Chapter 41
“How long has he been out there?” Delilah asks, cozying up next to me.
Spring in the Rocky Mountains still carries a chill, but the May sun makes the weather perfect with a light jacket.
“Well, he asked me to drive him out here around lunch. That’s when he started hacking up the remaining ice in the parking area.
He insisted I go home to relax before picking up the girls from school.
I got back here about an hour ago and found him detailing what looked like every piece of tack on the ranch. So, four-ish hours?” I wince.
“I take it the talk went badly.” Delilah winces.
“You could say that.” It isn’t for me to say. This is Greyson’s to tell.
I’m positive he hasn’t stopped moving since he got here—keeping his hands busy to quiet his mind. I wish I could do the same, to turn off the nightmare loop playing in my head from our talk with Meredith this morning.
She reminds me of my ex in a lot of ways. As narcissists, they both lack empathy and have a skewed sense of entitlement. Their arrogance knows no bounds and can manipulate even the strongest-willed person.
The difference is that while he was full of himself and wanted attention and accolades professionally and in his parent’s circles, Meredith survives on it. She feeds off the admiration and compliments, the envy of others. Anything to feel superior.
It’s no wonder she was a miserable bitch while she was married to Greyson’s dad. She couldn’t bear to be associated with somewhere as “lowly” as a hardware store, or to live in an “above store apartment.”
I’m not a violent woman, but I wanted to rip the overly processed hair from her head when she implied Greyson was one of the “lowly” things she couldn’t be associated with.
“Don’t be dramatic, darling. I had places to be and people to see that you weren’t suitable for. It was best you stay away,” she said, checking her nails.
“You were fiiiiine, Greyson. You were housed, clothed, fed, and educated.” Meredith brushed Greyson off, but he wasn’t having it.
“But I wasn’t loved,” he seethed.
“Again with the dramatics.” Meredith sighed, bored with the conversation.
“Why do you want to be in Harper’s life when you had no interest in being in mine?” Greyson asked as calmly as he could.
“It’s a small town, Greyson. Everyone knows I have a granddaughter running around and I don’t even have pictures to show them,” she said as if he’s stupid.
Greyson’s hands were balled so tightly into fists, I was sure he’d cut through his palms.
“So, you want to be in her life to parade her around like a new shiny toy, so you don’t look like a piece of shit grandma?” he bites out.
“Don’t be crass. I’d also buy her things and want her to come to family gatherings so everyone else could see her,” she said, completely unaware of how cruel she was being.
Fury rolled off Greyson in waves like the black smoke of a dragon before it incinerates its enemy with fire.
“What about my other daughter?” he asked, and I knew he’d already made up his mind.
“Other daughter? Who’d you get pregnant now? Hopefully not another waste of space like that Victoria girl.”
“Vanessa,” Greyson corrected.
Meredith shooed away his comment.
“She’s my daughter,” I said, entering the fray, voice wavering but resolve strong.
“Who are you?” Meredith sniped, looking me up and down like yesterday’s trash.
“She’s my fiancée, and Harper’s mother.” Greyson wrapped his arm around me.
“Just lovely. An unwed mother latching onto my son, so her child isn’t a bastard.”
My gasp could be heard for miles, but it was the sharp slap across her face I delivered that was heard by the heavens.
Greyson turned me into his chest in a protective stance and delivered his final verdict.
“You will never be in our daughters’ lives. I don’t want their names leaving your overfilled lips. Stay the hell away from my family. It’s a miracle Olivia turned out to be the incredible woman she is, growing up with a poisonous cunt for a mother.”
My body squirms involuntarily in revulsion at Meredith’s cruelty.
Both my and Delilah’s phones chirp at the same time.
Group Chat: Greyson, Mia, James, Reid, Isabelle, Delilah, Connor, Cecelia, Walter
Greyson: Can everyone meet me in the main stables?
Greyson: Cecelia and Walter, whoever isn’t watching the kids, would you please come down?
Delilah and I look to each other and start walking that direction.
James: Mom and Dad get a please?
Greyson: Can you be here or not?
James: I was on my way home anyway.
Cecelia: James! No texting and driving!
James: Talk to text, Mom. My car has Bluetooth.
Cecelia: Walter’s on his way now.
James: I’ll swing by and pick you up, Dad.
Walter: How do I get out of this god-forsaken message club?
Group Chat: Greyson has removed Walter and Cecelia
Group Chat: Greyson, Mia, James, Reid, Isabelle, Delilah, Connor
Reid: Isabelle and I are on our way over.
Delilah: I’ve got Mia!
James: Did you already get ahold of Liv?
Greyson: Why the fuck do you care? And no. She doesn’t need to hear this.
The texts stop just as we step into the warmth of the stables, gloriously impervious to the brisk wind. I go straight to Greyson.
He’s resting his forearms on a stall door, watching a young colt Reid recently rescued. He’s broken down from the labor I know he spent the afternoon doing, and from the mental load he’s carrying.
I wrap my arms around the man I love more than I ever dreamed possible and press my cheek to his back.
“I’m filthy, Mia. I don’t want to get you all dirty,” he says, trying to escape my hold.
I stretch onto my highest tiptoes, wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss everywhere I can reach.
“Okay, okay. Point taken.” He chuckles, turning to accept a real kiss.
Once everyone has arrived, ready to rip of the bandage, Greyson takes my hand and walks us over to our found family. The stables fall quiet—only nickers, sighs, and the clop of hooves in the background.
“Thanks for coming down. Would’ve met y’all at the main house but as you can see, I’m past dirty.” He motions up and down his work weathered body. “Word travels fast and I wanted you to hear it straight from me.”
From where I stand, I have a clear view of every reaction. Right now, it’s a wall of confusion and concern.
“I met with Meredith to see if anything was salvageable for Harper and Everly to have another set of grandparents and relatives—more people to love them.” His voice chokes on love and my heart breaks for him again.
Reactions are now a mix of shock and wincing away from the pain they know is coming.
“I’m not here to spread rumors. I’ll simply tell you she’s unbothered and unapologetic about how she treated me after Dad died. Her desire to meet Harper is solely based on making her look like the perfect grandma to her friends and family.”
The state of our audience has quickly evolved to indignation and thinly veiled rage.
“As if that wasn’t enough, she sealed her fate when she called Everly a bastard and accused Mia of taking advantage of me.”
Some of the horses start to neigh—snorting and stomping their hooves alongside the outrage pouring out of our family. Greyson whistles so loudly I pull my hand from his to cover my ears, and everyone falls silent.
“Moving forward, there will be no mention of Meredith around me, Mia, or our daughters. There will be no suggesting we work things out. There will be no nudges towards forgiveness. As far as I’m concerned, my mother died with my dad.”
The finality of Greyson’s decision might as well be tangible. An impenetrable wall has been erected that everyone at Lucky Spurs Ranch will unquestionably respect.
It’s Olivia I’m worried about.