Ox didn’t even hesitate to run his fingers along her cheek.
“I forgave you years ago, Maddie. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. Were you happy? Can you tell me that?”
Scarlett got the idea that for him to move on, he needed to hear that she was happy with the path she chose to follow.
The one without him.
“Yes, I’ve had a good life. But, I always loved you,” She whispered softly.
Ox’s dark eyes narrowed as he fought for words, words that Scarlett didn’t know if he could even say out loud.
“I’ve always loved you too,” He said through clenched teeth.
Scarlett could tell that he was trying not to cry, and she decided that maybe her mother and Ox needed a moment alone.
“I’m going to check on Carter,” She murmured as she eased herself out of the bed.
Neither of her parents even looked up from one another.
As Scarlett closed her mother’s bedroom door, she took a second to wipe her face clean and pull out her phone to send Limit a text.
Scarlett: Miss you. Call soon.
Her phone vibrated almost instantly with his response.
Limit: Miss you, too. K.
Tucking her phone into her pocket, she glided down the stairs in search of her step-father.
She called his name a few times before she heard him call back to her from the back patio.
“Back here, Scarlett!”
As she stepped outside, the sun was setting. She watched the colors in the sky swirl into a fiery pattern that was beautiful and poignant all at the same time.
How many more sunsets does my mother have?
When Scarlett turned to face Carter, she was shocked to see that he was smoking.
“Carter? Since when do you smoke?”
“Since three days a week seventeen years ago. I’ve always been very discreet,” He told her.
His dark hair and blue eyes were so different than hers, but his facial expression was the same. He was hurting, just like she was.
“May I have one?,” She asked.
He blinked at her before he held the pack out in her direction, a lighter soon to follow.
As soon as she had hers lit, he spoke.
“I didn’t expect to see your father here, today. But, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Scarlett leaned against the railing.
“Are you okay?”
He choked out a mirthless laugh as he shook his head.
“Your mother was a whirlwind for me. I loved her from the second I saw her, but I knew better than to think I was the only man that had a hold on her heart. I know that she loves me, cares for me deeply…but to her, I’ve never been the man upstairs. It was startling to see him here, with you. I always did my best to take care of the both of you,” He said.
Scarlett gripped Carter’s shoulder hard.
“You have taken wonderful care of me, and of mom. I know that you love us both. You’ve treated my mother like a queen, and you took me into your home when you didn’t have to. You never made me feel like a third wheel, either. You’ve been so good to us, Carter.”
His shoulders fell at her words, and Scarlett could tell that much like her, he was barely keeping it together.
“That woman upstairs is the love of my life, but right now, she’s saying goodbye to hers. I shouldn’t be talking about this with you, it’s not fair to you.”
Scarlett rushed to reassure Carter.
“Don’t say that. I know what you’re going through, Carter. I can’t even imagine how hard all of this has been on you. Maybe I should have stayed-”
Carter wrapped his arms around her, his cigarette now nothing more than a filter tossed into the yard.
“No, your mother and I thought it would be best to tell you the truth. I’ve known about Ox since day one, but it was her decision to make and I had to respect that. Doesn’t mean I agreed with it, but she’s your mother. You deserved a chance to get to know the man whose overshadowed me your entire life,” Carter said into her ear.
Scarlett was back to crying, back to sobbing, but she wanted to make sure that Carter knew how much she appreciated him.
“Ox is my father, but you’re a parent to me, too. I don’t want you to forget that, because I certainly haven’t.”
Carter smoothed her hair out of her face as she exhaled heavily.
“This hurts so bad,” She whispered.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
Chapter 27
Two Days Later
Limit was in the middle of reading through paperwork involving his investments when Rayna and Fury stepped into the clubhouse. As soon as Rayna saw him, she rushed towards him. She was tan and glowing, her beautiful face downturned in a frown.
“Hey, baby. Green told us you wanted to talk to us?,” She asked.
As she sat down, Fury sat down beside her, his arm anchored around her waist.
“Yeah, look…I’m in the market to buy a house, and I know you two are all moved into your new place…I was wondering if your dad’s place is still for sale?,” He asked.
Rayna blinked twice before Fury cleared his throat.
Obviously, Rayna was surprised into silence, which never happened.
“Yeah, brother. It’s still for sale. You interested in buyin’ it?,” Fury asked.
Limit cleared his throat as he glanced at Rayna, who was still watching him with wide eyes.
“I know it’s real special to you, and I don’t want to over-step…I just figured if you sold it to me, you’d know it was in good hands and you would still get to spend some time there whenever you wanted,” Limit supplied.
Fury started to smile at the same time Rayna did.
“You’re buyin’ Scarlett a fuckin’ house?”
Limit groaned as he shuffled all of his paperwork together in an effort to avoid Rayna’a lovestruck stare.
“I’m buyin’ me a house with the hope that eventually she will move in with me, yes.”
Fury started to laugh before he looked at Rayna.
