Claimed by my Best Friend (Men of Valor Springs #7)

Chapter Eight

Paula

Every family has at least one black sheep. A family member that is not fully accepted or understood by the others. I am a black sheep in my family. Nearly everyone else ventured into the legal or political world, but not me.

No, I have always wanted to teach kids. I knew it was what I would do from a young age, and despite my family’s confusion, I pursued it. My students love me, my coworkers are great, and the job is rewarding. Seeing the smiles on those kids’ little faces is what makes my day.

I am, however, not the only black sheep in the Tate family. Before me, there was my father’s youngest brother, Uncle Dane. Instead of the law, he chose ranching, something my great-grandfather had done as a hobby in his retirement. Dane fell in love with the ranch when he would visit as a boy, and when he inherited it, he took what had been a hobby farm and grew it into a massive operation, one of the most successful in the state.

Despite his success, he remained a humble, down-to-earth kind of man. He’s quiet and patient, and it’s those qualities that had me seeking him out when I wanted to get out of the city after my mother’s death. And it’s those qualities that keep me from snapping at him to leave me alone now when he comes to find me standing at the fence of the pasture behind his house.

He doesn’t say anything, just wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close. I settle my weight against him, soaking in the comfort he offers. After a few moments, he gently pulls me away and leads me back to the house. I can see my father’s car is now missing from the driveway, and I assume he’s gone home, which is a relief. Dane shows me to a guest room, then quietly tells me to join him for dinner if I feel hungry.

I don’t feel hungry.

What I would like to do instead is hole up in this room, bury my head under my covers, and never come out. God, I have work tomorrow, and I have no idea how I’ll even talk to my students without bawling. I don’t want to upset the kids. Just like I don’t want to look ungrateful to the only family showing me any kindness right now.

With one last longing look at the bed, I walk out of the room before I am tempted to crawl under the covers and hide. Uncle Dane is where he said he would be—in the kitchen.

“How do you feel about steak and mashed potatoes?” he asks, when he notices me hovering next to the door.

“Good, I guess,” I whisper, dragging my feet into the room and plopping down on the seat across from his. “My mother used to make the best steak. It’s funny because she was always working and never had time to cook, but when she did, it was like Christmas.”

“She was a wonderful woman.”

“Yeah, she was,” I say, nodding my thanks when he passes me a plate. “Everyone loved her.”

“So, Darrell Nord,” he says after a few minutes of silence. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“I love him,” I confess miserably. “You’ve lived in Valor Springs your whole life. But I’ve never heard you say a bad word about him. If everything that was in that file is true, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Dane sets down his fork and leans back in his chair, regarding me thoughtfully. “I’m not in the habit of judging a man on past misdeeds that he’s already paid for. It’s no lie that Darrell made some bad choices in his youth, and he did his time for them. Since his return, he’s been nothing but a model citizen. He runs a successful business, abides by the law, and contributes to every single charity drive in town, though he tries to keep that last part a secret. No secrets in a town the size of Valor Springs, though. Darrell the man is a far cry from the kid he used to be.”

“So, you don’t agree with my dad?” I can’t help the note of hope in my voice. I don’t want to go against my father’s wishes, but I can’t just turn off my feelings for Darrell, either.

“Your father is blinded by his grief and fear. He couldn’t protect your mother when she needed him, so he’s determined to protect you. Give him time. He’ll come around once he sees how happy you make each other.”

“What if he doesn’t, though?” I ask, voice my greatest fear. My father and uncle are all the family I have left. My father’s other brothers live too far away and are too absorbed in their own lives for me to really consider them family.

Dane reaches over and rests his hand on mine. “Then you’ll still have me. But I wouldn’t worry about it. Your dad can be a stubborn ass, but I’ll talk to him. I’ll remind him that if your mother were here, she’d smack some sense into him herself.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “Mom always was a force to be reckoned with.”

“That she was,” he agrees with a smile. “Now, not that I mind, but finding your boyfriend camping out in my driveway is going to raise an awful lot of questions among the ranch hands when they arrive in the morning, and it’s getting pretty cold out. Maybe you could go put your man out of his misery and invite him inside?”

I blink owlishly at my uncle leaning back in his dining chair, resuming his meal like he didn’t just drop a bomb on me. Is he serious? I can’t tell if he’s serious. “Darrell came back? He is here?” I ask finally.

“Sure is, and looking like he means to hunker down and stay a while.”

A part of me wants to walk outside and tell Darrell to go home, but I can’t face the man. Every time I think about him, my heart clenches painfully, and yet, when I walk to the window and look out, the sight of his red truck out there in the dark hurts my soul. But still, I stay inside.

