Page 38 of So Wrong It Must Be Right

“I don’t trust the Gallaghers. I don’t trust them to have my best interest at heart, or even be equally invested in my interests.”

“I am part of Gallagher’s,” Dinah replied, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

“You want me to trust you, but I don’t have any reason to.”

It shouldn’t hurt. His not trusting her shouldn’t have any effect on her whatsoever. What right did she have to think he should trust her?

But it did hurt her feelings and she was surprised to find she even felt a little teary. Which was obnoxious and embarrassing.

“I’m sorry,” Carter said gravely.

His apology somehow made it worse. He probably only felt bad because she was sitting there looking all too close to tears. Hissorryhad no real regret behind it. What on earth was wrong with her thinking she could . . . could . . .

“I do wish things could be different,” he said softly, and it was the first gentle thing he’d said that didn’t piss her off. Because she wished that too. If they both wished things could be different . . .

“Don’t you think if we both feel that way, there’s something we could do about it?” she asked, trying not to sound desperate, even though she was afraid that’s exactly what she was being.

“I’ve spent my life not getting what I wanted. Sometimes there isn’t anything you can do about it.”

She reached across the table and put her hand on his. It was warm and strong, but he had been beaten down a number of times. Maybe he needed someone to stand up and fight with him, like Kayla had always done for her before this week. “Sometimes, Carter, thereissomething you can do about it. Sometimes there are options and chances and possibilities if you’re willing to fight a little bit.”

“Baby, I have done nothing but fight my whole life, and I’m tired of it. I’ve got what I want, and I’m not going to lose it.” He turned his hand and curled his fingers with hers, giving a little squeeze.

It hurt to see the failed fights right there in his eyes, but not the way things normally hurt. Not because it affected her in any way. She hurtforhim, and she wished he could have had something go his way.

“What is the worst thing this could do to you?” Dinah asked. No matter how she hurt for him, she wasn’t willing to back down. “It’s not like it would break you. If you set some of the terms and you still had your farmers’ markets, you’d still have the income you have now. You’d just be adding to it.”

“It isn’t feasible.”

“You don’t know yet! You haven’t even considered it. I won’t ask you to make a decision right now, but I am asking you to think about it. Maybe come up with a plan where you think it could work, and then I can look at it and see if it works with what I have in mind. Don’t you think it’s worth a shot to at leastconsider?”

What she was really asking was, didn’t he thinktheyhad a shot. She knew it was dangerous to ask with her heart, when her brain needed to be in charge of business.

Letting herself do this was an anomaly, and she almost told him how she never mixed business and her personal life, but that would give him too much power. It would certainly show him just how pathetic she was.

“All I ask is that you think about it,” she said resolutely, trying to focus on the business side of her brain. “Think about a possible way it would work for you. If you can’t find a way and we can’t work anything out, then we move on. But I think it has a chance to be really great, and I would love for you to consider it. Please.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, lines bracketing his mouth and his forehead. So serious and world-weary for a man who couldn’t be too many years older than her.

When he finally spoke, he looked down at his hands. “Why?”

She blinked and sat back, trying to take a calm breath instead of a sharp inhale. She knew what he was asking. It wasn’t just your average why, it was why not keep fighting for his land? Why not take him down in the way she was so sure she could?

Which meant her answer would have to be honest, and that scared her more than anything. To be honest and to show her weakness to him. But she liked him. Really liked him.

She liked him enough to come up with this alternative plan. Enough to want . . . more. When had she ever been scared of going after more?

“I don’t want to buy your farm, Carter. I will keep pressing you on that if it’s the only option. Paving over the place would give me no pleasure and no joy and I don’t think it’s in the best interest of Gallagher’s.” She shouldn’t have said that, but it came pouring out of her. She’d never had feelings like this before, and she didn’t know how to compartmentalize them the way she usually did.

“If it’s all I can do to get my rightful place, I will do it. But, if there’s another way, I will find another way.”

“So . . . this has nothing to do with D and C?”

She could say it had nothing to do with that. She could lie, and she had no doubt she could make him believe that lie. But she didn’t want to lie about it. Not to him. Not now.

“I wouldn’t say it hasnothingto do with . . .” She could’ve saidthem, kept up this farce that D and C were separate from Dinah and Carter. But the whole point of this meeting was that she didn’t want to keep up the farce and the war. She didn’t want to pretend. She wanted to be Dinah with him, and she wanted him to be Carter. She wanted them to work together and see what could grow.

She wanted reality. Which was frightening, and she’d never been a fan of things she didn’t know how to conquer. But she wasn’t a coward, even if she was afraid.

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