Page 54 of A Constant Love

Soon.

A smile curved up on my lips because I knew “soon” was coming a lot quicker than he thought.

Chapter 32 - Tyler

It had been a little more than a week since we had arrived home from vacation. Thankfully, Sam’s nightmares had not made their return. Or if they had, they weren’t bad enough for her to wake up screaming.

Maybe a little bit of time away was just what the doctor ordered. I made a mental note to try to take little trips as much as possible to try to unwind from our busy lives.

Once we had gotten settled, I called my private detective, but he still claimed to have found no info whatsoever on James. Tired of waiting for his results, I fired him. Instead, I tried to do some of my own digging, sifting through every web search imaginable looking for the tiniest scrap of information…but I came up empty every time. My guess was that James had changed his name after leaving Armstrong, but having no way to know what that was, it seemed I was at a standstill.

Thankfully, Sam didn’t seem to be too preoccupied with the thought of him. I guess that was a benefit of her being so busy with school and tutoring.

Usually, Sam tried to do her tutoring in the house, but when people balked about it, she would offer to meet them at a local coffee shop where Gabe would accompany her. I was relieved that over time, she seemed to just get used to Gabe and actually enjoyed having the added layer of protection he provided.

That evening, while she was out with a student, I was sitting on the couch trying to unwind when my phone rang.

Looking down, I saw it was my mother. I seriously considered not answering, but I knew she’d just keep calling, or worse, come over.

“Hello?” I said in a clipped tone.

“Tyler, we need to talk. I hate that you’re freezing me out like this,” her thick accent sounded even more pronounced over the phone.

“Mom, I’ve said all I had to say. You either accept Sam, or you don’t. And if you don’t, I just am not going to come around because she’s part of my life…the biggest part of my life.”

“I think you’re being absolutely unreasonable!” She cried.

“No, what is unreasonable is you wanting to take away my trust fund just because of who I date.”

“I think I have found a solution.”

“And pray do tell, what’s that?” I sighed.

“Make her sign a pre-nuptial agreement.” Her words were so cold and calculated they made my skin crawl.

“First of all, Mother, Sam and I are not even talking about walking down the aisle any time soon. And secondly, even if I was marrying her tomorrow, I’d never ask her to sign one of those. Never would I want her to think I don’t trust her.”

“Fine. Then, just tell her I don’t trust her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Pretty sure she knows that by now, but I’ll be sure to pass the message along.”

“You won’t even consider what I’m saying? Look at how hard your father and I have worked for everything, and you’re willing to jeopardize all of that?” Her voice finally cracked with emotion.

“Mom! Listen to me! Sam isn’t doing anything to ruin your legacy. She doesn’t want your money…”

She cut me off, “Then, make her sign a document saying she can’t touch the family money. You can give her an allowance every month if you want to keep her satisfied.”

She was fucking unbelievable. “Mom, you’re insane. Call me back when you have come to your senses.”

“I meant what I said about taking your trust fund and your shares of the company,” she warned.

“Then, do it already,” I said before hanging up.

Moments later, it rang again, and I didn’t bother to look and see who it was.

“What?” I screamed.

Tess’s voice answered. “Whoa, what the hell is wrong with you?”

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