The Sweetest Taboo (A Modern Vintage Romance)

Chapter 26

”Idon”t get it, Caitlyn,” Ace ground out at the dinner table. ”Carla has her recital on Friday.”

”I can”t help when my friend”s bachelorette party is, Ace,” Caitlyn whined. Nails on a chalkboard.

Deb was in Montana for a summer gala bullshit hosted by the governor, so Ace asked me to come to the main house for dinner.

I usually stayed put in my cabin if Caitlyn was around. I saw the girls when I could, but I didn”t pretend to care to be in their mother”s company. I kept my peace with her as much as I could because she was vindictive enough to keep the girls away from me.

It would hurt me, yes, but it wounded the kids more. They loved Montana. They loved the ranch. They went to school here and had friends here. They had a nanny who made sure they got ready on time for school and were fed proper meals, since Caitlyn would not do that. She”d grown up with a nanny, and this was just how she was raising her kids.

Whenever I could, I dropped them off and picked them up at school or from their after-school activities. I loved it because I got exclusive time with them, and I knew what was going on in their lives. When they had exams. Who was being mean at school. How their grades were. Which teachers they liked and who they didn”t. How were the piano lessons going? Why was the soccer coach unfair?

Once in a while, Ace tried to be a decent dad and do the school runs and spend time with the girls, but he got distracted easily with golf games and hanging out with friends. He was the same age as Isha, yet they were so markedly different. She was a hands-on mother. She worked so incredibly hard to provide for her little family. Ace had a useless job that paid him a shit ton of money. His wife was usually gallivanting with her friends and other society bimbos. His kids spent more time with their nanny and me than their parents.

”You”re so fucking selfish, Caitlyn,” Ace remarked.

I was glad the girls had eaten earlier and weren”t here for this fight, though they saw plenty of others. I talked to them about it and tried to help them navigate their feelings, but I wasn”t a therapist. I worried that I was probably fucking it up, as I did so many other things that didn”t have to do with the ranch.

”And are you any better? I don”t see you giving up your golf game or your trip to wherever to be with the girls,” Caitlyn sneered.

”It”s just a recital, Ace, stop being so difficult,” Deb commented. ”You”ll be there, so that”ll be fine.”

Ace looked guiltily at his plate of food. ”I…I have a thing.”

”Oh, so you have a thing, but I have to give up my party?” Caitlyn fired back.

”I have a conference in Billings that I have to go to. It”s work-related,” he bit out.

I”d call bullshit on that, but this wasn”t my marriage. Not my circus, not my monkeys! Fuckin” hell.

”Mom, can you?” Ace asked.

”Ah…Ace, you know I—” Deb began.

”I”ll take her,” I announced. He could”ve asked me straight away, but he felt I already did so much and didn”t want to impose. I was Amy and Carla”s uncle, there was no fucking imposition. And, yet, we did this dance way too many times for my liking—but I let him, and he capitulated after he assuaged some of his guilt.

”You can”t; you have the RMS event to go to,” Deb interjected.

I drank some wine.

The Rancho Margarita Summer Event was a shitshow some California tech bro had been throwing every year in his mansion since he”d moved to Montana. He”d bought a ranch that he was running into the ground. But he was rich as Midas, so he didn”t mind losing money on a multi-million dollar ranch. It was a shame, really, but I wasn”t complaining. I had bought part of his herd, and by next year, I”d buy the rest of it and some of his land. He had good pastures, and the water management systems introduced by the previous owner were top-notch.

”I”m not going to the event,” I stated quietly. ”I”ll take the girls.”

”You know, Rowan, they”re not your children.” Deb banged her hand on the dining table.

I finally looked at her and was, as always, amazed at how she and Caitlyn looked so alike. They must have the same plastic surgeon, I deduced, and hairdresser. They were blonde, and I didn”t care to know if the carpet matched the drapes, but I doubted it. They always wore make up, and yet compared to Isha who hardly wore any, they paled. Even exhausted and sitting in a pair of loose shorts and a tank top with her hair up on her head in a messy bun, Isha was a vision to behold.

”I know, Deb.”

”Then let Ace and Caitlyn figure it out. These events are important for the social standing of the Ledger family. You know that. Your father knew that.” Deb”s face was pinched with disapproval.

”I”ll take the girls,” I repeated. I finished my wine and rose. ”Goodnight.”

