Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“You just left.” Ranger’s voice is cold.
“I had no choice,” I counter.
“You had every choice,” my husband snaps back.
I shake my head at his take on the situation. “No Ranger. No. You tricked me into marrying you. You knew exactly what you were doing. You took advantage of me. Of how lonely I was, how I knew nothing about the world or men or how cruel you all could be.”
“You were being unreasonable about the farm!”
“And that’s an excuse to fool me?” I feel my anger rising and as if on cue, the baby kicks hard, echoing my rage. I grab my belly at the sensation and Ranger’s eyes again follow the movement.
“That is my child, too, Darcy. You can be damn sure that I’m going to be a part of his life!”
“Like hell!” I stride boldly into the kitchen, acting like I have the upper hand but really wanting to sit down for a moment, exhausted from my journey and the demands of pregnancy. “I don’t even know your real name!”
Ranger follows me into the kitchen, where I am taking a glass from the cupboard and filling it with water from the now-fixed kitchen sink.
“It’s Rock. Rock McLaughlin, and just so you know, you can’t keep me from our child.” The words are cold, threatening. I stare at him.
“Rock, you tricked me into marrying you. You told me nothing about yourself, you lied for months pretending to be a poor cowboy looking for work. For all I know you faked that injury in the barn just to get into my bed.” I chug the water, grateful for its coolness against my hot anger.
“It’s all too complicated for you to understand, Darcy.” The condescension is thick in my husband’s voice.
It takes all of my courage and energy to stand up taller and try and meet his eyes at level – an impossible feat since he stands several inches taller than me. “No, I understand perfectly.” I try to keep my voice calm and unemotional. “You lied to me and tried to steal my land. You don’t get a role in this baby’s life.”
Every emotion seems to suddenly play out across his handsome features: shock, sorrow, disbelief, and finally, rage. Never in my life had I seen the cowboy so furious.
He slams his fist on the newly re-tiled counter and objects jump. I twitch a little but hold my position by the sink. Rock starts to pace the kitchen like an angry, caged beast, and I almost feel sorry for him.
No, you can’t Darcy. He’s only hurt you, and you can’t let him hurt your child.
“Listen,” I say softly, as though talking to a wild animal, “I loved you once. But you’ve broken that love. You broke me. I can’t be fooled again, and I can’t let you or your family harm this baby. I have to protect us both.” I want to reach out to him, but I’m scared that if I do, I’ll want to hold him and kiss him and take it all back. Instead, I straighten my shoulders and stare directly at him, daring Rock to challenge me.
To my complete surprise, the man neither strikes at nor says anything to me. Instead, he stares back as if in complete shock, searching my eyes for something. Within a minute, he storms out of the house.
A deafening silence fills up the space where just seconds ago we had screamed at one another. And for a heartbreaking moment, I worry that he might not come back.
15
ROCK
Stubborn woman. Who does she think she is, coming back here and making demands like that?
I’m pacing the fields, my entire body taut with anger and distress. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, but I don’t care.
Let her know what it’s like to be completely left alone, I think bitterly.
It’s grown pitch black outside and I curse myself for not having a flashlight of any kind. Damn woman distracts me to no end. I wander somewhat blindly until I finally feel the familiar roughness of the pasture fence. The shadow of the cow grazing tells me I’m closer to the house again, but I’m not quite ready to go in and face the music.
“Dammit!” I yell to nothing in particular. In the field next to me, the cow moos and continues chewing her evening meal.
Darcy’s back, I repeat for the hundredth time on my walk. Part of me is relieved to know that my wife’s back and that she doesn’t appear to be physically hurt in any way. Another part of me is pissed as hell that she left like that in the first place. And that she kept the pregnancy from me.
So now what?
I know that I hurt Darcy, and it’s a fact that I was and am completely in the wrong. But she won’t even listen to my side, to the entire story. Sure, our interactions started off as a ploy to get her farm, but I fell in love with her. And she refuses to acknowledge that as real.