Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DELANEY
I ’d felt off since I saw Trace leave yesterday. Having to explain to Cade what had happened was difficult enough. I guess I’d thought I’d have more time, even though it was inevitable now that we’d come back to Willowbrook. I really should have done it years ago. I was just as bad as Trace for not letting Cade know about his father once he was old enough to understand.
There was something about the look on Trace’s face yesterday that had seemed so angry, and I knew it was because he’d seen Cade.
Had Booker already told him? Is that why he’d turned up to see with his own eyes?
But what the hell did he have to be angry about? That I’d kept the baby?
Cade was the one thing in my life that I’d never regret.
Booker clearly had no idea what had happened, so maybe he was angry that it was all about to come out?
Regardless, if there was one thing it proved, it was that the night we spent together had been a mistake.
Cade was still barely talking to me, but I knew he was curious about his father. If he decided he wanted to meet him, then I wanted him to have that option.
I still planned to ask him if he wanted to be involved in Cade’s life. Even if it was just to have confirmation that he didn’t. I wouldn’t be the person who didn’t make the effort. When Cade was older and there came a time when we had to talk about everything that happened here, I wanted to be able to tell him that I’d tried. I’d always fight for him, even if it meant doing something I knew would be painful.
Blake had taken Cade out for the morning. He was going to show her the bakery, and they were going to stay for a drink. That left me alone at the house, waiting for Trace and the surveyor to turn up.
I’d told Cade this morning that for now, we were going to keep exploring the option of selling the land. But once we got through the funeral, we’d sit down and talk it through. He seemed happier with that idea, but honestly, I didn’t see myself wanting to return to this place where we’d be living in the Farrington shadow.
I stood on the front porch, cradling my coffee cup in the morning sun while I watched for a sign of any approaching vehicles. The best thing to do was to get through this quickly and then set a time when Trace and I could sit down and properly talk things through, like adults, in a place where there wasn’t an option to “screw like monkeys” as Blake had so delicately put it.
Although I was pretty pissed with him at the minute. It would take more than staring into his stormy blue eyes and a few pretty words to make me forget the past right about now.
A dark sedan turned into the driveway and started heading toward the house. He didn’t stop part way down to watch this time, and instead, Trace pulled up alongside my rental car.
I frowned in confusion when I realized he was alone. Maybe the surveyor was meeting him here. That wouldn’t be awkward at all.
I waited at the bottom of the steps, not wanting to seem like some love-struck teenager. Then I started shuffling on the spot, wondering how to hold my coffee mug, and what I was supposed to do with my arms.
Why the hell was I nervous?
Get it together, Delaney! This is ridiculous. You’re a strong, independent woman. You raised a son alone. You’re a goddamn adult. Stop acting like you’re about to fall at his feet just because he’s pretty, and remember the shit he’s put you through.
Trace scowled as he climbed out of the car, holding a stack of papers as he strode the short distance across the gravel toward me.
“I need you to sign these papers to allow the surveyor access to the property. He doesn’t need you present to do his job,” Trace said, thrusting the papers and pen in my direction.
“Good morning to you, too,” I snapped, wanting to shake myself.
Clearly, whatever had upset him yesterday was still in full swing, but I shouldn’t be lowering myself to his level.
I hadn’t done anything wrong. I needed to remind myself of that.
“Just sign the papers, Delaney, and let’s get this process underway.” Trace sighed in exasperation, and I resisted the urge to dump the cold remains of my coffee over his head.
Instead, I snatched the papers and pen off him and turned back to the porch. I wasn’t going to let another Farrington bully me into signing anything until I’d at least read them first.
I heard his second sigh as I strode up the steps and sat down on one of the seats to read over the paperwork.
Let him sigh all he wants. I was still reading this entire thing before I signed it. And he could damn well wait while I did it.
“It’s just a deed granting temporary access, Delaney. I’m not trying to steal your soul.”
I scoffed at that.
His family would know all about stealing people’s souls. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen back into bed with this guy. As soon as we got back into the city, I was going back into therapy. Clearly, I hadn’t worked through as many of my issues as I’d thought I had.
“What did you say?” Trace demanded, his foot landing on the bottom step.
“I didn’t say anything,” I snapped again, flushing at the fact that I’d clearly been grumbling under my breath without realizing it.
The document was exactly what he said it was. It was so straightforward that there was no need for me to keep drawing this out except to annoy him. Even though that sounded tempting, I also wanted to get him away from the house before there was any chance that Cade could return.
“Fine.” I signed the document and quickly stood from my seat. “But just so you know, this isn’t an agreement to sell. You can do your survey, but I’m still considering my options.”
Trace looked like I’d just slapped him as he snatched the paperwork back from me. “We’re doing the surveys in good faith, Delaney. You can’t back away from the deal now.”
