Page 112 of Things Left Unsaid

Not just until I have his baby.

But I was wrong before…

Am I now?

Colton

“What?”

I narrow my eyes at the kid in front of me as he throws himself in the seat opposite the desk in the Bar 9’s ranch office.

Hell, what am I talking about?

This ‘kid’ is as much of a man as Callan is—the one who needs to shift perspectives here is me.

“Is that any way to start a conversation with your new brother-in-law?”

Calder McAllister sniffs. “Isn’t a real marriage.”

“The law disagrees.”

Today’s kiss does too.

Jesus Christ, I can still feel the lingering aftereffects of it and it’s been a whole three hours since she left my office in a daze.

“I don’t. I know my sister. She’ll get pregnant and then she’ll fuck off back to New York.” His declaration hits me on the raw. He knows her better than I do now. Is he right? “She hates it here,” he continues, “because ofyourfamily?—”

I can’t argue with that so I hold up a hand to stall his words. “I didn’t ask you to come to the office because of her.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Over in the east quadrant of your land, by the highway, there are three ponds that are pretty much in a row.”

His mouth tightens. “Mom said they were our ponds. One for each of us.”

That he shared that memory with me has me pausing before, softly, asking, “There’s a copse of trees up there. You know where I mean?”

“Near the watchtower?” At my nod, he demands, “What about it?”

I bridge my hands on top of my abs. “There’s a weed farm.”

His eyes bug. “A what farm?”

“Marijuana,” I clarify, rocking in a chair that I don’t think has been sat in for a decade. This whole office makes mine look modern. “You got anything to do with it?”

“I tagged your barn. That doesn’t make me a drug dealer.”

“If you’re not lying to me, the fact that you don’t know about it tells me you three haven’t been pulling your weight around here.” Though, admittedly, the emotional attachment to the ponds might be why they’ve avoided the area. “That’ll have to change?—”

“You can’t boss me around!”

“Sure I can. Won’t just be me either. Theo Frobisher will be taking on the duties of ranch manager at the Bar 9, so you can expect to be bossed around by him too. And what he says, Calder, goes or I’ll hear about it.”

“I’m so fucking scared,” he snipes, jumping to his feet, his attitude of before shifting into a more normal adolescent pout.

This I can handle.

This I’m used to.

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