29. Cash
CHAPTER 29
Cash
COWGIRL ERA
My heart sputters, then stops altogether.
I open my eyes and see Mollie looking at me. A thick rim of tears lines her bottom lashes. Her eyes toggle frantically between mine.
She’s looking for something. What, I don’t know.
But somehow, I know deep down that I can’t give it to her.
Certainty maybe? Is she asking me to make the choice for her to stay or leave? Course I’ll beg her to stay. Hell, I’m more than a little crushed those tests on the seat there didn’t give us a different result.
I want Mollie to stay. I want her in my bed. In my life.
I want to put a baby in her.
But that ain’t my call to make. Begging would only muddy the waters.
My chest feels tight. She’s leaving. Or thinking about it. I knew this couldn’t last forever. I knew this moment was coming.
And yet I’m unprepared for how fucking awful it feels. My body is hollowed out except for this weird, tinny reverberation that’s like a kick to the chest.
Mollie is leaving .
“That’s the call I was on.” Mollie takes a sharp inhale through her nose. “Mom’s lawyers have been trying to figure out a way around that stipulation since the reading of the will. They got a judge to strike it down.”
“How?” It’s an idiot question, but I don’t know what to say.
Mollie shrugs. “I don’t know. But her legal team means business, so…”
I wish I could be angry. Anger is clean. Easy.
Sadness isn’t.
“So you gotta go back.” I manage a tight smile.
“To sign the paperwork, yes.”
“But for the long haul too.”
Her eyes continue to search mine. “I do want to go back to Dallas. My mom, my friends…things for Bellamy Brooks are finally happening.”
“And you’ve worked so hard for all of that.” I swallow. “You’ve built a life you should be proud of in Dallas.”
“I am proud of it.” She blinks, a tear rolling down her face. “But I’m also proud of the life I’m building here. I want to go, but I don’t want to leave. In fact, I really, really want to stay.”
My hands find her hips. I squeeze them and close my eyes. “Then stay, honey.”
“But how do we make that work? I hate the idea of never being fully present in either place. The ranch is such a magical spot, and it deserves someone’s full attention and devotion. It wouldn’t be fair to half-ass it. It wouldn’t be right.” She wipes away a tear. “But God, I’m in love with it, and I don’t want to just leave it all behind.”
She’s talking about the ranch.
She’s also talking about me. Us. The spark between us that unexpectedly burst into a bonfire.
I run my thumb along the buttons on her shirt. She dresses like a real cowgirl now. Jeans, Ariat shirt, working boots.
I clear my throat. My voice is still hoarse with emotion when I say, “I want to make it crystal clear that I’d like you to stay on the ranch. I’d like that very much. But I also understand why you have to leave.”
“I’m happy here.” She takes my face in her hands. “Happier than I’ve been in a long, long time. But I’m also happy when I’m with my mom and my friends. I’m obsessed with the boots I’m making.” Her lips feather over mine. “I’m more obsessed with you, though. You wouldn’t consider?—”
“Moving to Dallas?” I open my eyes. “You said it yourself. The people on this ranch are my everything. My family is here. My work is here. I’m not a city kinda guy.”
Mollie scoffs. “One of the many things I love about you.”
“Then don’t try to turn me into something I’m not.”
Her eyes flicker with hurt.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “That came out wrong. I know you wouldn’t ever try to change me.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
She takes a deep breath. “I appreciate the apology. Thank you.”
“What I’m trying to say is, we both deserve to chase our dreams. Yours are in Dallas, and mine are here. In Hartsville. Rivers Ranch is my dream. Making it into the place it’s always meant to be. I want that more than anything. Or I used to want it more than anything.” I swallow. “Now I want you.”
She puts her hand over my heart. “But you also want to be around your family. Make them proud. Watch them start their own families.”
Christ, this is fucking agony. I can barely breathe around the tightness in my throat.
“Yes.”
