She tugs up her sleeve, and I touch the bruise marring her skin and hate that it looks swollen. “I need to get her checked out.”
Connor lifts the bag of food into his arms and hands it over. “Can I help?”
I shake my head quickly. “No, no. I’ve got it all. My husband is working on the farm. I’ll get this inside and then take her. Thank you.”
I can’t let Kevin see him. It will send him into a million questions about who he is, how I know him, why Hadley wasn’t in the house where she was supposed to be, and what happened to her arm. Right now, my emotions are too unsettled to deal with any of it.
“Are you sure?”
“Very.”
Connor gives a sad smile and then touches the top of Hadley’s head. “You be careful, all right?”
Hadley smiles up at him. “You too.”
He laughs. “I’m not the one who is hurt.”
“You should still be careful because you’re a soldier.”
That’s why I haven’t seen him. He’s been gone, but clearly, he’s back. Only, I don’t know what that means or if it means anything at all. I don’t even know why I care what that means. I have my life here with Kevin and Hadley.
We can’t leave, even if we wanted to. Kevin ensured that when he moved me here, away from anyone I might know.
Still, my lips part and I find myself asking, “You’re in the military?
“I am, for another few weeks, at least. Then I’ll be out.”
I nod, thankful that he’ll be leaving again. “Well, thank you for bringing Hadley home.”
He takes a step closer, making my pulse spike. It takes every ounce of strength I have to stand my ground. “You’re welcome . . .”
My insides battle over telling him my name. I don’t want to lie, but giving him this is like relinquishing all the false pretenses. But I owe him. I owe him so much, so I stop fighting myself and tell him the truth. “Ellie.”
Connor takes another step closer, his deep voice brushing over me as he says my name far more beautiful than I’ve ever heard it. “Ellie. You’re welcome, and it was nice to meet you.”
I smile tentatively. “Yes, same, Connor.”
Saying his name feels like a piece of the puzzle fitting together.
Hadley takes my open hand, and we walk up the steps that lead to the falling-down house we call home, leaving him standing there and watching us, and I wonder if he could see what I’ve been ignoring for the last seven years—that Hadley has his eyes.
“It’s not broken, but it is sprained,” Dr. Langford says as he checks her arm. “Second sprain in the last two months.”
“Yes, she’s . . . she’s so full of life and loves to run and climb. I can’t keep her feet on the ground.”
Dr. Langford nods. “I had a little one like that. Always covered in bruises and scrapes. It’s also the farm life. Explains why you’ve had a bit of bad luck too, huh?”
I nod.
I hate the lies. I hate all of it, but I’m so afraid.
I know, and I have to leave because, while there’s a fraction of truth that Hadley is rambunctious and always climbing, I’m not home all the time and I don’t trust Kevin. She swears it’s the fall, and I’ve never seen him physical with her, but can I really trust a man who is willing to unleash his anger on his wife not to do it to a child?
I would leave this very instant if I had a place to go, but I don’t. My parents died the week before I married Kevin, and I have no money, no help, no family to take us in. When I leave him, it has to be planned.
That was why taking the teaching job was necessary.
“Now, you need to be more careful and stop climbing while your arm heals.”
Hadley smiles. “I will. I made a new friend.”
“You did?”
“His name is Connor. He owns the farm next to us.”
The doctor’s eyes widen. “Connor Arrowood?”
She shrugs. “He said he was in the navy and a police officer. He carried me with one arm.”
“I’ve known the Arrowood boys for a long time, good kids, had a rough time once their mother died.”
Of course he’s an Arrowood. It didn’t occur to me that he must be if he was on the farm next door. I’ve lived here eight years, and the only time any of them were mentioned was when someone told me they haven’t stepped foot in this town in almost a decade.
“How long ago was that?” I ask.
Dr. Langford looks up, seeming to ponder. “Had to be when Connor was about eight. It was a shame, cancer came and took her fast. They must’ve come back because their father passed.”
“Yes, I felt bad that I missed the funeral.”
He nods. “I wasn’t there either, but I wasn’t a big fan of him. When his wife passed, it changed him. Anyway, makes sense the boys would come to bury him and sell off the farm.”
“Sell it?” I ask.
He shrugs and then starts to fit Hadley with a sling. “Sure, they won’t stay around here long, even if their father is gone.” He gives me a look that tells me that the “rough time” they had after their mother died was more than grief and then continues, “Still, you made a good friend, Hadley. I always liked Connor.”
She grins, clearly agreeing with the doctor’s assessment, and a part of my fear breaks away. If he won’t be around, then I don’t have to worry. He’ll sell it off, go back to wherever he’s living, and I can avoid any . . . disruption in my plan to get away from here.
Now that I know his name, though, I can set things right once I’m away from here. Find out for sure if Hadley is his.
“All right, peanut. You’re all set. Remember what I said about climbing and taking it easy until you’re all healed. No horsing around too much.”
“I promise,” Hadley says with false promise. That kid doesn’t know how to be careful.
