was trying to save my family. I wasn’t trying to cause any more hurt to her. Treat, Rex, Savannah, Josh, your mother loved you more than life itself, and I’m sorry that your father and I stood between my wife and each of you.” When he
looked into Jade’s eyes, tears welled in his. “Darlin’…”

  Jade jumped into his arms. “It’s okay, Daddy. I love you.” She hadn’t realized how much anger she’d been carrying about the feud, but suddenly she felt lighter, even with the tears in her eyes and the discomfort that wrapped around each of them, tying them all together, pulling them down while they tried so hard to stay above the surface.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON, after the horse show had ended, the Bradens gathered for their typical afternoon barbeque. Josh manned the grill while Treat and Max stood arm in arm beside him, teasing him about adding too much pepper to the chicken. Treat pulled Max into a deep, passionate kiss, and this time, when Rex watched them, he didn’t experience the familiar flash of jealousy. He pulled Jade closer to his side and lowered his mouth onto hers. She leaned in to him, and he wrapped his hand beneath her long, dark hair and kissed her. He could kiss her forever and never tire of it—and he planned on it.

  Savannah came out of the house. “Get a room!” Her cell phone rang, and she looked at the number, then said, “I’m gonna take this over there.” She walked back toward the house.

  Rex finally let Jade up for air. He loved the rosy flush that covered her cheeks and the breathless way she tried to recover from their kisses. “I love you,” he said to her.

  She touched his cheek. “Those words…that kiss…you’re just trying to get into my pants,” she teased.

  Their families were just beginning to clear a path toward each other. It would take time, but they were making strides, and Rex wasn’t going to stop pushing until the path was no longer hidden beneath the brush, but cleared and lined with olive branches.

  Hope had been fine ever since their families reconciled, although, when Rex noticed the parallel, Josh was quick to correct him. You mean since Jade gave him that massage.

  He watched his father leaning against the fence, and for the hundredth time that day, was thankful for their reconciliation.