Page 63 of Embracing Hope

She looked over her shoulder, and Isaac was pulling Dex up by his scruff. His hand was wrapped up in the tail of his shirt. Anger like she had never felt before rolled through her, leaving a scorching trail. She stood and walked over, facing Dex, squaring her shoulders.

“You wrote the letter to the paper, didn’t you?” she said through tight lips.

His eyes were dark and evil as he stared back at her. He rolled his mouth and spat on the floor near her. “That’s what you get, bitch!”

She pulled back her arm and socked him in the cheek with her fist. A pain ripped through her hand, but it was worth it. “And that’s what you get in retaliation for everyone you’ve hurt.”

He struggled against Isaac’s hold, trying to charge her. “Don’t even think about it I’ll see that the next bullet is between your eyes,” Isaac said near Dex’s ear.

He took the warning to heart.

Chapter Seventeen

Two weeks later.

“Daddy, I was just getting ready to leave,” Hope said as she entered his office. She guessed he wanted to remind her that she only had two days to marry before she would no longer have a stake in the ranch.

She came to a dead stop when she saw Isaac sitting in the chair in front of the desk. The entire scenario ran through her mind. She knew now that he hadn’t had anything to do with the letter to the paper, but he’d pulled out of the merger. What bothered her the most was that he didn’t come to her first and let her know. She thought they’d meant something to each other. He’d saved her and Courtney’s life, and for that, she was grateful, but she’d been hurt by his actions regarding the merger. “What are you doing here?”

“We’ve come to sign the paperwork for the merger between Marcum Livestock and Sagebrush Rose Ranch.” It wasn’t Isaac who spoke. Hope then saw the man standing near Daddy’s desk. He looked a lot like Isaac, only slightly shorter and less muscular. “You must be Hope. I’m CJ Marcum.” He strolled over and shook her hand. “My brother had told me a lot about you. You’re the reason we decided to go ahead and make this deal happen.”

She swept her gaze from CJ to Isaac and then to her father. “Daddy?”

“I only just learned about this myself,” Sam said. “They have some stipulations which you’ll want to hear, and agree to before we sign.”

“I don’t understand.” She stood there staring. Two weeks had gone by in a painful blur. She’d missed Isaac, but pride had kept her from reaching out to him. If he cared for her then he would have to prove it to her.

“Have a seat and we’ll discuss them,” Sam said.

“I’d rather stand,” she said stubbornly.

Isaac had been silent until then. He stood. “Sam has agreed to the one stipulation I made. He puts you back in his will and allows you and me to head up the merger together. It’ll take a few months to work out the kinks.”

“I-I’m not married…” The words seemed to fall off her tongue.

“Under the circumstances, I agreed,” Sam added. “I have all the faith in the world that you two can make this merger run smoothly. However, once all the obstacles are worked out CJ and I will sign off.”

“I refuse to work with you,” she said directly to Isaac then stormed out of the room, her vision blurred by unshed tears.

He caught up to her as she ran outside, drawing in much-needed oxygen.

“Hope, wait!”

“I have nothing to say to you.” She quickly headed…where? She didn’t know..

“I have a lot to say to you.” He was next to her.

She swung around. “You think this changes anything?”

“Yes, I do. It changes everything. As you already know, I had nothing to do with the leaked information, and I needed some time to convince CJ that we should do this deal.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“What has changed between us?”

He rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “What’s changed is I want you. I want us.”

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