Her eyes fill all over again as she nods her head. “I understand.”
“But I don’t wanna let you go.” I squeeze her hips harder. “ Even just to go sign that paperwork. I can’t fuckin’ stand the thought of you sleeping somewhere else. I’m worried…”
She looks at me. “You’re worried about what?”
I glance down at my lap. “That you won’t come back to me.”
“I’m coming back, Cash.” She tips up my chin with her thumb. “But if you’re that worried, then you should come with me.”
“To Dallas?”
“Yes.” I see her wheels turning as she straightens. “It’d only be for a day or two. And I don’t like the idea of sleeping without you either. Although I’m apparently about to get my period.”
I hook my thumb into her belt loop. “You think that’ll keep me away?”
“Somehow, I knew it wouldn’t.”
It hits me that a month ago, I would’ve unequivocally turned down Mollie’s invitation. I hated her, for starters. And no way I could be gone an hour, much less a whole weekend. My brothers, Ella, the cowboys—everyone needed me, and I wasn’t going to let them down.
Now, though, I am going to accept the invitation. I’d be letting myself down if I didn’t. My brothers have proven they can hold their own while I’m gone. And I’m not gonna miss a chance to be with the girl who’s turned my world upside down in all the best ways.
I am done missing out on the good shit.
“I’ll come with you, sure.” I give the loop a tug. “But then what? I know we’re thinkin’ ten steps ahead…”
“But we have to,” she replies quietly, reading my thoughts. “It’s the right thing to do.”
It’s right, because we’re both in deep. We want to make this work long-term.
That confession, more than any others we’ve shared tonight, has my heart in a death grip .
It’s not like I planned on falling in love with Mollie. We all like to think we have control over who we want, but I’ve learned over the past month that’s not at all how it works.
I didn’t want to fall, but I did. Knowing full well Mollie comes from a world that’s totally different from mine.
I would’ve never opened myself up to that kind of slaughter if I could help it.
But now I have to figure out a way to keep Mollie in my life without either of us having to giving up everything else that we love.
We have to figure that out. I guess I begin by taking John B’s advice. I have fun with her. Make her laugh. Care for her.
And hope for the best.
Garrett, if you’re listening, please help me out.
Mollie bites her lip, eyes fixed on my mouth. “I don’t know what happens next, Cash. I think we take it one step at a time? Now we know how quickly things can change.” She chuckles. “Maybe…I mean, who knows what can happen? I just want to be with you for as long as I can.”
I glide my hand up her side and cup her nape in my palm. She’s soft here, delicate, and her eyes go hazy when I draw my thumb down the column of her throat. “I’m yours, honey.”
I do my best to prove that to her again and again that night.
Sweat drips into my eyes as I survey my work.
It took some rusty Tetris skills, but I think I nailed it. Mollie has spent the last two days figuring out what needed to come back to Dallas with her and narrowed it down to three suitcases, a laptop bag, a hatbox, and something she called a “weekender,” which are now tucked neatly into the trunk of her Range Rover .
“Y’all are only going to Dallas for two nights, right?” Wyatt appears at my elbow, a brown paper bag in his arms.
I wipe my forehead on my sleeve. “Believe it or not, yes.”
“Why we’re surprised Mollie isn’t a light packer, I don’t know.” Wyatt holds out the bag. “Patsy made some snacks for y’all. Chocolate chip cookies and her homemade pimento cheese and crackers.”
I scoff, even as my heart twists. “Of course she packed us snacks. I’ll give her a call to thank her.”
“You know Patsy. She doesn’t want any of her people going hungry.”
My brother watches me set the bag on the front console. As ridiculous as this car is, I’m looking forward to driving it. It has air-conditioning for one thing. Satellite radio with several country music channels for another.
And, yeah, the idea of Mollie riding shotgun beside me, feet on the dash, long legs stretched out, doesn’t suck either.