“Good, now can you give your mama and me a few minutes to talk? I think Mrs. Mueller has some lollipops out there.”
He doesn’t need to say anything else, she’s gone.
“How are you feeling?” he asks with a fatherly tone.
“I’m good.”
“Ellie, I’m not trying to pry, but you’ve got a pretty ugly bruise on your arm here.”
I pull my sleeve down, hating that it rode up enough for him to see the marks. “I hit the wall when I was getting all the supplies for the classroom out. I’ve always bruised easily.”
And I’ve gotten really good at avoiding medical attention. The last time Kevin gripped my wrist, causing it to pop out of the joint, I set it myself and splinted it. Then, when he tripped me and my ankle sprained, I wore a brace for a month and tried to ignore the pain. There was no way I could go to the emergency room, so I’d found ways to hide injuries.
However, if he saw my side, he’d never believe that her fall, which I’m not even sure was a fall, was innocent, and that would be the last I saw of her. I can’t let anyone take her away. I will protect her better. I’ll do what I have to do to make sure we’re gone in the next two months. I need time and provisions.
His eyes study me, and I can see that he isn’t buying it. “No judgment here, I want to help.”
Help with what? Kevin owns the farm, the car, the bank account, and I have nothing. Kevin is controlling, and when things don’t go his way, he loses it. When we go, we have to end up so far away that he won’t be able to find us, no matter how hard he looks. And he will look.
He’ll want his daughter, and he will never let me go.
I attempt to give him my warmest smile. “There’s nothing wrong, Dr. Langford. I promise.”
He sighs, deducing that I won’t say anything more. There is nothing that anyone can do to help. “All right, well, I’ll see you back soon. Take care and don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”
“I promise, I’ll do that.”
He leaves, and then Hadley comes running back into the room with a pocket full of lollipops and a smile on her face. She heads straight to
me, wrapping her arms around my middle, causing me to wince.
“Sorry, Mommy! I forgot you had a bruise.”
I always have bruises. “It’s okay, baby.”
“Did Daddy get mad again?” Hadley’s eyes brim with concern. “He shouldn’t hurt you like that.”
God, this can’t be the life I show her. “It was an accident,” I lie. “I’m okay.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t like that you have another bruise.”
Me either, and that’s why I have to do this. For her, I will get her out of his home and I will protect her. I married a man who will ultimately destroy me and Hadley, unless I can get away first. Which is exactly what I plan to do.
Chapter Four
Connor
“There’s a lot of work we’ll need to do if we want to sell it,” I say as I grab the beer Declan brought to the table.
“No shit.” Declan shakes his head. “At least the land is good. That’s the real cash cow.”
“Pun intended.” Sean smirks while raising his beer.
Idiots.
At least my brothers and I are all in agreement. None of us want the place and all of us are ready to get out of Dodge.
Then I think about the woman living next door, the one who I’ve dreamed of for eight fucking years, who is now married and has a kid.
I can’t stay around here. I’ll want to see her again, to find out if everything I created in my mind is true.
Jacob leans back in his chair and points the bottle at me. His head is now shaved thanks to the new role he was cast for. “You’re the only one who’s a wild card, Connor.”
“Me?”
Jacob is the closest in age to me. He and I also look the most alike. So many times people thought we were twins. He and I are both six-foot-two, have dark brown hair, and green eyes. We’re also both the biggest assholes in the group.
“Yeah, you have nothing to go back to, no offense, kid.”
I really hate that they still see me as the little brother who is gullible and needs these three asshats to protect him. They don’t see that I’m a fucking Navy SEAL or that I’ve fought in a war, been shot at, shot people, and could destroy all of them if I wanted to.
“I have plenty.”
Sean shrugs. “You’re getting out of the navy, you have nowhere to live and no job. I mean, maybe you should take the farm until you get on your feet.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Declan, the traitor, says.
“The fuck it’s not!”
That would completely destroy my plan of getting out of this fucking town. Too many memories that I’ve worked so hard to forget have been rearing their ugly heads since I’ve been back.
“All we’re saying is that it might give you something to have for a bit. We all know you’re the handiest of us,” Jacob tries to explain. “We all agree there’s a ton of work that needs to be done, it makes sense. What about his leg, though?”
I huff and then chug my beer before answering. I’m full of anger and disgust that they’d suggest I stay in this house. Each time one of my brothers went off to live their life, my father grew worse. He drank more, punched harder, and I hated everything in this town a bit more.
My good times were almost nonexistent. The only memory I have that I hold on to is the night with my angel.
But, like all angels, she doesn’t belong here anymore than I do. She is meant for more, and that more sure as fuck isn’t some broken ex-SEAL who has been dreaming of a married woman. She had told me she wanted to fly, which was why we never even told each other our names.
She clearly didn’t fly far, though. In fact, she got married and had a kid less than a year after our night together. Clearly, I held on to that memory far stronger than she did.
“His leg is fine, he’s healed, just not fit enough for duty,” Declan tacks on.
No, not fit for duty and definitely not staying here.
“Yo, are you listening?” Sean jabs me.