“There isn’t a deal yet. You made an offer dependent on the results of the surveys. I haven’t accepted it yet.”
Trace squinted in annoyance. “Have you had another offer?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing? No one else — Wait, are you staying ?”
“Why? Does that sound so terrible?”
“You can’t stay here, Delaney. You don’t know the first thing about running a farm.”
“Actually, I know a lot about running a farm since I was raised on one, thank you very much. You know nothing about running a farm. Besides, this isn’t exactly a farm anymore, is it? It’s just a house sitting on a lot of land.”
Trace scrubbed his hand down his face as he paced back to the car. “Look, Delaney. That night was clearly a mistake, but you don’t need to punish me by tanking this deal.”
“It’s not that,” I said in outrage.
The sheer balls on this guy. He was just like the rest of them, thinking the world revolved around the Farringtons, and we’d all just bow at their feet.
Trace yanked open his car door like it had insulted him and then turned to glare at me as he stepped inside. “We’re acting in good faith on the basis that you agreed the offer was fair. We might not have signed the paperwork, but if you back out of the deal now, Delaney, I’ll send the matter to our legal team.”
“You think threatening to sue me is the way this needs to go?”
“I don’t know, Delaney. I don’t really know you at all anymore.”
And then he got into his car, threw it into reverse, and left.
What the fuck just happened?
How did we go from spending the night together, him leaving to give me a chance to realize we should be together, and then Trace threatening to sue me?
I needed answers, and unfortunately, the only place I was going to get them was from the man who’d just stormed out of here in a tantrum.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t a tantrum, and it might have slightly been deserved after I threatened to pull the land sale. But I wasn’t doing it out of spite, and after everything that had happened between us, I thought he’d have been happy that I was considering staying.
But then he’d seen Cade, and everything had changed.
Maybe Trace was exactly the type of man that I thought he was.
“Mom, I had an éclair!” Cade shouted as he flew into the house. “And then we walked around town. And we had ice cream. And we found a bookshop. And then Aunt Blake fell over nothing. And then? — ”
“Wait, what? Is Blake okay?”
“Nothing is damaged apart from my pride,” Blake shouted from the hallway before the two of them came into the kitchen.
“You should have seen it, Mom. We were walking along, just talking, and then suddenly she was on the floor, and she shouted?—”
“I think your mom can guess what I shouted,” Blake deadpanned.
Now, that was going to hit the town gossip hard.
Cade giggled, climbing onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “And then this old man had to come and help her up, and she nearly knocked him over, then he accidentally grabbed her…” He gestured to his chest area, trying to hold in the laughter and failing.
Cade fell about in laughter, and I lasted all of two seconds until I saw the look on Blake’s face and joined in. “Oh my god, how do these things happen to you?”
“ I don’t know ,” she stressed, looking upset enough to make me feel bad for laughing at her. “He looked like such a fancy businessman too. I think I might have caused a town scandal. And then Marie from the bakery came outside and went, ‘Jasper, did you just sexually assault that young lady?’ I think I might die from—Wait, why does your face look like that? Why aren’t you laughing at my hilarious demise?”
My mouth hung open in shock, and Blake moved closer in concern before her eyes darted to Cade.
“Cade, can you run up to the bathroom and see if there’s a Band-Aid under the sink or something in there?”
He looked between the two of us, clearly knowing we were about to talk about something we didn’t want him to hear. But then Cade just shrugged and jogged out of the room, chuckling in amusement as he went. I knew he’d be ages. I might love the kid to death, but even I could admit that he couldn’t find a mountain even if he was standing at the base of it.
“Tell me,” Delaney said seriously.
“That was Trace’s dad.”
“Of course it was. Of course, I fell over and then publicly humiliated the one man in the town who could make life a living hell for you. Well, it’s official. You’re going to have to tie me up in the town square and have them throw tomatoes at me or something. Save yourself, Lanes. There’s no coming back from the social purgatory that I’ve just sentenced myself to.”
“Are you quite done?”
Blake thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Did he say anything to Cade?”
“No. Not apart from laughing with him about how ridiculous I was. If you mean did he realize who Cade was, then no, he didn’t.”
I sighed in relief. “I knew it was going to be difficult, but I didn’t realize it would be like this.”
Blake squeezed my shoulder in comfort, and I glanced up at the clock. It was way too early for wine.
“I take it the talk with Trace didn’t go so well.”
“Well, he threatened to sue me and then left.”
“ He what ?” she screeched. “Tell me where he lives because I’m about to go and show that man the error of his ways.”
I smiled at the outrage on her face. Blake would always have my back, even if I wasn’t convinced she’d ever be up to telling someone off to their face. Well, no, that wasn’t true. If it was for someone she loved, she’d absolutely rain holy verbal hell down on someone. She was good like that.
