Page 68 of From Rivals to I Do

He’s going to Eli’s.

I wait until he’s just out of sight before turning onto the dirt road, and then I scoot up it myself, my heart pounding. What could he possibly be doing here? I ask myself. The boys are probably there. . . Is he going to hurt them? They may not be my kids, but I care about them immensely. I’m not about to let some psycho ex of mine touch one hair on their heads.

I watch him park in front of the house, and I speed up, my tires screeching as I come to a halt right behind him as he angrily stomps toward the house. I get out my phone and fumble with it a minute, taking a picture as he turns to look at me, his eyes wide as I get out of the car and slam the door.

“Joseph Rutherford Middleton!” I scream as I march right up to him, blocking his path to the door. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

“Darla, you need to move,” he replies as he tries to push past me, but I bob and weave and continue to obstruct him from going any further.

“No! You’re going to tell me what is going on here!” I yell. Behind me I hear the porch door open, and I glance over my shoulder to see the boys, Zack and Noah, standing on the porch.

“Darla?” Zack asks.

“Zack, don’t move,” I say. “This man isn’t right in the head, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Darla!” Joseph hollers at me, pushing his chest into mine. “I said, move!”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what in the blue blazes is going on here,” I growl, standing firm. “Why are you at Eli’s, Joseph?”

“Who’s Joseph?” Noah asks.

“Yeah, that’s Mitch,” Zack says, looking extremely confused.

“Mitch? No, his name is Joseph,” I reply, my eyes flickering right back to Joseph who looks absolutely mortified. “And he’s my ex-husband.”

“Seriously?” Zack asks, shifting uncomfortably where he stands, and Zack crosses his arms tightly across his chest.

“She’s crazy,” Joseph stutters. “I told you all she was crazy!”

“I’m not crazy, you are!” I insist. “You mean to tell me you’ve been working here as Eli’s ranch hand?” As I look him over closely, I remember the man in the barn, the one that Eli had called Mitch. “Jeezum crow! You were the guy in the bandana on Valentine’s Day, watching us while you worked!”

“I—”

“Is this true?” Zack asks. “Are you who she says you are?”

“No! Of course not,” Joseph insists as he rifles through his pants pocket, pulls out his ID, and holds it up. “You see? I’m Mitch!”

“And who did you pay to have that done?” I ask as I snatch it out of his hand. “It’s pretty well made, but the corners are already starting to come apart.”

“Darla, you need to let me through so I can get to my room. I’ve had enough of your insanity for a lifetime,” Joseph says as he tries once again to move past me, but I refuse to budge.

“No,” I say as I stand firmly in his way. “You’re going to explain to me what’s going on. Why are you working here? What’s your angle?”

“I’ve got no angle,” Joseph says as he glares at me. “Joe warned me you were psychotic, but this takes the cake.”

“Stop your lying and fess up!” I demand.

“Can’t fess up to a delusional lie now, can I?” Joe says with a shrug as he takes a step forward. “Now move.”

“If I’m so delusional, Joe, what’s this?” I ask as I pull my phone back out, go to my social media, and pull up our wedding photo. I hold it up in his face, and his eyes grow wide as I turn around and show the boys. Pointing to the caption. “See? That’s me and that’s him, Nurse Darla Middleton and Doctor Joseph Middleton.”

“Oh my God. . .” Noah says. “I knew there was something fishy about you!”

“Boys, it’s not what it looks like,” Joseph insists as the boys slowly make their way toward us.

“What it looks like is that you’re working here to stalk Darla,” Zack says.

“That’s not true!” Joseph says. “Remember? I’m the one that told him about the dating app!”

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