“What do you mean?” I ask, wanting to know everything that makes this man tick. His troubles, his dreams, his wants. Everything.
He doesn’t answer right away, and that makes me think he won’t answer. Oddly I’m okay with that, because I know we just met not long ago. I just hope one day he will be able to trust in me.
“Once upon a time, Hudson was in some kind of trouble. I sat back and watched her. I watched her struggle, I watched her fight. I watched her put makeup on to cover the marks. She has and had no clue that I watched it all. I watched her start to fail. She was never going to fail me, or her family, or her dreams, but she was going to fail herself. And I started to get angrier and angrier. I wanted so bad to tell her to leave the trouble behind, but you know the saying -- love makes you blind. So I stood back, waiting for her to tell me, to confide in me what was going on,” his eyes were cast down, like he was ashamed.
I reached out and lifted his chin so we could make eye contact.
“A wonderful man once told me to never lower my head in shame. Not around him, or anyone. So, I’m telling you, no matter what, don’t you lower yours in front of me. Or anyone,” I ended on a whisper.
“When it got to a certain point, I couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore. But at the same time, I couldn’t just barge in and demand anything either. So, I went with what I thought would be enough. I paid him off,” he runs his hand through his hair, grips my hand with his other one, and throws his head back looking up at the sky. “I gave him a lot of money to basically break it off with her,” he rushes out looking over at me.
“So? You did what you thought was best,” I say with a shrug. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I thought so, too. But that’s not how it ends, baby girl.”
“What do you mean? Did he not break it off with her?” I ask horrified
“No, he did. But he took the money I gave him and started an awful business,” he says the word business with so much bitterness it steals my breath.
“What do you mean?” I ask, rubbing my thumb against his palm, trying to soothe the inner turmoil raging inside of him.
“He started an underground human trafficking ring. I’ve been fighting for over a year to gain enough evidence on him to turn him in for life. I’ve been fighting so hard to make sure Hudson doesn’t find out. I’ve been fighting to make sure my own businesses thrives enough to where I can move back here one day. I’m starting to wonder if this will all be worth it, you know? Will it be worth the fight in the end, or will my family turn to hate me? Will you turn to hate me?”
“Good intentions paved the road to hell, Aaron. Sometimes people don’t know the bad that can happen when trying to do good. But what would have happened if you didn’t do anything at all? What kind of bad would have happened if you continued to just watch, rather than fight?”
“Is one life better than hundreds?” he asks.
“I understand your side of this Aaron, but what you fail to forget is that if he did this, then he was probably going to do it one way or another anyway. People don’t just wake up one day with evil inside of them. They’re always like this. The only thing you may have done was help skip a few steps on his journey to ruin lives. You didn’t single handedly ruin them.”
“I don’t know if I deserve you,” he tells me while lifting me up onto his lap. He wraps his arms around me, my back to his front. His chin is resting on my shoulder, and I lay my head back on his.
We are sitting on these big rocks overlooking the stream. We can see our horses playing in the water, and I can see squirrels in the woods across the way. I could sit here, like this, forever.
“When I was sixteen, my momma passed away. I cried for days, thinking about what I would have done if both my parents were in that car. I was so blessed that my stepdad had stayed home that night. He was supposed to go with her to this dinner she was having with some of her coworkers. They had these dinners once a month. My momma was their boss, so she felt that if she took them out for a meal once a month, and treated them as equals rather than looked down on them, they would be more willing to work hard at the office,” I snuggle into him hoping by me sharing a part of me, he will know that I’m in this as well.
“Anyway, he got the stomach bug that morning so he called to tell her he wouldn’t make it that night.” I stare off into the woods as memories come flooding back.