“You owe me a hand-shandy! I told you he would come around,” Fury said with a leer.
Rayna snorted before she rolled her eyes heavenwards.
“Look, I don’t want to make a big thing out of this, and I have some other stuff to handle, so Ill let you two talk about it-”
Rayna laid a hand over his and shook her head.
“I don’t need to think about it. You love her?”
Limit only nodded.
“Good. That house is special to me, you’re right. I want it to be filled with love and happiness and everything my daddy worked so hard to give me, you understand?”
Limit nodded again.
“I’ll have the paperwork drawn up. We can work out a price from there, is that okay with you?”
Limit could have swallowed his own tongue, he was so relieved.
“Thank you.”
Fury slapped him on the back as he smiled genuinely in his direction.
“Welcome to the club, brother. You’ll make a fine ol’ man.”
Green came breezing into the room then, his hands landing on his hips.
“Jesus, what are we, the fuckin’ Brady Bunch?”
Rayna snorted, her laughter turning into a high-pitched squeal as she ran to greet her best-fucking-friend.
“I swear, we must be. All this talk of feelings and shit, it just ain’t…manly of us!,” Fury said as he rolled his eyes.
Limit grunted under his breath, but he was smiling right along with them.
“Whatever, real men talk about their feelings all they fuckin’ want. This cut don’t make us any less human, am I right?,” Green asked this as he placed his hands on his hips and winked in their general direction.
Limit rolled his eyes but Fury winked back at him.
“Come on, before I trade in my alpha-card for a bra and panty set,” Fury said with a laugh.
Limit chuckled too, his head shaking back and forth.<
br />
He had one thing figured out, and as he checked the time, he realized the next thing on his to do list was coming up fast.
The last time he’d spoken to Scarlett, she was in the middle of making dinner for her family, so he didn’t want to bother her. He figured it would be best to wait for her to call him, which gave him plenty of time to get his affairs in order before she came home. It’d only been a couple of days, but he missed the hell out of her.
Sure, he was busy in the shop during the day and then him and Fury spent some of their time over-seeing the building of the strip club, but the rest of his free time was spent planning.
Planning a future for him and for Scarlett.
Limit wasn’t too good at talking about his feelings, but he figured if he could show her that he was serious about committing to her, if he could show her that he meant it when he told her he loved her, eventually she could forget about how badly he’d fucked up and grow to trust him.
“Hey, I’ve got some shit to handle in town. I’ll be back in a few hours,” Limit called.
Prettyboy and Esme were standing near the garage as he climbed onto his golden bike.
“Okay!,” Esme called as she waved happily in his direction.
He had no idea how she was so happy all the time, especially since when she’d first arrived she was a basket case, but he was grateful her and Prettyboy had found a way to make it work.
Bryson City wasn’t a far drive, so Limit figured he could get back to the clubhouse before nightfall.
Truthfully, he was just excited to hear from Scarlett.
He hated being away from her, hated that she was going through something so terrible and that he couldn’t be there with her, at least not yet.
Not until he did what he could to prove to her that he meant it when he told her that he wanted her.
The sun was hot on his back, but not as hot as the eagerness inside him to make things right for his woman.
His woman.
It had been a long time since he’d had someone to call his own, but it felt better than he could have imagined.
Better than he ever thought possible.
✽✽✽
Maddie’s eyes were wide as pies as she looked at her former lover and the father of her baby.
They’d spent a lot of time catching up, and while Scarlett had been very hesitant to approach the topic of Scott and what he’d done to her, Ox’s logic had prevailed.
“Your mama deserves to know the truth, Scarlett. She should know how strong you are, and how proud I am of you for putting your fears aside to stick it out with me and my club.”
While she wasn’t exactly over what Scott had done, Ox was right- she’d put her fears aside so that she could get to know his club for real before Carter had called her home. Axel was also right of course, she needed to tell her father how absolutely terrified she’d been of what Scott had done to her.
Which she did, tearfully, and with her heart on her sleeve.
Maddie’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“News of Scott’s accident was all over town, but you’re saying he didn’t actually get into a drunken car wreck?”
Scarlett winced on the other side of her mother’s door.
Carter was asleep, and she should have been too, but she couldn’t fall asleep. She’d been on her way upstairs to spend some time with her mother, but it was apparent that she was already busy.
“I’m sorry to drop this on ya, Mads. I just wanted ya to know the truth. I wanted ya to know I’d do anything to keep our daughter safe.”
Scarlett pressed her hand against her mouth as she continued to eavesdrop.
“I’m just shocked, I guess. He always was a slimy one, but I never thought he would stoop so low…”
Scarlett could see through a crack in the door that Ox was holding her mother’s hand.
“She didn’t want to tell you the whole story because she didn’t want you to worry,” Ox said.
Maddie shrugged.
“Of course I’ll worry, she’s my baby. I didn’t tell her that enough. I didn’t show her that I loved her enough, Dean. I should have,” Maddie cried softly.
