Prince Not So Charming: A Royal Love Story
Page 37
“That’s all it’ll cost you. And then it will be yours. Free and clear. No attorneys watching every dollar you spend.”
Ohmygod.
So it was true.
Clay had sold the ranch. But he’d done it to help me.
It was mine. All mine. For the price of one dollar.
The burned down house.
The half-burnt barn.
The animals.
The debts.
Oh crap.
Then I remembered the insurance check, on its way to me now. Would it be enough to not only rebuild the house but also dig the failing ranch out of ruin? I doubted it.
The sad truth was I didn’t know if I wanted the ranch. A part of me felt I should want it. It was the only remaining tie I had to my father’s side of my family. For that reason alone I should want it. Adding to that, Clay had just gone to a lot of trouble and expense to make sure I could have it free and clear, with no outside influences. If I didn’t buy it back, I was telling him I didn’t appreciate all he’d done.
But, then again, one fact remained.
I didn’t know shit about how to run a ranch. At least, how to profitably run a ranch.
And now I didn’t even have Harper to help.
Holy crap. What was I going to do?
“What’s wrong?” His brows knitted.
It would have been easy to lie, to tell him nothing was wrong. Because I knew that was what he’d want to hear. He wished I would thank him for his selfless act and accept the offer with due enthusiasm, as I would have expected if our positions had been reversed. But after just accusing him (falsely) of lying, that would make me a world-class bitch.
No, this man deserved the truth, even if he didn’t like what he heard.
“Clay, I don’t know how to run the ranch.”
His eyes widened.
Compelled by the look of disbelief on his face, I continued, “What I said earlier--about me being better off without the ranch--was true. It’s a big mess now, thanks to the fire. The house is gone. The debt is growing every day, thanks to the cost of housing the animals at the neighbor’s. It’s too much.” I threw my hands in the air as a tear of frustration leaked from my eye. “I can’t do it.” I dragged my hand across my face. Trembling. My hand was trembling.
I was such a fucking baby.
“You can if I help you.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his warm body. And I relished his embrace. When I closed my eyes, I could hear the steady drumbeat of his heart. I could feel his chest rise and fall. I could smell the scents of life, of Wyoming air and wild grasses. And I could believe. “Together we can turn it around.” His hand stroked my hair. “Trust me.”
Trust him.
Once again, he was asking me to trust him. After all the times I’d done the exact opposite.
He pinched my chin and lifted it until my eyes found his. “Morgan, I want you to be happy. I want whatever you want. It’s your choice. Yours.”
Nothing like putting on the pressure.
What did I want?
Did I want to live in California with Harper? To watch her mix and mingle with Hollywood’s elite? Would I want to live in her world, of riches and egos and mansions? Of living lies and illusion?
No.
Had I ever wanted to live in that world?
Hell no.
But did that mean I wanted the ranch?
Well…?
I sure didn’t enjoy the hard work that went along with the ranch. Or the frustration.
And what about my dreams? Of helping girls?
Was there a way for me to make a place for myself here in Dawson, without totally giving up the dreams I had for a career? After all, what better way to teach than by doing? By being a living, breathing example?
I’d dreamed of helping girls find the power they all held within. Being powerful didn’t mean I couldn’t accept help when it was offered.
That sparked an idea.
A wonderful idea.
I reached into my purse and pinched a dollar bill. My lips curled up as I slid it out.
“Tell your seller I’ll buy. On one condition.”
Clay’s smile amped up to the wattage of the freaking sun. “What condition?”
“You manage the ranch.”
He jerked a nod. “Done.”
“But we’re going to fire the rest of the crew. We’re going in a totally different direction. Hiring young women.”
That mega-watt smile dimmed. “Girls?”
“All girls. Teens. Troubled teens. My girls are going to learn they don’t have to rely upon a man for anything. They’ll learn what I should have. What my aunt knew. How to split wood. And repair cars and tractors. And take care of animals. How to build a whole fucking barn. And how to be fierce, independent and feminine.”
“Babe.” He sandwiched my face between his hands. “You’re crazy. But brilliant. I love you.”
My heart launched out of my chest and soared to the stars. “Does that mean you’ll do it? You’ll help me?”
“You bet I will. Now, let’s get going. We have a lot of work to do. I have your aunt’s safe from the farmhouse. I’m sure you’ll want to see what’s in it.”
I looped an arm around his neck and shook my head. “That can wait… until you finish what you started here.” I cupped the bulge in his pants and waggled my brows.