There’s an awkward beat of silence between Wyatt and me as I close the door and wipe my hands. I filled him in on the broad strokes of my situation with Mollie. He knows we’re more than friends. He knows she’s no longer required to stay on the ranch to get her inheritance.
He doesn’t know I’m a strung-out fucking wreck wondering if I’m gonna lose her after this weekend. Or maybe he does, and that’s why he’s out here right now seeing us off.
“So this is the first time you’ve been out of Hartsville in…how long?”
I glance at the New House’s front door. Mollie is inside, finishing her makeup. “I’ve left plenty. The rodeo in Houston that one time. And the duck hunt outside Austin.”
“That was fifteen years ago.”
“So? Still counts.”
More silence.
And then, from Wyatt, “She’s the one, isn’t she? ”
I don’t bother denying it. I just shove my hands into my pockets and watch the front door.
That’s all the answer he needs.
“Don’t forget Mom’s ring is still in the safe,” he continues. “If you wanted to give it to Mollie.”
What would Mollie think of Mom’s tiny diamond on its unassuming gold band? Would she laugh at it? Or would she love it?
“Putting a ring on her finger doesn’t solve our problems.” I glance at the Rover. Should I turn it on and get the AC going so Mollie doesn’t get hot? It’s warm out here. “Mollie’s got a whole company in Dallas. And she’s close with her mom.”
Wyatt slowly nods. “Right. And you have two hundred fifty thousand acres of land at your disposal. Room enough for her company and whatever family y’all patch together.”
I cut him a look. “Aubrey sure as hell ain’t coming back to the ranch.”
“Just sayin’.” He holds up his hands. “You don’t have to be nervous about meeting her people, you know.”
“I’m not nervous.”
He just laughs. “You’re gonna be the fish out of water this time. And from what Garrett told us, Aubrey isn’t going to take kindly to a cowboy. Least of all one who’s dating her daughter.”
“I’m not wearin’ my hat.” I smile at him.
He smiles back. “But you’re bringing it with you. And you still got the Wranglers. And the farmer’s tan. It’s the mustache, though, that’s the dead giveaway.”
“Mollie likes it.” I splay my thumb and forefinger across the hair on my upper lip. “It stays, no matter what her mama thinks.”
“See? You’re charming when you wanna be. You’re treating Mollie right. You know what you want. Who you are. You work harder than anyone I know. If Aubrey ain’t impressed…” Wyatt lets out a low whistle. “Who cares? ”
“Mollie does.” My heart lifts when I see the front door open. “Which means I do too.”
Her face breaks into a smile when she sees Wyatt and me. She looks gorgeous in a long, checkered sundress that dances around her legs as she moves. She’s wearing her jewelry and heels and a pair of enormous black sunglasses.
She’d look every inch the spoiled heiress if it weren’t for her farmer’s tan. Can’t help but smile when I take in the lines on her chest and arms.
She’s a city girl. But she’s also a cowgirl now too. No way I can let her leave that part of her behind again. There’s also no way I can ask her to abandon her life in Dallas.
“Just remember,” Wyatt murmurs as he waves at Mollie, “where there’s a will, there’s a goddamn way.”
I turn to stare at him, taken aback by the casual way he can read me like a book. Part of me is annoyed I’m that transparent. Another part likes the fact that my brother knows me so well.
I’ve broken my back to keep our family together. Nice to know my work’s paid off. I know so many people who are estranged from their own families. Garrett. Mollie. It’s rare—special—that not only do my brothers and I love each other, but we like each other too.
Which is exactly why I can’t tear myself away from this place. But if I did get away more often—if, say, I had to accompany Mollie to Dallas a couple of times a month—my brothers would cover for me. They’re not going anywhere.
I just have to show Mollie—and her mom too—that I’m willing to compromise so that my girl and I don’t have to sacrifice our dreams to be together. We all deserve a happy ending.
I won’t get mine unless Mollie’s in it.