CHAPTER 12 #2
They had signed their names to that document, risked the ranch they’d poured their lives into, all so my family could survive, so my mother could have a chance.
The Calloways had tied their entire legacy to ours.
They’d staked every fencepost, every acre of their own future, and I could hardly breathe as it hit me.
If anything had gone wrong, their land was on the line too.
I wondered if Colt had known, if he’d realized what his family had wagered for mine.
The weight of everything I hadn’t known or wanted to know pressed down on me, spreading through my chest and up into my throat. I thought of all those years since, about how I’d been gone, building my new life, while June and the Calloways had continued shouldering a debt I didn’t know existed.
That realization knocked the air from my lungs.
I glanced up at June, my fingers gripping the edge of the papers so hard they crumpled.
I wanted to scream at her for keeping this from me, for taking this on all on her own, but the words tangled with such fierce gratitude.
Because of her and the Calloways, I’d spent those last months with my mom with the illusion that we’d be okay.
I pressed the papers flat on the table, smoothing them with my fingers until they lay perfectly aligned. The gesture felt pointless, but I couldn’t control the shame that hit me because I hadn’t known or the relief that flooded me because June had protected me.
“What is this?” I finally managed, my voice cracking between accusation and plea.
June didn’t answer right away. She leaned forward, elbows braced on the edge of the table, staring down at the papers in front of me. “That,” she said finally, reaching for the deed, “is the reason this place is still ours.”
“I didn’t know,” I said, because what else was there to say? “You should have told me.”
June’s mouth tugged into a sad smile. “You were fifteen when we did this, Blaire. What would telling you have done?” She pushed her glasses up, her gaze pinning me in place.
“Your mother and I tried to figure it all out on our own, but sometimes, you take help when it’s offered. Especially from people who love you.”
“I wouldn’t have left,” I admitted as I shook my head. “You should have told me, and I would have stayed. I would have helped.”
June let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “You wanted to go, Blaire, and your father—” Her mouth twisted like she’d bitten into something sour.
“That man may not be my favorite person in the world, but he gave you opportunities I couldn’t.
A college education. A future beyond these fences.
If you’d wanted to stay, I would have moved heaven and earth to make it work, but you wanted to go. ”
Because of Colt.
I thought of the way I’d spent my whole life in orbit around Colt Calloway, how every plan I made was shaped by him. It was true. I had wanted to go, but only because he’d told me to. I’d told myself I was protecting my heart, building a life beyond the girl I’d been in Willow Grove.
I hadn’t been thinking about what I left behind beyond him. I didn’t consider how much my grandmother needed me or how much his family had given. I had spent all those years selfishly trying to create a new life, and for nothing. It slipped away so easily because it had never really been mine.
“Your mama’s Trust protected the acres in it specifically for you. She made sure her part of the land would be waiting when you turn thirty, no matter what happened with the rest.” June’s eyes held mine.
I nodded slowly. I had found out about my inheritance shortly after she died, but the Trust had been a distant fact in the back of my mind all these years. But the rest of it, the loans, the Calloways, the desperation, that had been kept from me entirely.
I wanted to ask June if she regretted it, if she ever sat in the quiet of this kitchen and wondered if the cost had been worth it.
But my phone buzzed against the table so suddenly I nearly jumped.
The sound ricocheted through the kitchen, and I watched the screen light up, the name Senator Monroe flashing across my screen over and over.
June’s eyes flicked to the phone, then to me, and back to the phone again. “You gonna get that?” Her tone was casual, but I could tell she was already bracing for whatever I might say next.
“It’s—” I trailed off, rubbing my palm flat against the paperwork and wishing the world would slow down for a few seconds. “It’s my dad.” I picked up my phone and hit the button to send it to voice mail. “He’ll be fine. I talked to him yesterday.”
She stilled, watching me carefully. “What did he want?”
“He wants me to come back and salvage my relationship,” I said with a bitter laugh.
“He thinks I should patch things up with Grant, pretend everything is fine, and stop ‘embarrassing’ myself by giving up such a ‘good man’.” The words “good man” fell from my mouth like a curse, dripping with all the venom I couldn’t contain.
June grunted as she crossed her arms. “I hate that man.”
“He doesn’t get it.” I shook my head. “He thinks if I talk to Grant again, I’ll realize I’m throwing away the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“You’re not,” June commented without hesitation. “That asshole never deserved you. He’s nothing but a rich prick, and I never liked him.”
I couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled up out of me. “You never even met Grant.”
I had begged her to come so many times to meet me, but she’d always found an excuse.
“I didn’t need to.” She leaned back in her chair. “I could see it in the photos you sent. In the way you talked about him. There are men who are good and men who are good at pretending. Your daddy was always the latter, and I could tell Grant is the same.”
I tried to laugh it off, but she was right.
“If you ever think about going back to that man, you better bring me with you so I can knock some sense into you first.”
June’s words landed heavy because I knew my father and Grant wouldn’t stop trying to pull me back into that life, no matter what it cost me.
“There’s not a chance in hell.” I shook my head. “I’m not going back.”
The thought of permanently settling into my grandmother’s house and helping her tend the farm day after day seemed both impossible and comforting. But then I thought about June’s Jams and how we could make it work.
Then there was Mama’s Trust, those acres she’d set aside just for me. I'd spent years not thinking about the inheritance, that safety net, but now I felt something settle in my chest. This wasn’t just land. It was roots. It was hers, and mine, and it was home.
I wiped my hands down the front of my shorts, gathering myself before I spoke again. “I think I’m gonna stick around here for a while, if that’s okay.”
June’s smile was so wide, it revealed the slight gap between her front teeth before she reached across the table and squeezed my hand, her fingers warm against mine. “Baby,” she said, her voice thick with emotion, “there’s nowhere else I’d want you to be.”