I’d never felt comfortable going through another person’s stuff. It didn’t matter that my aunt was dead. There wasn’t any way I could insult her by combing through her personal papers. Not to mention she’d left all this stuff to me. Technically, that made it mine.
Still… there was something about reading personal letters belonging to someone else that felt wrong.
I didn’t want to do this. But it was necessary. I had to go through this stuff, see what was worth keeping and what should be tossed. Clay had told me everything had been scorched beyond saving. Everything except the safe and what was in it. The safe had been fireproof. Although the outside was covered in ash, the stack of papers inside was perfectly preserved.
This was all I had. All that had been spared. I hoped Aunt Sandee had thought to put some photos and other mementos in there for safekeeping.
I started with the biggest envelope. It wasn’t thick, just large. I flipped up the flap and slid the papers out. They were some kind of legal document, printed on an attorney’s letterhead but not James Hardin’s.
My eye caught on the first line: My Last Will and Testament.
Wait? There was another will?
I flipped to the last page to see when it had been dated. August, 2001. That was several years before the final one. Okay. She’d changed it. Interesting. I turned back to the beginning, wondering what was different.
Roughly fifteen minutes later I sat there, stunned, the old will scattered on the floor. Turned out a lot had changed. This will was nothing like the later version. There was no residency requirement for me to earn my inheritance. And my share was substantial. But the majority of the property, including the ranch itself, had been left to Clay.
Why Clay?
And why had she changed it?
Hoping to find a copy of the more recent will, I sifted through the safe’s contents until I found a second large envelope. Sure enough, it was the current will. I pulled it out and read it front-to-back. One thing struck me, something I hadn’t noticed before because I’d been too focused on the terms of my inheritance.
The new will was dated two days before my aunt’s death. Two. Days.
What had made her decide to change it? Clay had to know something. I packed both copies back into their envelopes and headed to the barn, where Clay was working.
Immediately his gaze caught mine as I stepped into the cool, shaded interior. “The horses are all in their makeshift stalls. It isn’t ideal, but it’ll be good enough until we can get the rest of the barn rebuilt.” He glanced at the envelopes in my hands. “What’s that?”
“T
he wills. There were copies in the safe.”
He nodded. “Wills.”
“Yes.” I lifted the earlier document. “My aunt made some big changes. Right before she died. Do you know why?”
He nodded again.
“Will you tell me?”
He reached his hand out, asking for mine. I accepted, allowing him to lead me outside the barn. We sat on a stack of straw bales waiting to be stored. “Sandee came to me just after you left the last time you’d visited and told me she’d written me into her will, giving me this property and some money to keep it going. I asked her why she didn’t leave it to you, and she said it was because you weren’t happy here and wouldn’t want the responsibility of a failing ranch. She had always treated me well, knew about my struggles with my father, and my hopes to someday have a ranch of my own and she saw it as her chance to make someone’s dreams come true.”
I could totally see her wanting to help Clay. That was my aunt Sandee. Always offering a hand up to anyone who needed it. “Did she really think I hated it here?”
Clay arched a brow. “You didn’t hate it?”
“Okay, maybe I did hate some parts. I was young. And I wasn’t used to the hard work. I mean, it is hard work. I wanted to do what all my friends were during summer vacation. Hang out. Spend all day at the beach. Go to Cedar Point and ride roller coasters until I threw up. I didn’t want to spend all twelve weeks out here, working.”
He acknowledged my honest answer with a nod. “Later, after I’d successfully turned my father’s ranch around, she hired me to help her with the Silver Sage. I could see she was getting weaker. After watching my father die, I recognized the signs. By then I’d already reached my dream. I couldn’t stomach the thought of taking this property, not if there was a chance you might want it. So I asked her to change the will. At first she refused, saying there was no chance you would want to make Dawson your home. But eventually she agreed and the new will was drafted, with that caveat, allowing you to walk away if you wanted.”
“So it was you? Your idea?”
“Do you hate me now?” He chuckled nervously. “Or should I say do you hate me again?”
“No.” I picked up his hand and placed it in my lap, weaving my fingers between his. “I’ve hated you long enough.” Our gazes met and a wave of emotion crashed through me. “Besides, why should I hate you? It’s because of you that I’m here now. In this wonderful town.” I swung an arm, like one of those models on the old game shows my aunt used to watch. “Living the dream.”
Clay’s scowl was totally adorable. “You’re teasing.”
“Maybe a little. Dawson isn’t exactly my dream town.”
“I doubt it’s anyone’s dream town.” He cupped my chin and searched my eyes. “But anywhere you are is my dream town.”
