Page 34 of Taming His Brat

“I—I know but, it was just a mistake. I’m sure she thought she was doing a kind thing for me.” He looked in her eyes and saw that need to believe. She desperately wanted Vicky to be the mother she’d dreamed of and she was going to overlook almost anything that contradicted that picture.

“Charlie…” He didn’t continue. What was he going to say? He could bring up the phone calls, but he had no proof it was Vicky. If he forced the issue, made Charlie choose between them, none of them would like the end result, he was sure of that much.

If Charlie did listen to him it would mean asking Vicky to leave and ending her childhood dream of having her mom back. If she sided with Vicky that meant she was disregarding him as her Dom and Daddy. It was an impossible choice for the already conflicted girl, and he wasn’t going to do that to her.

He sighed and rubbed his temple with two fingers.Fuck.“Fine. It was a mistake, but now what are we going to do with the truck full of furniture? They aren’t going to unload it again without being paid for the work.”

Charlie bit down on her bottom lip and gnawed it as she considered. She seemed torn, and he couldn’t blame her. “I guess, since it’s already loaded … I just—where is it going?”

Vicky, who had taken on a chastened sorrowful look, was quick to reply. “The antique store downtown. They love stuff like this. I’m sure someone will snap it up and be thrilled to have it—andobviouslyI wasn’t going to keep the money,” she added as she sent an accusing look in his direction.

Charlie sighed heavily. Her shoulders slumped and she seemed weary of the conversation. “Just let them take it. It would have to go anyway, and you can keep the money, Mom. I don’t want it. You can use it for your new start.”

Sam repressed the growl, holding it in. A muscle in his jaw jumped from the way he was gritting his teeth. He was sure Vicky had planned to keep the money all along, but that was something else Charlie wasn’t ready to accept.

He knew he had to get out of there before he lost his temper. “Well,” he said carefully. “it sounds like you have it all sorted out then. I’m going to get back to work.” The sarcastic comment about beingjusta ranch hand he bit back. It would have hurt Charlie and Vicky wouldn’t care.

Charlie said goodbye and kissed him on the cheek, but she was clearly distracted by the situation and he left her reluctantly. She was home and making dinner when he got off work that night, but things between them were strained. The meal was clearly a kind of peace offering but it felt like the peace she was brokering was between him and her mother.

She was quiet and only picked at her food listlessly until he put down his fork and sat back to address the issue. “You know we need to talk about this.”

“It’s really not a big deal, Sam.” She didn’t meet his eyes.

“It is a big deal, and you know it. She overstepped and it wasn’t her place. You need to set up boundaries with her. We talked about this, Charlie.” He was trying hard to keep his tone neutral, so he didn’t upset her more, but he was frustrated, and it probably showed.

“She’s my mother. She just wanted to make things easier for me.”

“Charlie, you’re an adult and she’s a woman you haven’t seen since you were a kid. She can’t just walk in and try to decide things like this. I’m your Dom, the man you willingly turned over control to, and even I wouldn’t have jumped in and made that decision for you.” His hand came down on the table hard and the dishes clattered as they jumped. Her flinch made him stop and take a deep breath.

She looked up. “Sam, that’s different. I know you’re right. Of course, I was mad too. It’s just … she’s trying to build a relationship with me now, and she just went a little overboard trying to help. I talked to her and she won’t do anything like that again,” she assured him with all the earnestness of someone who was positive they were right.

He found himself giving ground again. Not because he didn’t want to fight it, but because he knew that Charlie was being pushed into a painful place and he didn’t want to make it harder for her.

She was his main concern. Everything he did was for her, but he had no experience in how to handle this. He probably should have pushed. Later he would regret it, but at the time he thought it was best to let it go.

“Okay, Charlie. As long as you’re fine with it.”

But the rest of the meal was silent and when they went to bed there seemed to be a distance between them that even the cuddling couldn’t close. The next few weeks were the worst they’d had since they had come back together.

Charlie was careful to keep to her rules. She made an obvious effort to get her share of the work done and she didn’t miss another shift at the ranch. He spanked her a few times, but the catharsis they both needed was lacking from the scenes. Even there the space between them was noticeable.

He found himself being reminded over and over about their first break-up and how strained and painful it had been in the weeks leading up to it. It had felt too similar to what was going on now, and that terrified him, but nothing he did seemed to help.

If he kept his mouth closed, he had to watch as Charlie sank further under her mother’s influence. If he said something it seemed to push her away and she became convinced that he simply hated her mother and could only see wrong in her.

And maybe there was some truth to that. He did see motives in everything Vicky did, and maybe sometimes he overreacted about small harmless things, but he was pretty sure he was right about the woman. Underneath the sweet innocence there was something mercenary in her, and he had a feeling Charlie was just a means to an end. He couldn’t figure out the goal, but he was sure there was one.

The final straw came unexpectedly during the workday. Charlie had ridden out to the winter pastures with a couple of men to check things over and he’d been in his office dealing with paperwork. When Mike stopped in to ask a question, he took the opportunity to talk to him about Vicky and what had been happening.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware that Charlie had come back to grab something she’d forgotten. He didn’t mean for her to overhear him telling Mike that he was sure Vicky had been the one calling around about selling the ranch, but that’s exactly what happened. He just didn’t find out until later.

When he got home that night, she’d left a note. It was short and he had to sit down as he read it through the second time.

Sam,

It’s obvious you can’t get over this dislike of my mom, and I get it. You want to protect me and that’s what I asked for. But I heard what you said to Mike today, and I just feel like right now you’re blaming her for everything that goes wrong.

She’s planning to go in about two weeks, so I’m going to stay up at the big house with her until then. There will be less clashing that way and I can spend more time with her. I love you, but this has been really hard on me and I need some space for now. Please, don’t be mad at me.

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