Page 68 of A Package Deal

“I don’t know if I can heal her.”

Mom’s eyes turned sharp. “It’s not up to you to heal her, son. She has to heal herself. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make her drink. That applies here.”

I growled and ran a hand through my hair. “But I want to fix things for her!”

“She’s not damaged goods to be fixed, Warrick! She’s a woman with a soft heart and a child to protect. Knowing you, you put on the full-court press. You probably wined and dined her, threw gifts at her, overwhelmed her with your presence. Maybe you need to take a different tack. Step back and give her time to breathe. Time to think. Time to trust her instincts again.”

That was the last thing I wanted to do. But did I really have a choice? Em leaving the farm had forced the distance.

“Did I ever tell you about the time your father took you to see Granny?”

I frowned. Granny, my dad’s mother, had passed away when I was a young boy. I barely remembered her. “No, I don’t think so.”

Mom leaned back and rested her head against the wooden post and, Cleveland, sensing the petting was over, lay down at her feet. “I had a similar experience to Em with my first husband, as you know. Well, a few years later when your father and I had you, I was two days out from childbirth, still in bed and trying to recover. Well, your father took it upon himself to take you to go see Granny while I took a nap. I woke up, found the house empty and absolutely lost my shit.”

Mom started laughing, shaking her head. “I was boiling mad when he got home with you. I lit into him like a match dropped on a dynamite factory. How dare he take my baby and introduce you to the family without me!”

I gaped at her, not understanding. “He was probably just excited to show off his firstborn son.”

Mom shook her head, looking like she was getting worked up again. “Don’t you see? I held you in my own body for nine long months. You were an extension of me. And he took you away without my knowledge. When a woman has had her power stripped away from her, she will always be sensitive to it happening again, even if the man is well intentioned. It’s not the fact that he took you to see Granny, it was the fact that he didn’t involve me in the decision. A woman like that needs to have a say in her life. Always.”

I thought back about what Em had said about me talking to Cayden. She’d said something similar. She was fine with me handling the lawyers, but she wanted a say in everything that went on. By trying to take care of things for her, I’d stripped her of her power over her own life.

“Fuck.” My head hung and Thistle struck, her tongue swiping across my unsuspecting mouth. I sputtered and wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my T-shirt. I’d had enough goat comfort. I stood and brushed off the seat of my jeans while Thistle ambled away. I had some serious thinking to do.

“I’ve been thinking about getting some geese,” Mom said out of the blue.

“What for?”

Mom shrugged. “Because they’re cute.”

I studied her, wondering where this was coming from. “Are you bored?”

“A little. Without your dad…” Her voice wobbled and she clamped her lips together. She held out her hand and I took it, helping her off the bucket. I slung my arm around her shoulders and steered her out of the barn, ribs aching knowing Mom was struggling. I missed him too.

“I’ll call Colson and Boon. It’s time they got their asses out here. That’ll give you something to do. Those jackasses will need plenty of motherly guidance.”

She snorted and sniffed as we walked back to the house I’d grown up in. It just about killed me to see my mother cry.

“Is it worth it, Mom?”

She lifted her head, eyes watery and red-rimmed, looking older but still so beautiful. “Is what worth it?”

“Loving someone?”

She squeezed my waist and dropped her head onto my arm. “The only thing worth living for, son.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Emmerleigh

The novelty of the hotel wore off quickly. Georgia was gearing up for a tantrum if her red cheeks and murderous eyes were anything to go by. She’d kept me up with all her tossing and turning last night. At one point, her foot had kicked me right in the face. Sadly, I was going to be late to work if we didn’t get a move on, which was only irritating her further as I didn’t seem to be listening to her

“I want my goat-dog!” she shrieked.

I put my bag on the floor and crouched down, holding her around the waist and making firm eye contact. “I hear you, baby. I’m sorry I forgot it when I packed our stuff. We’ll go get it today.”

She stomped her sandaled foot. “Right now!”

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