“We got the call that she was in a wreck that night and my soul shattered. The one person who understood me to my core wasn’t here anymore. My brother and I couldn’t believe it. Anyway, it was about a week after her funeral Brent and I came home to an empty house. Not empty as in bare, but empty as in no one was home. At first, we were a little excited, because that meant that Allen was finally getting out of the house again. We soon found out that wasn’t the case. He got out of the house alright, but he was out for good. About two days after we found him gone, a letter came in the mail from him basically solidifying our thoughts about him ever coming back.”
“No. He wrote a letter and mailed it to you? Never even spoke to you in person? Just ran?” he asks surprised.
“Yup. I read the letter time after time again. He basically said that he never wanted us to begin with, but my mother was a package deal. He didn’t have to worry about it because my momma would take care of us. He didn’t mind babysitting every once and a while, but a full time single dad to twin teenagers? Nah. He didn’t want that. He never really even loved us either. Fifteen years he was with my momma. That was nearly my whole life at this point. And it pissed me off. So much. Because some of my favorite memories are with him. I’ve told you some of them. And to find out he never really loved us? Didn’t want to see us? Not even for a day? A couple hours? Nothing? Anyway, he just. . . walked out that summer day and never looked back.”
“I’m so sorry, baby girl. Have you seen him since?”
“Oh yeah, I saw him about five years later. A cousin who is actually on his side of the family was getting married. When I went to the wedding I sat in my seat and I saw him walk down the aisle and sit in the front pew. As it turns out he was ‘like a father figure’ to the groom I guess. It’s nice he can be like a father figure to someone else.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh yeah. He is such a piece of shit in my eyes now. How can someone be like a father to two children, then walk out of their lives after fifteen years and never look back at them? Leaving them alone? With no one but each other? At sixteen? Brent is a decorated officer in the marines and Allen has no idea. He could be killed by a roadside bomb at any moment and Allen wouldn’t know, nor would he even care.”
Aaron was rubbing his hands up and down my shoulders in a soothing matter.
“After he left, Brent started to work really hard in school so he could graduate early. We both worked part time jobs after school so we could have food and somehow keep the tiny house we lived in. The next year, Brent graduated school a semester early, and we went out that night and spent thirty-five dollars at this little restaurant to celebrate his achievement. At least that’s what I thought we were doing. I was so excited, too. We scraped every penny we ever earned to make ends meet. Two now seventeen-year olds living like adults, still going to school, and one just graduated early. And here we were splurging on a dinner we didn’t have to cook, at a real restaurant,” I shake my head.
“He told you about the military that night, didn’t he?” he asks.
“Yeah. Said it was a real big opportunity for us,” I laugh bitterly. “Told me about this huge sign-on bonus they were gonna give him. And in return he would give it to me, so I didn’t have to work myself to death. I tried to tell him that I didn’t care about that. I didn’t need his military money. We were doing just fine. We didn’t need all the extras most kids had. I didn’t need fancy shoes, or dresses, or trendy haircuts. All I needed was the one person I had left in the world. That’s all.” My eyes start to gloss over as I fought so damn hard to keep the tears in my eyes
from spilling over.
“He didn’t get that. Mom just died, Allen just left us, and now the other half of my soul was leaving me too,” I whisper.
“Where is he now?” he asks
“Undisclosed location,” I laugh. “I still miss him, but I’ve seen him for periods of time between tours. He was home about a year ago. We got into a big argument because I told him that I never did touch his sign-on bonus,” I snicker. Remembering the way he looked at me like I was crazy.
“You didn’t?” he sounds surprised too.
“Nope. I worked my part time job. I also cleaned houses in the mornings before school, and I worked my ass off to get amazing grades. I got a scholarship to college and I kept working hard, so I could make it. When I graduated school with my RN, I met Leroy and thought that the world was finally paying me back for all the wrongs in my life. It wasn’t until I already said ‘I do’ that it wasn’t a payback, but yet another topping on my shit sandwich.”
“You are so fucking strong, baby girl,” he whispers.
“It’s not hard when being strong is your only option. I wasn’t letting anyone watch me fail. I would have rather died than to let anyone witness that.”
