Chapter Nine
Morgan
I was always unsure of my intuition, right up until this moment.
Something is wrong—so wrong it stops me cold
I am in the midst of working on the stone fireplace at the lodge when it hits. It comes out of nowhere, twisting my gut, making my chest ache. Something is wrong. I drop my tools to take a moment, pulling my phone out. Calling Maren, hoping she can calm me, I think about his morning.
I gave her my word: I would stay away from Mr. Tomford.
I could not risk making her seem weak with her peers.
Unable to help myself, I went in for a little chat.
That chat had nothing to do with her position at the bank or the Brant Brothers’ loan request. It was about something else entirely.
It was one hundred percent about her—and my need to protect her.
“What...whatever do you mean?’
“Maren was worried during our first meeting. Worried you and I were the same. Good ol’ boys who discount her abilities. Maren was dead wrong, of course—I am nothing like you, Arthur,” I declared, glaring at him hiding behind his desk.
“Should I be offended, Mr. Brant?” Mr. Tomford grumbled.
“Oh, no. I suppose not. You ought to be embarrassed. Worried about the entire Brant clan withdrawing our business, as a direct response to your actions. I don’t give a damn if you do not give us the loan—we both know I can get one anywhere.
What I give a damn about is you for one second dismissing her instinct or judgment.
That if we sat down together, I might get a yes from someone with real decision-making power,” I had scoffed.
“Don’t you think coming to talk to me this way is dismissing her?”
Chuckling darkly, I sat forward, closing in on him to make him nervous.
He ought to be—I am serious as a heart attack concerning the woman I love.
“I think this is bigger than this bank or a loan. It is me being a good man, coming to warn you what a brilliant, kind, capable woman you have in your ranks. One I hope leaves a place not worthy of her.”
There was a lot more said. Mostly me telling him we do not want his money.
Promising him that threat about the Brant’s leaving the bank has already started.
My brothers adore Maren. Once they found out how sexist, how rude, how dismissive the bank was being towards her, our minds were made up.
Coming to chat with him was more to plant a seed.
To let him know to let the others like him know one thing: not to fuck with Maren Carter lest they want to bring the wrath of the Brant Brother’s on their heads.
All day I worried I crossed a line. I saw Maren briefly while Mr. Tomford led me to a meeting with the Wilford Foundation. I almost went to her, to tell her how possessive I was feeling, how protective. I was buzzing with it, with the pride of thinking I was doing what I could to protect her.
In the darkness of the lodge, I am hit with the truth: I did cross a line because for that brief moment earlier, her pain flashed in her pretty eyes.
“Fuck. Why did I do what she told me not to do?”
As if my internal monologue is answering, I hear a small voice. It kind of sounds like Ethan, the most rational of all of us. “Because you love her so you tried to show it—it was just the most misguided choice.
Tearing my gloves off, I call Maren again. No answer. I try again as I rush out to the truck. Still no answer. I call five more times on my way back to town. I told her I would make my famous tacos, but something tells me that they’re not so good she is waiting on my doorstep, salsa in hand.
By the time I get to her place, I am afraid of what I will find.
Afraid she won’t talk to me at all. That she will be so upset I treated her the one way she demands no one treat her that she won’t even open the door.
Parking out front, I rush up the short walk, hesitating just briefly.
That roof needs replaced, I think as I stomp up the steps. How did I not see that before?
“Maren? Honey, I think I pissed you off, but we need to talk.”
Knocking again, I send another call to her phone. My girl is stubborn which is something that drew me to her. But I am growing impatient. I have to be sure we’re good. That she is good. Need to be sure I did not upset her enough that she thinks she can lock me out for good.
I told her once she can’t keep me out and I meant it.
Rounding the side of the cottage, I curse when I see more issues with the foundation.
Ethan needs to take a look at her place, figure out what we can do about that and the roof too.
Then again...my place is in much better shape.
It might just be smarter for her to move in with me.
Who cares we’ve only been seeing each other a short time. I want her to be safe.
I pass the big bay window where her cute reading nook is.
Smiling to myself, I try to picture her there, not reading romances or mysteries but going over numbers.
Then I stop in my tracks. Because it’s just dark enough with enough moonlight for the room to be lit up.
Pressing my forehead against the glass, I lose my breath, my chest heaving as I gasp for air.
Gone. Everything is gone. Not just a chair or the curtains she hung just a week ago.
Everything. There is not a single thing left inside the house.
I stumble back, almost losing my footing.
No. No, no. No fucking way. I blink several times as if it will change the very clear picture in front of me.
I am unsteady on my feet as I turn to rush towards my truck.
Sliding behind the wheel, I make a call.
Tearing away from the curb, I speed towards downtown, gasping for breath.
Suddenly, a lou”d hello booms in the cab of the truck, too jovial for the panic I am spiraling in.
“Ethan shut up. Listen to me. Maren...she’s gone.
I went to her place to talk about my going to warn Mr. Tomford off and.
..everything is gone. Everything. I have to find her.
I can’t let her think.... I can’t let her go. ”
“Whoa, calm down, Morgan. I cannot understand what you’re saying. Slow down. What is going on?”
“Maren is trying to leave me. Leave town. Trying to get out of dodge because I fucked up. I can’t let her get out of town. I need to find her. Please...Ethan, please get the guys, go...we have to stop her.”
There is just a beat before he responds. “Head north. I’ll send the other two west and east, I’ll go south. I can call Evie too, I think she trusts her. We will find her, Morgan. I promise.”
His words do little to calm me, but I thank him as I do as he suggests.
I aim the truck north, going fast enough to cover ground but slow enough to get a good look down every single street I pass.
I am gripping the wheel so tight I fear I might snap it in half.
My entire body trembles. I have never been so afraid before.
