Chapter 23 Scarlett #2
A sob rolls through my body. Here’s this man who has been so selfless and loving that he’s preserved and rebuilt the ranch, and where was I?
Kissing ass and trying to please my father so he’d love me.
I wasted so much time when I could have been here, on the receiving end of the most selfless love I’ve ever experienced.
A soft hand lands on my shoulder as the chair dips, “You okay?” Hannah’s voice wraps around me like steam from coffee in the morning. I shake my head but don’t look up at her. “You know, when Greyson and I first started dating, Tate didn’t like me,” she says when I don’t respond.
Her hand runs up and down my spine as she continues to talk while I quietly unravel. “He said some pretty hurtful things, then Greyson got injured, and he lashed out, confirming some of my greatest fears even though he didn’t mean what he had said.”
“I took off in the middle of the night, drove straight from here back to my Mom’s house in Alabama.
” She chuckles softly, eyes looking off into the distance as if she’s recalling that very moment.
“They all freaked out, but it was Monroe who convinced Abby and Reed that they needed to get Wilson and Andrews to make the drive with them to make sure I was okay.”
Her hand comes to rest on my knee, “The five of them were there for me at my breaking point. I was running the rat race, pushing everyone away, working myself to death, just trying to prove a point to a dead man.” She scoffs, but the humor in her voice has me looking up at her.
“I took them to a hole in the wall bar, taught them how to line dance.” She laughs as tears spring to her eyes. “Monroe can do a pretty mean Cotton Eyed Joe,” she says as she wipes under her eyes.
“I don’t know your story, but none of us are without trauma, Scarlett. It’s what we do with it that matters.” Her smile doesn’t radiate her normal happiness, but she aims it at me anyway. “Let me tell you something.”
Her eyes hold nothing but warmth as she delivers the gut punch, “If you ever forget who you are, look at him. He’s spent his entire life trying to be what you are for him, to everyone else.” A tear runs down my cheek, burning as it makes its way down to my lips.
“Don’t let this world take the real you from those who choose to love you.
Love is beautiful, and so powerful when it's pure. And whether you want to be dragged into our circle of friends or not, Monroe isn’t going to give you a choice.
Because he loves you, he always has, and he knows what it’s like to be alone and hurting. ”
Her words release the floodgates, and soon I find myself pulled into the first hug I’ve had from another woman in twelve years. It’s sisterly, something I didn’t know I needed, but damn does it feel good to have someone acknowledge your pain and sit with you in it.
I couldn’t tell you the last time my mom or sister hugged me.
Hell, I couldn’t even tell you the last time they spoke to me unless it was about when we were going shopping for whatever event dad had coming up.
“Thanks,” I whisper as I pull myself off her shoulder, where there’s now a wet spot. “I needed that.”
“They’ve all seen me at my worst.” Her hand waves dismissively through the air. “This is nothing.”
We sit in silence for a minute before she continues. “You’ve got a whole team behind you now, lean on us. We’re a strong bunch, and we’d do anything for the people in this house, you included.”
I nod, not trusting myself to say anything without turning into a human sprinkler again.
“Want to tell me why you came to hide up here?” she asks as she settles into the lounger next to mine, putting her hands behind her head like she’s got nothing but time.
Turning to look at her, I let out a groan. “It’s just been a day.” I lean back, mimicking her posture as I run through the morning at the cemetery, then coming back here to find out he made frijoles and redid the houses.
But then something else comes to mind, “Someone was here the other day at a really odd time of the night. They were sitting on the corral. After I turned on the light, they ran. Weirdly enough, the next morning, the barn door was hanging off the hinge, and there were muddy boot prints on the floor.” I shake my head, “I cleaned it the night before, I know they weren’t there.
But the cameras didn’t pick up any of it. ”
I pause, fiddling with the sleeve of my sweatshirt, “I don’t want him to catch the fallout if my dad is throwing a manchild tantrum.”
Her head rolls to the side, eyebrows furrowing as she watches me. “Two of Abby’s brothers are in law enforcement, and Elliott is a computer genius. He hacked camera after camera while they were trying to figure out who was stalking her and threatening Tate.”
She swings her legs over the side of the chair, letting her elbows land on her knees, “I’m sure they’d come out here and set up a security system of their own, just in case the one that’s already here has been hacked or managed by someone else.”
Lean on them, she said, let them help. He’s worth putting my pride aside for, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
She smiles, holding out her hand as she stands. “Let's go rally the troops. Mess with one, you mess with all.”
“You don’t think I’m overreacting?” I ask, genuinely confused at her brazen call to action.
“I don’t think anything is a coincidence.
You wouldn’t have told me if you didn’t truly believe something was going on.
If nothing else, it’ll be peace of mind for you and Monroe when he isn’t here.
Not that you’ll be alone because Abby and I will be here when they aren’t, even if we crash here at his house. ”
She gives me a wink, “Us girls stick together.” She sings as she loops her arm through mine and pulls the door open, bringing us into a world of vivacious laughter and conversation. One that feels an awful lot like what a home and family should feel like.