My heart swelled so big it almost cracked my ribs. Clay’s love for me was so plain in his eyes. Anyone would see it. From a mile away.
How could I have been so blind?
All this time Clay had been helping me. Always thinking of me, coming to my defense, protecting me, and looking for a way to solve my problems. What a fool I’d been, misreading any of his actions, assuming the worst and treating him so badly.
“I’m sorry,” I confessed. “When I first got here, I treated you horribly.”
His thumb grazed my lower lip. “I wasn’t an angel either. We were both hurt and taking out our pain on each other.”
“It’s a wonder we got past that,” I whispered on a shudder. Little currents of electricity were buzzing through me, igniting mini-blazes everywhere.
No man had ever made me feel this way. He didn’t just care about me. He breathed every breath for me. He didn’t just think about me. His every thought was for me. I was the luckiest girl in the world. And if it took me my entire life, I would let him know how much I appreciated him.
“It is. A miracle. Which is why…” He slipped off the straw bale, settling on one knee. His gaze locked on mine and all I could do was stare into those beautiful eyes and cry. “I can’t live another day without knowing you are mine. Mine to love. To protect. To cherish. Marry me.”
I couldn’t see him; my eyes were so full of tears. I blinked, fat droplets plopping on my legs. Clay’s love had been steadfast through everything. All my doubts and fears and anger. Was there any reason to think he would stop loving me? Absolutely not. He put me first. Always. Before himself. What more could I ask of any man? “Yes,” I said. “I would be proud to be your wife. Yours. Forever.”
He gave a loud whoop, leapt to his feet and scooped me into his arms, smashing his mouth on mine.
Immediately the world started spinning. Was that because of the kiss? Or was he twirling us around in a circle? I didn’t know. I didn’t care. All I knew was that I loved Clay Walker and he loved me. And now that he’d taught me how to trust, how to love, nothing would get between us again.
I must have done something right in a previous life. Because I’d somehow earned the love of the most wonderful, loyal, loving man on earth. And I knew he would do anything for me.
He would move mountains. He would take a bullet. He would dive into an inferno.
He would even run a ranch that was manned by a bunch of giggling, cellphone toting, selfie-snapping teenage girls who couldn’t tell the difference between a cow and a sow.
Now, that was true love.
The End
Books by Tawny Taylor
Wild Knights
Wicked Knights
Wanton Knights
Wild, Wicked & Wanton
Dark Master
Decadent Master
Dangerous Master
Darkest Fire
Darkest Desire
Claim Me
Wicked Beast
Prince of Fire
Girl Enslaved
Dirty Little Lies
Triple Stud
Enslaved by Sin
Double Take
Behind the Mask
Plays Well with Others
Lust’s Temptation
Wrath’s Embrace
Burning Hunger
Torrid Hunger
Everlasting Hunger
Slave of Duty
Flesh to Flesh
Compromising Positions
Breathless
Pleasing Him
At His Mercy
Ties That Bind
Yes, Master
Make You Mine
BEARed to You
Surrender
Darkest Ecstasy
What He Wants (My Alpha Billionaire, 1)
What He Demands (My Alpha Billionaire, 2)
What He Craves (My Alpha Billionaire, 3)
What He Needs (My Alpha Billionaire, 4)
What He Desires (My Alpha Billionaire, 5)
RAW A Dark Bad Boy Romance
My Bad Boys, My Stepbrothers
Stepbrother Romance 1 Obsessed
Stepbrother Romance 2 Consumed
Stepbrother Romance 3 Addicted
Jerk: A Bad Boy Romance
About Tawny Taylor
ABOUT TAWNY TAYLOR
An Amazon Top 20 "Most Popular Author", New York Times, and USA Today Bestseller
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Taylor has been writing romance for ten years. Her first novel, Tempting Fate, was published in 2004 and was an RT Reviewer's Choice nominee and highly reviewed book. To date, Tawny has over 50 published books by 5 publishers, including Pocket, Kensington, Ellora's Cave, Samhain and Changeling Press. They include several subgenres of romance including paranormal, contemporary, New Adult and romantic suspense. Among her best selling books are Dark Master, Decadent Master, and My Alpha Billionaire.
Tawny is grateful to her readers for allowing her dream of writing and publishing to come true. Her hope is to continue to write hot, sassy, sexy fiction for women for many years to come.
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Did you know Tawny also writes romance as Sydney Allan, New Adult romance as Tamryn Ward, and Urban Fantasy as Tami Dane?