Aaron’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and it made me jump with surprise.
“Wow, I’m surprised I have any signal out here. I usually don’t,” he says while reaching into his pocket.
He turns on his phone, and then looks up to the sky and then starts replying to the text. He puts it back in his pocket and kisses my shoulder.
“Time to head back. Seems I lost track of time with you, baby girl. Ma almost has supper ready.”
“Oh my gosh. I forgot about supper. I wanted to change,” I gasp and I shoot up to stand.
“You know, for someone who didn’t need all that girly shit, you sure sound girly right about now.”
I reach my hand out and swat him on the arm. He rubs the spot in mock pain.
“You wound me, baby girl.”
“Oh you stop it. Just because I didn’t need that stuff doesn’t mean I didn’t want it. Plus, I worked hard for what I have now, so I can be as girly or as tomboyish as I want,” I smirk while motioning to my trusty pair of pink converse at the bottom of my yoga pants.
“I love those adorable shoes, but we are going to have to get you some boots to ride these horses with.”
He bends down in front of me, in a squat like position.
“What are you doing?” I laugh.
“Waiting for my lady to get on my back for her piggy back ride to the horses. Of course,” he says like it’s common knowledge.
“Oh silly me, how did I not notice,” I say while grinning so hard.
Aaron climbs down the rocks with me on his back and he walks to the horses in silence. This afternoon ride was so much more than I could have ever hoped it to be.
He sets me down next to Rapunzel and lifts my chin. He brings his lips to mine for a fast, short kiss. Just as his lips peck mine, they are gone again.
“Such a tease,” I say.
“We need to get back, baby girl. If I kiss you how I want to, then we will never get there and you can explain to my mom why we missed her supper.”
“We got lost?” I ask while putting my foot in the stirrup, getting ready to jump up.
“Ha! She knows me wayyy better than that, baby girl,” he says while gripping my ass.
“What are you doing?” I ask while laughing.
“Why helping you up, of course,” he replies like a smart ass.
I lean back on my leg on the ground and jump up while swinging that leg over the saddle.
“Well, thank you good sir,” I reply.
I bend my body down and grasp his chin for a kiss. This time I don’t let him go as easily. I bite down on his lower lip and when he groans I take advantage and thrust my tongue in his mouth. We fight for control, and before any is established, I end the kiss with a smack of his lips.
“You know, you once told me that you were not a knight in shining armor, and yet here you are, helping a lady on her horse before going back to your white horse to ride off into the sunset on,” I smile.
“Hmm. . . So many things to say, not enough time. Let’s get out of here, and we can continue what you just started later.”
“Sounds like a plan, Sir Knight.”
He jumps onto AJ while mumbling something about me making him go crazy.
AJ starts to trot off towards home, and Rapunzel runs after her.
Home. That’s a word that never felt right to me before. But right here in the middle of this field with the sun setting, my heart was telling me what home feels like. Home feels like Aaron.
Chapter Sixteen
We rode back to the stables side by side, and I couldn’t help but keep looking over at her. She was so damn beautiful in the sunset light -- red hair blazing like a wildfire, eyes so blue they looked like the water needed to put out the flames. She had this tiny permanent smile on her lips that I couldn’t help but hope I put there.
She didn’t shy away when I told her about Hudson’s ex, and man, I wanted to tell her every detail right there, but I couldn’t. Half of it isn’t my story to tell, and the other half I didn’t want to burden her with.
Her stepfather pisses me off -- I would love to punch that douche in the face for her.
I understand what her brother sacrificed for her, and one day, she will too. She still seems bitter about it, and that’s acceptable. Maybe when he gets out for good, she will see the light of things.
In my eyes, he’s one hell of a man for stepping up and trying to take care of her. Not too many people would do that. He’s already a hero just for that in my mind.