Nothing has ever rattled me the way that empty cottage has.
“What the actual hell, honey? How often am I going to have to chase you?”
Those words echo in the space of the cab.
I am falling apart but I can’t do that, I can’t give up.
I will find her. Explain that I may have fucked up but it came from a good place.
A place I didn’t even know existed before her.
I have never felt even a hint of what she makes me feel.
There is no way in hell I am giving this up, no way I can possibly give her up.
“Oh, shit,” I shout, slamming on the brakes.
Throwing the truck in reverse, I punch the gas, tires squealing on the pavement.
I stop in the middle of the street, not giving a shit about traffic or anything else.
I sit there for a moment, staring off in the darkness.
I drag in a painful breath. “Oh, honey...there you are.”
Sitting in the parking lot of the motel, where we had that first night together, is her unmistakable Range Rover.
Sticks out in a town like True Ridge where it’s work trucks or basic mom SUV’s.
Never had an opinion about the flashier vehicle—now I am glad for it.
Wasting no time, I pull in beside her, waiting long enough to call off the search party.
“Found her. Might need you at the motel,” I bark out without so much as a hello—my brothers will forgive a bad attitude due to the circumstances.
Ending the call, I climb down from the truck, shaking my limbs out.
I was going numb as I searched for her. Anxious that I had lost her over something so stupid.
Not stupid because she tried to run—stupid because I ought to have known better.
I know her better than anyone else and still I did the one thing that would trigger her fight or flight response.
Going to the driver side, I open the door.
The moment I see her, I fall to a crouch beside her.
My sweet, stubborn girl is bent over the wheel, sobbing as she tries to hold herself together.
I do not hesitate, I reach in to scoop her up, gathering her against my chest. For just a moment, she refuses, pushing at me, muttering about what a jerk I am—I take it because she is not wrong.
That does not mean I am letting her go—something I make clear.
“We do not do this. Quit on each other if it gets hard. We’re building something together, honey.
Nothing this good is built without a few mistakes, a few remodels along the way.
We can do that—what we cannot do is tear down our foundation.
What did I say? You cannot escape me just as I can never—and get this clear, I will never want to—escape you. ”
Slowly, she softens. Clings to me, burrowing against my neck as I stride to the truck.
I get her loaded in just as the others arrive.
Maren takes note, eyes going wide, a little gasp making me smirk.
My focus stays on her. I cradle her face in my hands, brushing dirty thumbs over the apples of her cheeks, smearing marks with her tears.
“This is how we do things,” I whisper gently, smiling as her gaze swings from the calvary to me.
“We stick together, we show up when it counts. They know that you count. The way you understood how much they matter to me. What you mean to me tops everything in my life. That lodge, the business, even those reliable jerks. You matter more than all of it.”
“I... I could not let you make me look weak.”
“There is nothing weak about you. Only I get your softness. No one else needs to see it, if you don’t want them to. That’s how this works. I let you be soft, even weak if you need to be. You let me be a man who can protect you, who can make you feel safe,” I explain, my voice raw.
“You went to him because.... because I could not give you what you wanted....”
Blinking, I stare at her, stunned. Until it clicks.
“Oh, honey... no. Never. I was an idiot to go see him, but you’ve got it wrong.
We’ve decided to use a different bank; we won't let Brant Brother’s risk your position.
I went there to warn him to get off your back, to respect you—to make sure no one caused you any trouble.
It was stupid, possessive bullshit, I know. I did it for the right reason.”
Maren meets my gaze, her eyes brimming with tears. “What reason?”
Bending close, so she gets how important this is to me, how important she is to me, I cradle her face gently.
Then I breathe the reason I did such a stupid thing, will probably do more stupid things.
“Maren, honey, I love you. I was in love with you before I ever knew you existed. When you were just a shadow passing by my office, just a vision of a beautiful creature I had no idea would change my entire world. It was stupid but I did it because I love you so much, just thinking about him or anyone else...treating you the exact way I did by going there...it fucked me up. I fucked up. I swore from the start I am not that guy, not one of the good ol’ boys who doubts how capable, how brilliant, how amazing a creature you are.
I love you, Maren. I will do a hundred stupid things trying to prove it, trying to measure up to the kind of man who deserves you. I am so sorry I....”
Maren throws herself at me, cutting me off.
As she clings to me, I gather her close, tilting my head to kiss her greedily.
Leaning her back in the truck, I push my tongue past her lips, starved for her, still terrified I could lose her.
I let my hands slide beneath her top, pulling at the buttons of the silk.
Just as my hands reach her breasts, I hear it.
“Uh...can you do that somewhere else, you two? Might cost us a job site if we get caught watching this little adult picture show,” Tanner calls.
“Fuck off. One of you take her car to my place, yeah? Thank you.”
Shifting my focus back to Maren, we share a look before we laugh. I expect we will have lots of moments wrecked by my stupid, smartass brothers. I don’t mind. At least they get a good look at how you romance a woman. They all ought to take some tips from their big brother.
“Who said I plan to stay?” Maren whispers, making my heart stop.
For a whole minute, I cannot breathe. Then she smirks up at me, drawing me close until I am all but lying on top of her in the truck. “You did by letting me get you in this truck. You had time to escape. No, you stopped here because you wanted me to find you.”
Maren sobers, her eyes searching my face.
As if she will see something to tell her she needs to escape.
That she has a chance to rid herself of me so she might want to take it.
I would just follow, and when she smiles at me, so bright her eyes shine with it, I think she realizes it.
Good. Because I would follow her back to Silver Shores, off to Driftwood Peaks, anywhere she might want to run off to—but I would prefer building our foundation here in True Ridge.
“Take me home you brute,” she decides, playfully giving in because she knows she has no other choice.
“That was the plan, honey. Taking you home has always been the plan.”