Page 17 of Claimed By my Best Friend

She shrugs my hand from her shoulder and shakes her head, her action making my heart sink. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. I need time alone to think and process everything.”

“Don’t say that. Don’t push me away, Paula.” My voice is broken like it’s never been before. I have been terrified a handful of times in my life, but none of those could live up to this moment. The thought of losing the one woman I have ever loved leaves me paralyzed with fear.

I can’t lose her! But she’s pulling away from me. Not just physically, I can sense her emotionally building a wall between us. Creating a distance that wasn’t there before, and it doesn’t just break or wound me.

It shatters me.

Chapter Eight

Paula

Every family has at least one black sheep. A family member that is not fully accepted or understood by the others. I am a black sheep in my family. Nearly everyone else ventured into the legal or political world, but not me.

No, I have always wanted to teach kids. I knew it was what I would do from a young age, and despite my family’s confusion, I pursued it. My students love me, my coworkers are great, and the job is rewarding. Seeing the smiles on those kids’ little faces is what makes my day.

I am, however, not the only black sheep in the Tate family. Before me, there was my father’s youngest brother, Uncle Dane. Instead of the law, he chose ranching, something my great-grandfather had done as a hobby in his retirement. Dane fell in love with the ranch when he would visit as a boy, and when he inherited it, he took what had been a hobby farm and grew it into a massive operation, one of the most successful in the state.

Despite his success, he remained a humble, down-to-earth kind of man. He’s quiet and patient, and it’s those qualities that had me seeking him out when I wanted to get out of the city after my mother’s death. And it’s those qualities that keep me from snapping at him to leave me alone now when he comes to find me standing at the fence of the pasture behind his house.

He doesn’t say anything, just wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close. I settle my weight against him, soaking in the comfort he offers. After a few moments, he gently pulls me away and leads me back to the house. I can see my father’s car is now missing from the driveway, and I assume he’s gone home, which is a relief. Dane shows me to a guest room, then quietly tells me to join him for dinner if I feel hungry.

I don’t feel hungry.

What I would like to do instead is hole up in this room, bury my head under my covers, and never come out. God, I have work tomorrow, and I have no idea how I’ll even talk to my students without bawling. I don’t want to upset the kids. Just like I don’t want to look ungrateful to the only family showing me any kindness right now.

With one last longing look at the bed, I walk out of the room before I am tempted to crawl under the covers and hide. Uncle Dane is where he said he would be—in the kitchen.

“How do you feel about steak and mashed potatoes?” he asks, when he notices me hovering next to the door.

“Good, I guess,” I whisper, dragging my feet into the room and plopping down on the seat across from his. “My mother used to make the best steak. It’s funny because she was always working and never had time to cook, but when she did, it was like Christmas.”

“She was a wonderful woman.”

“Yeah, she was,” I say, nodding my thanks when he passes me a plate. “Everyone loved her.”

“So, Darrell Nord,” he says after a few minutes of silence. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“I love him,” I confess miserably. “You’ve lived in Valor Springs your whole life. But I’ve never heard you say a bad word about him. If everything that was in that file is true, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Dane sets down his fork and leans back in his chair, regarding me thoughtfully. “I’m not in the habit of judging a man on past misdeeds that he’s already paid for. It’s no lie that Darrell made some bad choices in his youth, and he did his time for them. Since his return, he’s been nothing but a model citizen. He runs a successful business, abides by the law, and contributes to every single charity drive in town, though he tries to keep that last part a secret. No secrets in a town the size of Valor Springs, though. Darrell the man is a far cry from the kid he used to be.”

“So, you don’t agree with my dad?” I can’t help the note of hope in my voice. I don’t want to go against my father’s wishes, but I can’t just turn off my feelings for Darrell, either.

“Your father is blinded by his grief and fear. He couldn’t protect your mother when she needed him, so he’s determined to protect you. Give him time. He’ll come around once he sees how happy you make each other.”

“What if he doesn’t, though?” I ask, voice my greatest fear. My father and uncle are all the family I have left. My father’s other brothers live too far away and are too absorbed in their own lives for me to really consider them family.

Dane reaches over and rests his hand on mine. “Then you’ll still have me. But I wouldn’t worry about it. Your dad canbe a stubborn ass, but I’ll talk to him. I’ll remind him that if your mother were here, she’d smack some sense into him herself.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “Mom always was a force to be reckoned with.”

“That she was,” he agrees with a smile. “Now, not that I mind, but finding your boyfriend camping out in my driveway is going to raise an awful lot of questions among the ranch hands when they arrive in the morning, and it’s getting pretty cold out. Maybe you could go put your man out of his misery and invite him inside?”

I blink owlishly at my uncle leaning back in his dining chair, resuming his meal like he didn’t just drop a bomb on me. Is he serious? I can’t tell if he’s serious. “Darrell came back? He is here?” I ask finally.

“Sure is, and looking like he means to hunker down and stay a while.”

A part of me wants to walk outside and tell Darrell to go home, but I can’t face the man. Every time I think about him, my heart clenches painfully, and yet, when I walk to the window and look out, the sight of his red truck out there in the dark hurts my soul. But still, I stay inside.

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