“Not to you idiots.”
He releases a heavy sigh, looking away. “Jacob has a point, the farm needs work, you need a life, and all of us have things on our plates.”
“Oh, so I’m just the one with nothing else to do?”
“Pretty much,” Declan responds.
Now I remember why I hate being around the three of them.
“I’m not staying in this town.”
Declan puts his beer down and turns to face me. “Why? He’s dead. He can’t hurt you.”
No, but something else could—the possibility of more.
“Then why don’t you want to be here?” I challenge. “We both know why, and it has nothing to do with our father.”
It’s a beautiful blonde who stood at my father’s grave and then left before he could even speak to her.
“Fuck off, Connor.”
“You fuck off, Dec. You want me to be here, dealing with it all, when you’re unwilling to do the same damn thing?”
“Once we sell the farm, none of us have to ever be here again,” Sean tries to mediate the situation. “It makes sense, Connor. If you stay, you can work on cleaning up the farm, you have no plans, while Jacob has to get back to Hollywood, Declan needs to get back to New York, and I’m in the middle of spring training and have to return to Tampa to meet with the team.”
If I weren’t so angry that they were making sense, I would keep fighting. But they’re right. I have nothing to rush back to once I sign my discharge papers.
“Let’s sell it and get whatever we can,” I suggest.
Sean shakes his head. “No. This is all we get, and there’s no way the four of us should unload it for the sake of unloading it. Not when one of us has time and is more than capable of getting it to the point where we can make double. We’re not talking chump change, Connor. We’re talking about millions.”
I groan and rub the back of my neck. “I’m not agreeing to this.”
Declan shrugs as though he has not a care in the world. “I’m not worried. He’ll see that we’re right.”
“Or a bunch of assholes.”
Sean grins. “We already know that.”
“We meet with the lawyer tomorrow.” Declan’s voice is firm and authoritative, which makes me want to punch him in the throat. “After that, we’ll decide what we’re doing. For now, let’s let Connor stew while we all drink.”
I flip them off, hating that my brothers think they know me so well. Jokes on them because my mind isn’t completely on the farm, a small part of it is on the woman and her little girl next door.
“What the fuck do you mean there’s a stipulation?” Declan’s voice rises even louder as he stares at the lawyer.
The short, pudgy lawyer dabs his bald head with a handkerchief. I love it when my brothers and I make people sweat. “It is very clear. Basically, the will states that in order for his children, Declan, Sean, Jacob, and Connor to inherit the Arrowood farm, they must each live there for a period of six months. Once that time has been fulfilled by each of his children, whether it’s all at once or successional, then they will become the full owners with the authority to sell.”
Sean laughs without any humor. “Motherfucking asshole is controlling us from the grave!”
“This is bullshit. There has to be a loophole.” Declan says as he gets to his feet, his anger is palpable.
The lawyer shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. He was very . . . specific. If you all fail to agree, the farm will be sold and the proceeds will be donated to the foundation to help prevent child abuse.”
“You’re fucking kidding me,” I say before I can stop myself. “The man who beat all four of his children regularly wants to donate a possible ten million dollars to prevent what he inflicted on his own kids?”
Jacob puts his hand on my arm. “He will not win.”
“He wins no matter what!” I scream. “If we live on that godforsaken farm, we’re doing his bidding. If we all walk away, then all the money that we’re owed—and don’t tell me we�
��re not owed anything after the hell that man put us through—goes to charity!”
I can’t think straight. Anger and revulsion pulses through me with each beat of my heart. Of all the things I expected when we walked into this office, being dealt a fucked-up ultimatum wasn’t one of them. I didn’t think I’d be forced to live in the one place I never wanted to return to for six months.
“He thinks we won’t stay.” One of my brothers pipes up.
“I’m not staying. Not now. Not this way. I refuse to do this. Hell, give it to charity because those kids might actually have a chance that we didn’t.”
Sean stands and starts to pace. “What happens if one brother refuses?”
The lawyer clears his throat. “Then you all lose it.”
I throw my hands up, wanting to punch something, and then hate myself for even the thought of it. I have never raised my fists in anger. I’ve fought, sure, but it was in self-defense or because I had no choice. The vow the four of us made means everything to me, and I will never hurt another person physically because I can’t control myself.
“How long do we have to decide?” Declan asks, the ever responsible one who has no doubt formed a plan on how to handle this.
“Three days to decide, and someone has to be in the house within thirty,” he states matter-of-factly.
Declan stands, and the rest of us follow. “We’ll see you in three days with a decision.”
Chapter Five
Ellie
“I’m hungry,” Kevin slurs from the couch. “Make me something.”
I close my eyes, willing myself not to mouth back at him. It only makes it worse. I have to bide my time, be smart, and keep him as even-tempered as I can.
“Sure, is there anything you’d like in particular?”
He glares at me, his anger already starting to grow. “Food, Ellie. I want food.”
My throat goes dry, and I stand, forcing a smile that I hope will appease him. Once I get into the kitchen, I see Hadley at the table, working on her homework.
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