Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DELANEY
T his was the strangest meeting I’d ever had in my life. Something was going on with Trace. I was starting to wonder if he was high, not that the Trace I’d once known would ever have touched drugs. But the twitch over his left eye and the way he couldn’t sit still was starting to become more and more concerning.
“How about we head out to the south pasture and get it ticked off the list? Have you eaten yet? I know it’s past lunch, but I haven’t had time for a break yet. We could grab something from the bakery to take with us. I’ll leave Rosie a message to contact you tomorrow so we can schedule a time to look over the rest of the property.”
I found myself nodding along, even though I had no idea what he was talking about. I’d never sold land before and had no idea what went into it or what it was we were even going to look at. The south pasture was exactly that: grass and nothing much else. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been out there.
Trace quickly grabbed his coat and then his hand came to the small of my back as he guided me out the door. I could feel the heat of him through the thin shirt I was wearing, and as if my body remembered what it had been like to be in his arms, a wave of awareness rushed over me.
I wanted to step away from his touch and beg him to never let go all at the same time. My mind became a jumbled mess of chaotic feelings. This was the man who didn’t have the guts to face me and sent his mother to dump me and threaten my family. This wasn’t a man I was supposed to be feeling weak at the knees for. But there were so many memories of a better time clouding my judgment, and maybe I just needed to not lose someone else, even if he was already lost to me.
I let Trace guide me through the building as the thoughts ran rampant through my head. Ten years was a long time to hold a grudge, and he’d seemed so sincere back at the pond. Maybe he was ready to ask for a chance? To apologize for what he’d done. Did I want an apology? What was I even going to say if he tried to give me one?
Oh god, we’re outside, and he’s looking at me like I’m supposed to know what he just said.
“Shall I grab us something to eat and then I can meet you there?” Trace asked. The hopeful look on his face just made me think of the teenager I’d been in love with, and I found myself nodding for some reason.
“Yeah, that would be nice. I haven’t had time to go to the store yet and?—”
Before I could finish my sentence, my head was yanked backward, and a blinding pain surged through my scalp. I felt fingers twist in my hair as I was pulled backward, and I staggered blindly, reaching for my hair that I was pretty sure some maniac was pulling.
“I told you to stay away from my husband,” Chelsea screamed in my ear.
Before I could even react, Trace was there pushing Chelsea—and I was pretty sure a chunk of my hair—away before pulling me protectively behind his back.
I fell against him as I tripped over my own feet, and my hands traced across the muscles in his back before I jerked myself away.
What the hell was I doing?
“What the fuck, Chelsea? You’ve gone too far this time. You can’t attack people in the street just because you see them with me. We. Are. Divorced. It’s over. Why can’t you get that into your head? It’s been a year. Why do you have to continue to try to make my life miserable? Haven’t we done enough of that to each other over the years? Why would you want to keep torturing yourself when you never wanted to be my wife in the first place?” Trace screamed.
People in the street stopped and stared at the drama unfolding in front of them, and I winced in embarrassment. This was clearly a private conversation, and even if a sick part of me was pleased that they were divorced, it had nothing to do with me.
I needed to wake up and see reality. I was leaving Willowbrook in a couple of weeks at most. Trace was buying my family’s land. There was no reason why I’d ever come back to this place. Trace didn’t want me ten years ago, and that didn’t change just because he was divorced now.
“This is clearly something between the two of you,” I said as the pair glared at each other. I’d known Chelsea well enough to know that she wasn’t going to back down now. Trace had basically waved a red flag, and even if she wasn’t in her right mind now, she wasn’t going to back down from the challenge. “I’ll just meet you at the pasture.”
I went to step back, but Trace’s hand snapped out and grabbed mine without him even taking his eyes away from Chelsea. I felt the tremor that ran through him as he clung to me, and it was the only thing that stopped me from pulling away and leaving as quickly as I could.
Something was wrong. There was something about this whole scene that I didn’t understand.
Goddammit. Here came the curse of being a good person again because there was no way I could abandon him now, not when it seemed that he needed someone to stay on his side.
Chelsea’s gaze snapped to me and her nostrils flared as she glared at Trace’s hand holding onto mine.
When she looked back up at me, it was with a hatred I’d never seen in her before.
“I knew you’d jump straight into bed with her as soon as you saw her,” she spat at Trace. “How long has this been going on? It was always Delaney, wasn’t it? I was never going to be good enough to take her place.”
Trace sighed, and it was like all the fight leaked out of him as he seemed to sag on the spot. Whatever had happened between the two of them, it had clearly ended in one hell of a messy divorce. I was surprised that Marie hadn’t told me all about it when Chelsea had first come across me at the bakery.
“Delaney is here to deal with her father’s estate. We’re discussing the Farrington Group buying the land. This is the first time I’ve seen her since she left town, Chelsea. I wasn’t the one falling into every available bed during our marriage. There was never anyone else for me.”
He sounded so exhausted as he spoke, and I winced as he so casually dropped the mention of her infidelity. I wondered what it had cost Regina to cover this one up.
“Your father’s estate?” Chelsea’s gaze flickered to me, and for a second, I saw a glimpse of my old friend before it was masked by her anger again. “Whatever. Even if she wasn’t here, she might as well have been. I’ve been competing with her ghost in our marriage for years. Can you blame me for trying to find someone who would love me ?” she shouted at Trace.
Chelsea didn’t wait for an answer as she stalked away. I realized then just how hard Trace was gripping my hand.
What the hell had happened here? Trace was the one who told me to go. He didn’t want anything to do with me or Cade. There was no way he’d spent the last ten years pining after me. It had to all just been in Chelsea’s head, right? He could have easily found out where I was if he asked my father. If he really had cared about me or Cade, he could have come to us at any time?
Chelsea’s jealous rage was exactly what I needed to have some sense slapped into me, and I pulled my hand from Trace’s.
This couldn’t happen. It was ridiculous to get caught up in the old feelings that used to be between us. I had responsibilities now. I couldn’t let Trace play with my heart like this, and most of all, I couldn’t let him anywhere near my son if he didn’t intend to be in his life. I’d been a fool to even think that I should. Cade deserved so much better than that, and I wasn’t going to let Trace hurt him any more than he already had.
“I’ll meet you at the pasture,” I rushed out before turning my back on him and quickly walked away.
The quicker I could get this deal done and my business in Willowbrook finalized, the better it would be for all of us.