Chapter 24 Beau #2
I needed to find out what my father’s angle was before Iris met with him, so that we didn’t go into this blind and she made money off it.
If I called Brooks, he wouldn’t tell me anything or if he did, it would be some version of the truth.
I loved my brother, but my father was changing him and the only other person who might help me with getting more information was Parker, who wanted nothing to do with me.
I didn’t want Iris going into this blind. I owed her that and if I could help her get paid while sticking it to my father well, even better. He would not be fucking with my wife anymore. She deserved what he had promised her. I’d make damn sure he delivered.
My phone rang for the second time and when my brother's name popped up on my screen, it felt like too much of a coincidence.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Nash,” Brooks clipped.
“Hello to you too, brother,” I said, warning bells ringing in my head.
“Your wife is proving to be a pain in the ass,” he snapped.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” I growled.
“Nothing, chill,” he said quickly. “Where the hell did that come from? You hated her a few months ago.”
I bit my cheek from lashing out at him again. My father and Brooks didn’t know I had stayed in Sterling Ridge with Iris or that I had gotten to know her.
“Yeah, and if you do something, guess who has to fucking hear about it?” I snapped, hoping that would save my slip-up.
“We aren’t doing anything to her. She’s just making decisions without us and it’s troublesome,” he sighed. “Father’s irritated, but proud of you.”
I grimaced, hating that a part of me was practically preening.
“I doubt he’s proud of me,” I mumbled like an idiot. “He’s just happy I’m doing what he’s asked.”
“Well, either way she’s on her way to the farm and we will see her tomorrow,” he said, sounding tired. “She’s staying at the farm in her old home, but father figured she probably deserved to stay there, since it will be the last time she’ll see it.”
“Wait, what?” I almost slammed the brake in shock.
“Father already has a buyer lined up. Once she hands over the other land we will have enough for the sale,” he said oblivious to my crisis. “I’m surprised the buyer is actually coming through—”
“What do you mean hands over the land?” I pulled over, getting so angry I wasn’t really paying attention to the road anymore.
“That land should have been a part of the sale of the farm to begin with, and she kept that hidden from us,” Brooks said in a sour tone.
“How could she have hidden the land? When you bought it, you knew exactly what you were getting, and for what purpose would she want to hide land?” I took a deep breath to control my tone.
“We are short on acreage; the number we have doesn't match up. Her family was so awful at doing anything, I’m not surprised that this happened. We could have sold the farm months ago if we didn’t have to go through this, and I wouldn’t have to deal with father,” Brooks sighed.
“He’s been a pain in my ass, grumpy as hell, bitching about everything.
We need this money for how much of an awful position he put us in, and he just moved my wedding date. ”
I wanted to feel sorry for him, but as time went by, I realized Brooks didn’t have a choice either. He was so wrapped up in our father’s affairs, he didn’t realize how much he was becoming just like him.
“Well, that’s what happens when karma catches up to you,” I said, running a hand down my face. “You said you were going to try and stop the sale.”
“Karma? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.
“Dad has been doing shady shit for years, you know that,” I replied. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the first time this has happened. Marrying us off and dictating our lives isn’t being a parent, Brooks. If he can’t be successful without us maybe his so-called empire should fall.”
“Oh, that's rich coming from someone who never even cared about anything except themself,” Brooks snapped. “If it wasn't a rodeo or horses, you didn’t care.”
“Didn’t care? You think I didn’t care? I loved working the farm.
I worked every damn day with those horses, feeding, brushing, riding, training them.
For what? For nothing but to be put down constantly.
They hated that I wasn't an obedient child like you, constantly punishing me for the stupidest things, like being right about Millie’s horses or just being a goddamn child.
I couldn’t even be a brother to my siblings because I would taint them with my bad behavior. ”
“Nash—”
“Don’t fucking Nash me,” I growled. “We all didn’t grow up with Mother and Father praising us every five minutes with constant reassurance that they loved us.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he clipped. “If you hadn’t been so dead set on fighting them on everything, maybe things would have been different.”
“The last time mom told me she loved me was when I was nine,” I said, keeping my voice steady.
“Then when I was twelve, I found her drunk in the barn one night. She said that they told her I was a girl and she was so disappointed when she delivered me and that disappointment had never stopped. How would you feel hearing that from our own mother? Would you have stayed for that?”
The silence on the phone should have felt like victory, but all it felt like was screaming in an empty tunnel. My phone vibrated as I pulled away to look at the incoming text.
Beau: Iris said she needed to go to her family’s farm. I couldn’t let her go alone, so I came with her. I don’t feel good about this.
“Look, I have to go,” I said, hanging up before I said anything else.
Me: I just talked to my brother. I’m on my way.
I looked up a phone number I rarely used from Iris’ farm, calling in a favor, ready to use whatever I needed to make sure her home was clean and ready for her arrival.
After years of nothing ever being enough, I was done trying to appease my family.
I had a choice right now and if it was them or Iris, I was going to choose my wife.
I would be damned if I let them take this away from her.
She was more important than anything, and if I could keep Beau with us, I was going to fight for him too.