Scarlett watched her father soothe her ailing mother, his tattooed limbs wrapping around her gently.
“She knows you love her, Mads. She does. You took good care of her all these years. You should be proud of her.”
“I am proud of her, but she should have heard it from me more often. What about this Limit character? Will he take good care of her?”
The question shocked Scarlett, because it was obvious they’d been talking about him already. She hadn’t mentioned his name to her mother.
Ox sighed.
“He asked me permission to make her his old lady. Not conventional, but considering our circumstances, I’d say it was the best thing he could have done to prove to me he was serious.”
Maddie nodded against his shoulder, and the sight was so…heartwarming and heartbreaking in the same breath that she started to cry.
Again.
It seemed as if she was always crying lately.
“I’ll give her a good life with me if she decides to come back with me,” Ox told her.
“Oh, sweetheart…I know she’s going to go back with you. I knew she’d find something in North Carolina with you that I could never give her, and that’s because she’s more like you than I wanted to admit. She’ll go back with you because she has the life in Bryson City that she never had here,” Maddie said.
Ox gripped Maddie’s hand tightly in his, his amber eyes straying towards her left hand.
“I hope you don’t mind if I give Scarlett’s my mother’s ring. I’d saved it for you, but when I realized you weren’t coming back, I put it away. I think Scarlett deserves to have it,” Ox said tenderly.
Maddie gripped his hand tighter.
“I hope you know that I loved you more than I’ve ever loved another man. I just didn’t see how it could work between us,” She whispered.
Ox ran his fingers through her hair, which she’d taken down hours before.
“I understand. I meant it when I said I forgave you. Carter is a good man and he’s done right by you and our daughter. That’s all I could ever ask for.”
Maddie’s eyes were wet with unshed tears as she nodded her dark head.
“You’re a good man, Dean Morgan. You’re such a good man and you didn’t deserve to be abandoned the way I abandoned you. It’s my deepest regret, leaving you the way that I did.”
Scarlett could see through the crack in the door that her father had his head bent forward and the line of his shoulders was tense.
“Let’s not talk about it anymore, Maddie. I want this time to be easy between us.”
Scarlett was in tears over the way her mother was opening up and showing true emotion for the first time in Scarlett’s entire life, and it was all because she truly loved Ox.
She’d seen Ox’s side of things, and now she was seeing her mother’s and it brought a closure to her that she hadn’t even known was necessary.
It brought with it a kind of light that Scarlett knew would illuminate the darkness long after her mother was gone.
Chapter 28
Limit was in the process of signing the papers that would earn him his new home when his phone started to ring. He didn’t recognize the number, but something told him to answer the call.
Setting down his pen, he picked up his phone.
“Hello?”
“Is this Colton Graham?”
He cleared his throat before he responded, “Yes.”
“This is Madelyn Hunter. I’m Scarlett’s mother.”
“Hello, ma’am. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Don’t bother with the ‘ma’am’ bit, sweetheart. You can call me Maddie. I’ve heard a lot about you too. I’m calling because I think I have something that belongs to you.”
Confused, Limit scratched his head as he looked around Ox’s office.
; “What would that be?”
“My daughter. See, I don’t have much time left here on this earth, and I want to see her happy. She and her father seem to think that you can do that, make her happy.”
Limit replied, “I hope I can.”
Maddie cleared her throat on the other end of the line.
“Scarlett doesn’t know I’m calling you, Limit. Normally I wouldn’t meddle in my child’s affairs, but this is a little different. She’s stubborn like her mother and I don’t want to see her talk herself out of being with you just because she’s afraid to get hurt. I did it to myself and I regret it to this day.”
Limit still wasn’t entirely sure what Maddie wanted from him. He was doing all he could on his end to make sure Scarlett came home to a place she deserved.
“Maddie, what is it that you’re tryin’ to say?”
“I’m trying to tell you to get your ass over here. When I go, and I know it’s soon, she’s going to need you more than you can even imagine. I’ve lived a blessed life, and so has she, but this time she needs something neither me nor her father can give her. She needs you.”
Limit’s mouth fell open as he checked his watch.
“Maddie Hunter, is this you givin’ me your blessing? Because, I have to be honest, I haven’t been a perfect gentleman to Scarlett.”
“Trust me, I’m aware. But, you’re young still. You have time to make up for it. I never gave myself nor Ox that chance, and I don’t want to see my daughter follow the same path. I want better for her. As long as you understand what you’re up against, then I think you deserve some happiness of your own.”
Limit had no idea what to say to that other than, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, just get here.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“See you soon, dear.”
As he hung up the phone, he stared at the blank screen for at least another thirty seconds before facing the papers lining Ox’s desk.
“You get everything signed?,” Fury asked as he stepped into the room.
Limit gestured towards the papers and nodded numbly.
“Yeah, everything’s all set.”
Gluttony (Seven Deadlies MC Book 3) Page 19