“It’s not my problem,” I tell myself petulantly as I climb into bed later that night. “It’s his fault for keeping secrets from me. He can freeze if he likes.” I yank the covers over my shoulder and try to turn off my thoughts, but it’s an impossible task.

The truck is too uncomfortable to sleep in all night, and Darrell is a big man. What if he hurts his back or shoulder and he can’t work? His job depends on those muscles, right?

I reach over for my phone and check the weather forecast. Oh God, it’s going to be freezing tonight. He’s out there all alone in the cold, and I bet he doesn’t even have anything to keep him warm.

“Ugh!” I groan, kicking off the covers and rolling about in the bed, hating just how much I care about that lying bastard than I do my own broken heart. I can’t bring myself to hate him, despite my father’s best efforts to plant that seed in me.

I’m hurt that I had to find out about Darrell’s past from my father, but I can’t simply make myself stop caring for my best friend of over two years. The one man I have ever and probably will only ever love.

With a resigned sigh, I climb out of bed and slide into my shoes. I tiptoe to the door and listen for a while, but there is no sound coming from the other side. I don’t know which room is my uncle’s, and I don’t want to wake the man.

The hallways is empty, so I creep out, walking slowly downstairs, and I’ve just made it to the front door when a noise stops me. I turn around to find Uncle Dane leaning against the staircase banister, and I nearly jump out of my skin. For such a big man, he sure moves quietly.

“Do you want me to tell him to leave?” he asks, nodding toward the door. “Or do you want me to come outside with you?”

I shake my head, mortified at the idea but grateful that he’s offered. “No, thanks,” I say, oddly embarrassed at being caught trying to sneak out of the house. I’m not a teenager anymore. Heck, I never even snuck out of my parents’ home when I actually was a teenager. “Darrell would never hurt me.” Not physically at least. Not even emotionally if he can help it. “He would first cut his arm off before he let anyone hurt me, including himself.”

“As a real man should,” he says, turning around to go back upstairs. “You should talk in the barn if you want some privacy. Only the horses will hear you in there.”

I nod. “Thanks, Uncle Dane.”

With a brisk nod, the man is gone just as fast as he appeared. I walk out of the house and immediately feel the chill, quickly realizing why Uncle Dane suggested the barn. It’s freezing out here. I pull my cardigan around my shoulders and run down the driveway and to the gate, letting myself out.

Darrell must spot me walking toward him because he immediately leaves the truck and meets me at the front. Under the moonlight, his handsome face looks troubled, and my first instinct is to reach out and smooth the frown lines on his face, but I stop myself before I can, hugging myself defensively. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

My brows arch at his stalker behavior. “I’m safe here with my uncle. You don’t need to wait for me. You should go home.”

“Not until we talk.”

I make an exasperated noise, shaking my head vehemently. “We can talk tomorrow or next week. I don’t care when, just not tonight.” Everything feels too raw tonight, and besides, I need to sort my feelings without him around. What he kept from me is an aspect of his life I deserved to know, if for no other reason than so my family or other Valor Springs locals wouldn’t blindside me with the information. And yet, he let that happen. I was completely taken by surprise by my father. “Please. Just go.”

Darrell takes a step forward and into my space. “You know me well enough to know I will never let a day end without fixing things with you.”

“Well, as it turns out, I don’t know you that well.”

His jaw ticks and his eyes stray, but for only a second before shifting back to mine. “Your father is a jerk,” he says disgruntledly. “I admit, I was an ass for not telling you about my past sooner, and I let you get blindsided by it all. I’m sorry, Paula.”

I can feel my resolve waver with his easy admission that what he did was wrong. It goes against everything in me to be angry with him. Maybe it would be better to talk it out now.

I shake the thought away. No, I am not going to forgive him so easily. I need to know everything before I can get to that point. Although I didn’t know my best friend when he was younger, something tells me he has never been the kind to break the law for no reason. Or maybe I’m just making excuses for him. I’ll never know for sure until he tells me himself.

“Okay, come with me,” I say, turning around to leave. “My uncle said we could talk in his barn.” I move quickly to get some distance from his dominating presence. I’m helpless around this man. Just being close to him has my sex pulsing with need. It’s only been a few hours since we made love, but it feels like an eternity. I want to lean back into his body and let him wrap his arms around me and kiss me until I forget the hell of a day I’ve had.

“Okay, show me the way.”

If I am to get past this, then I need to hear the entire truth from the man himself. Maybe we can move on from this, or maybe we can’t. That will depend on the truths he’s kept from me.