She’d hate herself afterward, of course, and probably send them a muffin basket as an apology, but in the moment, she’d always have your back.
“It’s fine. Well, it’s not fine. But it was only because I told him that we might not want to sell the land, and he was being pissy about me backing out of the deal. We didn’t get around to talking about what we needed to talk about.”
“Ah, right. Okay, maybe I won’t go and throw down with him just yet.”
“As much as I’d love to see that, it might be for the best,” I quirked.
“You know,” Blake said as she moved over to the kitchen cupboards and started randomly opening and closing them. “It’s kinda nice in town. Like nicer than I thought small towns were supposed to be.”
“How many small towns have you been to, Blake?”
“One,” she said in outrage as she turned around.
“And by one, you mean this one, right?”
“Well, it is a very nice one. And it’s not like if I fell over in the street in Manhattan, someone would help me up. And I know this because it’s happened numerous times to me. I’m just saying it’s nice here.”
“Okaaaaay. Yeah, it is nice here.”
“And it must have been nice to grow up here.”
“Yeah. I had some really good times. I know it doesn’t seem like it because of the way I left, but growing up in Willowbrook was amazing.”
She looked at me pointedly, and I frowned.
“Is this coming from you or a particular young man who has mysteriously not been able to find a Band-Aid yet?”
“First, we both know there was no chance of him finding one. Second, does it matter?”
She had me there.
“I guess not. But what would we do if I moved here? And you live in the city. You can’t be that bored with us that you’re trying to ship us off already.”
Blake shrugged. “I wouldn’t be opposed to a change of scenery.”
Now this wasn’t something I’d been expecting. Blake had been all about living in the city. It was part of her plan to become a big artist and show her parents how wrong they were for doubting her. And she was doing it. Blake might not be swimming in cash right now, but she was making ends meet on her own. And she was finally getting some interest from galleries about her work.
“Where is this coming from? I thought you loved living in the city.”
Blake finally stopped looking through the cupboards and turned toward me, leaning against the counter as she sighed.
“I guess being out here, I feel like I can finally breathe. The city is fine for getting my work out there, but if I feel so suffocated that I can’t actually work in the first place. It’s not really doing me a lot of good. For the first time in months, I can feel all the ideas brewing in the back of my mind about pieces I want to do. I don’t feel like I’m forcing it. I’m itching to paint right now.”
I smiled sadly, going to the fridge, pulling out two cans of Coke, passing one to her, and opening one for myself.
“I didn’t realize you’d been having problems with your work recently.”
“I’ve been feeling like this for a while,” she admitted. “I was so adamant that I was going to ‘make it’ that I never really considered what that was going to look like.”
I nudged her gently with my shoulder. “You know I’m proud of you, right?”
“Yeah.” She wrapped an arm around me, and we stood in the kitchen drinking our Cokes and thinking. “I probably shouldn’t be encouraging you to get sued,” she added.
I laughed then. “Worst-case scenario, I pay for the survey. He’s not suing me. I haven’t done anything wrong. He’s just like the rest of his family and throwing a tantrum because he might not get what he wants. The only thing they care about is money, and they just assume the rest of us are the same.”
“You don’t really mean that,” Blake whispered.
I made an unconvinced sound, not exactly sure how I felt about Trace right now. Apart from the fact that I was done being subjected to his moods.
“If it wasn’t for them, would you want to stay?” Blake asked carefully.
I didn’t need to even think about it. “If it wasn’t for them, I never would have left.” Then I sighed. “But they are here. I can’t help but think that while Cade growing up here might be nice, it would be like living under a microscope. I don’t want him to have people whispering behind his back because his father won’t even acknowledge his presence. It would hurt him.”
She nodded sadly. “Sometimes people surprise you, Delaney. And you won’t know what it will be like before you give them the chance. How about you don’t make any decisions until after the funeral? Just see what it’s like being back in town. See what Cade thinks.”
I had loved growing up in this place. There was a freedom kids had in small towns that Cade would never get to experience in the city. The school was smaller, but it was no less equipped than the one he’d been going to. But what would I do? I might not need a job, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want one. I’d already been starting to feel the itch of needing something to do before I was called to the hospital. There were so many more opportunities for me in the city. But was that what I even wanted?
Was I really considering a life here with Cade?
“Just think about it, Lanes. You’re not making any commitments. You’re just considering your options,” Blake reassured me.
I nodded, still not entirely convinced. I couldn’t make any decisions until I’d sat down with Trace and had a real conversation with him. One that didn’t immediately devolve into sex or an argument. I had no idea why I kept putting it off. While I was at it, I should probably add Booker to the list of people that I needed to talk to. At least that didn’t come with the same risks that Trace did. Dad had told me about the ranch Booker had set up, and Cade would probably love to swing by for a visit. At least there was someone in that family who would treat him the way he deserved.