I ignored Deb”s footsteps behind me and her calling my name as I walked to the front door. My truck was parked outside. My place was a good twenty-minute walk and a seven-minute drive from the house by design. I hadn”t wanted to be too close, but near enough so the girls could walk over.

I got into the truck but before I could get the hell out of dodge, Deb knocked on the driver”s side window. I rolled it down.

”I”m not going to some stupid party, event, gala or whatever the hell else you want me to. I don”t give a fuck about society and standing. Trust me, no one cares about that shit. We care about our land, our herd, and keeping said land and herd.”

She was fuming. ”You have a responsibility, Rowan.”

”To the ranch, Deb.”

”But it”s not ranch work that”s in your way. You”d rather go to a kid”s stupid piano recital over a networking opportunity?”

”Yeah, Deb, cause your definition of stupid and mine ain”t the same.”

I started the truck, and she moved away, teetering on her high heels. Why the fuck would a woman dress this way to eat in her own house, I didn”t know. But what I knew was that I was tired. Real ranch women were practical. They loved the land, cared for it, and preferred filing down a horse”s hooves rather than their nails. Deb, I understood. She was from New York. But Caitlyn was born and raised in Montana. How she”d turned out to be such a loser would be a mystery if I didn”t know her parents as well as I did. Caitlyn and her sister were spoiled rotten. Neither had any desire to understand the business that paid for their lives.

I wondered how Isha would fit into ranch life.

I smiled at the thought.

I knew she”d get along with the ranch hands. She”d probably have physical therapy day every week to take care of their various ailments. She”d ride with me. I couldn”t imagine her worrying about fucking gala events.

She”d want us to have dinner as a family. She”d want us to have what neither she, who grew up in an orphanage, or I had—a sense of family and belonging.

For the past several months, I”d been going to New York every week. It was exhausting as hell, but I wouldn”t give it up for anything. We were still only dating, and I had the bluest balls in the combined states of Montana and New York.

I called Isha as soon as I got home, needing to hear her voice and wash the hellish dinner away. I settled down on my porch. In September, as the temperatures began to cool, there was a sense of relief in the air. With the arrival of fall, our workload would surge as we geared up to prepare the herd for the winter ahead. And just when we thought things couldn”t get busier, November marked the start of calving season, extending through December. After a brief break, we”d dive right back into it come springtime.

Sure, we had vets on call, but they were only brought in if we had a problem. Making sure the calves were taken care of, doing post-birth health checks…. Christ, just thinking about it was making me fatigued.

Soon, I wouldn’t be able to go see Isha and Flora every Sunday. The ranch and my responsibilities would get in the way. I knew that, and I dreaded telling Isha. She”d immediately think that it was the beginning of the end. I had a business to run…but I”d just have to make it work. I couldn”t…wouldn”t lose my family. Not this time.

”Guess what?” Isha was excited.

”What?”

”I talked to my old boss at the hospital, and it looks like they”ll have an opening early next year.”

”You”re serious about giving up the partnership?” I asked.

”Yes, because I”ll be heading the department of children”s physiotherapy, and I get a very nice twenty percent pay raise. Can you believe it?”

I sat up, so fucking impressed with her. ”You”re amazing, you know that? I”m so proud of you, baby. We have to celebrate.”

”Well…I was…ah….”

She stopped talking for the longest time. ”Isha?” I prompted.

”Are you coming this weekend?”

”Yes.”

”Don”t…plan anything for Sunday.”

I tensed. ”Why?”

”Mick and Art said they”ll take Flora Saturday night, and I thought that…I don”t know…maybe….”

”You want to spend the night with me, Isha?” Just the thought of it made me hard. I adjusted myself in my pants, excitement bubbling inside me.

”Well…we don”t have to. You know what, it”s fine, we”ll just keep—”

”I can”t wait to spend a night with you. I want to hold you all fucking night. Wake up with you. Make love to you. Fair warning, baby, once I”m inside you, I may not want to leave.”

I heard her shy laugh, and it made my dick harder, which I didn”t think was possible.

A couple weekends ago, I”d fingered her to an orgasm on her couch, and last weekend, she”d given me an amazing hand job. We kissed, hugged, and touched. The foreplay had been going on since our first date in June, so my balls, my dick, and I were ready for some relief.