Page 95 of The Backup Bride Proposal

twenty-seven

It was theirlast day here. Kane’s last full day on the ranch, and his last opportunity to talk to his dad, to make peace.

The only problem was, he wasn’t feeling peaceful. He was angry—at both his father and his mother—and he didn’t know what to do with all these feelings. And the more he thought about how they had shut him out of what had been going on, the more pissed off he got.

He didn’t need the intimate details, or all the details. But they could have told him they were having problems, that they were in counseling. That they had separated. Some kind of preparation instead of finding out abruptly that they had ended their marriage. And the only reason he’d found that out had been by accident, because he’d overheard.

Plus, his mother refused to even talk to him about it, let alone come and see him.

Tension coiled around him like a hungry snake, squeezing him so tightly he could barely breathe. He was going to haveto find a way out of this vise of anger, and soon, because in a few days he’d be due back on set, and he needed to be ready to roll.

Right now he was anything but ready. All he wanted to do was punch something. Repeatedly.

The door opened and his grandpa and father walked in, both of them laughing, which only increased Kane’s ire to the nth degree. His dad looked happy. Relaxed, even, and all Kane saw was red.

“Morning, Kane,” his dad said. “Your grandpa and I took an early morning ride to oversee some of the fences. I forgot how good it felt to get out there and breathe in that cool morning air sitting on the back of a horse.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you can take some time off from your precious job and remember where you came from.” Kane took a sip of his coffee. It tasted as bitter as the words that had spilled from his mouth.

“Watch it, boy,” his grandpa said.

“Sorry,” Kane muttered.

Dad grabbed a cup and pulled up a chair at the table. “No, Dad, that’s okay. Kane’s right. I haven’t been here in a while. I’ve ignored a lot while focusing on work. My family. My marriage. It’s cost me and I’m fully aware of that now.” He looked over at Kane. “I can see how that’s hurt you. My not being there for you. I’m sorry. I’ll do better in the future.”

He wanted to blurt out that it was too late, but he kept that thought to himself. “Sure. Thanks.”

Mae was suspiciously absent during breakfast. He’d been so in his own head when he’d gotten up, he hadn’t even checked on her. Was she sick?

He headed upstairs, surprised to see she wasn’t there. He went back downstairs.

“Donna. Have you seen Mae?”

Donna shot him a look. “What’s the matter, honey? Can’t keep track of your woman?”

“Donna.”

“She and Tess were up in the dark. One of the horses is sick and Tess was tending to it. They’d been talking about the horse last night and Mae said she’d help out, so Tess woke her.”

He hadn’t even woken up when Tess had come to get Mae. Probably the whiskey he’d had last night. Setting his jaw, he put on his hat and went outside in search of Mae and Tess, found them in one of the barns. They were talking in soothing voices to Montgomery, one of the geldings. The vet was there, too.

“He should clear up in about twenty-four hours,” the vet said. “No food until tomorrow.”

“You got it, Doc,” Tess said. “Thanks for coming over.”

The doc nodded to Kane on his way out.

“What’s going on?” Kane asked.

“Colic,” Mae said. “Tess was worried about him last night, and we walked him for a bit, but he wasn’t improving, so she called the doc out.”

“Fortunately, he doesn’t need surgery,” Mae said. “Doc did a nasogastric tube and that seemed to help. Montgomery has been given some meds, and he should recover completely.”

“Good. I’m glad. I didn’t even know you were gone.”

“I tried to be quiet so I didn’t wake you.” She walked over to him and hugged him. “Good morning.”

Even spending all that time with the horse in the barn, she still smelled good. He wanted to bury himself in her sweet scent and forget about everything that upset him.

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