I pull back on my reigns and pull AJ to a stop. I hop off of her and tie her to the hitching post with the trough of water. She dunks her head into the water and shakes it all around. This girl loves water, that’s for sure.
I walk towards Bridget and Rapunzel. They are both so damn stunning, and putting them both together was perfect. They match so well, not to mention Rapunzel and AJ are good with each other too.
“Come here, sweet girl,” I call to Rapunzel.
I pull her to the same trough that AJ is at and they both dive bomb back into the water, spraying it all over me.
“Oh, that was perfect,” Bridget laughs.
“Yeah, they are naughty girls. Wanna give them a treat?” I ask her.
“Uh, duh!” she exclaims. I tie Rapunzel’s reigns to the hitching post as well and reach out my hand for Bridget to jump down.
Never letting her hand go, I walk over to the little shed and pull out some pineapple chunks. Hudson always has some kind of fresh fruit for these babies. I also grab two brushes to brush them down with while they eat their snacks.
“Really? Pineapples?” Bridget asks.
“Yup, they love them. Hudson always picks the fruit out of the garden. Pineapples are not one we grow personally; these are more like a specialty treat she gives them. But we have a garden her and Ma keep up with so they can feed the fruit to these babies,” I tell her as I hand her a chunk of pineapple.
“That’s so neat.”
“They are spoiled rotten, that’s for sure,” I laugh. I’m so glad I have employees who care for Pap’s horses the way they do. “Here, hold it out like this, flat on your palm and they will eat it right out of your hand.”
She holds her hand out just like I said and Rapunzel takes her chunk with a happy sound and a swish of her head. I give Apple Jacks my chunk and I rub my hand down her mane.
“Here,” I say as I give her the brush. “Just like you were doing earlier brushing them. We like to do a quick brush down after taking them on a good run.
As we are brushing, my phone vibrates with another text. I look at the time and realize it’s probably my sister. She said supper was going to be ready in about an hour.
“Alright, let’s head in. Supper will be ready soon, and I need to change my clothes thanks to Apple Jacks,” I sni
cker shaking my head.
“What about the horses? Don’t we need to put them up?” she asks.
“Nah, one of the ranch hands here will do it. That’s why I pay ’em after all.” I shoot her a wink.
“Ahh. Okay boss man.”
I walk over to the ATV and swing my leg over it. I hold my hand out for the woman who looks a little too excited for her own good.
“Come on, baby girl. Hold on tight, this is gonna be fast and rough.”
“Ooo. My favorite,” she smirks.
I just chuckle and shake my head. That smart mouth of hers is gonna get her in trouble. She wraps her arms around my body, and holds on tightly as I hit the throttle and fishtail out of the stables.
We pull up to the guest house and she hops off, running her hands through her hair.
“I’m just gonna run inside and change really quick. I don’t think Ma wants me sitting at her table wet.”
“Okay, I think I’m gonna sit on this chair and wait, I’m not going to change I decided. It’s so beautiful out here.”
“Sounds good, baby.” I give her a quick peck kiss and run inside.
As I walk into the bedroom I start to empty my pockets when my phone vibrates again.
“Jeeze Hudson, we are coming.”
When I look at my phone I realize it’s not Hudson, it’s Chris, and I’ve missed four messages, and two phone calls.
“Shit, shit, shit.”
I look outside to see if Hudson is getting impatient. I’ll tell her I had to take a shit if I have to. I need to call him back.
I put the phone up to my ear and grab a pair of new jeans and another t-shirt and walk into the bathroom, shutting the door.
“Bout time you called me back. Damn Harrison, I was about to get fucking worried.”
That draws me up short. What the fuck?
“Elaborate,” I say.
“I’m assuming you didn’t get my text?” he asks on a sigh.
“No, I was in a no signal area, so I just got it all at once. Didn’t even read them, just called you back. But listen, I don’t have long, maybe 5 minutes max. What’s up?”
Worth The Fight (Worth It Series Book 1) Page 10