Page 39 of Taming His Brat

But she was determined to finish the letter. Whatever horrible stuff filled the final two pages she was going to push through it. She’d made a mistake by not reading it earlier, but it wasn’t too late. She forced herself through a series of breathing exercises, drawing them out until her chest loosened.

There was no way she was going to relax with half the letter still unread, but at least the panic had retreated. She sighed and flipped to the third page.

She threatened to take you with her and go. I was scared for you. She had no life skills, not even a high school diploma. Though you wouldn’t know it from talking to her. She was smart, maybe as smart as you are, Charlie.

She’d never really had to look out for herself and I knew if she took you and left neither of you would do well. Plenty of strong women get by on their own; Vicky isn’t one of those. She told me once that she was pretty enough not to worry about how to pay the bills. I guess she was right.

I was upset at the thought of losing you. Couldn’t have cared less if she left at that point, but I didn’t want her taking you. Of course, she knew that. She knew before she made the threat that I’d do almost anything to keep you home with me. So, she waited for the right moment and then pulled the trump card.

She made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I took it.

I’d get custody of you and in exchange I’d pay for her to go live her life however she wanted. She set the terms, giving herself a pretty hefty chunk of money, which I was to deposit in her account monthly. We negotiated on the sum, but she knew she’d get most of what she wanted.

But to my shame I added my own conditions, and I’m sorry that I never thought about how it would affect you. I still don’t know if I was wrong, but my part of the agreement was that she could never see you again. No phone calls. No letters. Nothing, or else I’d cut off the payments and we’d fight it out in court.

Vicky agreed, like I knew she would, and she left. We were always in touch, of course, had to send that money her way. She insisted that you get an education. Didn’t want me to hold you back on the ranch, which she never thought was suitable for a girl anyway.

I agreed to make sure you got a proper education, so you could decide what you wanted to do with your life. I gave her my word on that, but to be honest, I agreed with her there. Part of me always thought that if Vicky had gotten an education, a way to channel all those smarts of hers, maybe she’d have turned out different.

Her parents didn’t think a girl needed an education. They sent her brother instead and she left home angry about it, without even finishing high school. I think it warped how she saw the world, and I wanted it to be different for you.

I think your mother loves you, in her own way. She knew I’d do right by you, and she made me promise to give you what she never got, knowing I always keep my word. I just think that Vicky’s first priority has always been Vicky. But that kind of influence isn’t healthy for a kid. I wanted you to grow up better than she did.

So, I made sure you got the best I could give you. You got everything you needed, but you learned about hard work too. I made sure you saw and experienced more than just this rough old spread, even though you fought me at every turn.

You only wanted the ranch, and I was so proud of that. You’re so damn much like me, Charlie. I hated sending you off to school, but that was the deal.

I know I messed some things up and I’m sorry for that too, but I tried, Charlie. I honestly tried my best. I guess … I thought you’d be better off without her in your life. You were so young then too, maybe you’d forget if we never talked about her. So, I cut the memory of her out of the house, or I tried to, and I did my best to raise you on my own.

We did okay, I thought, but then I went and got cancer and that threw a wrench in the works. Didn’t see that one coming. All I could do was try to tie up the loose ends before I was gone and that included seeing you through your education. I knew you’d quit if I wasn’t there.

It also didn’t escape my notice that cutting your mother out of your life made you slow to trust and commit to people. I’ve watched you push people away out of fear, and I have to take the blame for that. But Sam always seemed immune. It’s one of the things I liked about him. He didn’t give up on you, even when you struggled.

Yes, of course I knew you and Sam had a thing going. Neither of you were any good at secrets. It was obvious how much you loved each other. Hell, his dad and I used to talk about how one day you kids would probably get married. It got so I had to make extra noise if I checked the barn at night, just in case the two of you were in there messing around.

Sending you off to school while Sam stayed to take care of things for me caused more damage than I expected, and I regret that. I wish there’d been another way.

I’ve tried to fix things by throwing you together with the will, and that might have been a mistake. Only time will tell, I suppose. I’m guessing you’re mad about it. I probably would be too if my meddling old man tried to play matchmaker with my inheritance, but there’s a couple things here.

Firstly, I feel responsible for the distance between you two and I wanted to see if I could give you a shot at repairing it. But second, family ain’t always about blood, Charlie girl. Sam might not have my genes, but he grew up here and I feel like he’s part of the family. That and he went above and beyond what I expect from a ranch hand or a foreman.

You aren’t going to be here for the end, not if I can help it. No child should see their parent like this. But Sam’s going to help me through until it’s over. He takes care of the ranch during the day and then sleeps on the couch over here to make sure I’m okay all night.

He’s changed more piss soaked sheets than I want to think about, and held me while I puke from the morphine they’ve got me on to keep the pain down. When I wrote the will, I didn’t know how bad things were going to get. But since then, he’s earned a share of this place for that alone.

So, maybe you’ll remember that you two love each other and run the place together as a couple. That’s what I’m hoping for, but if not, I’ve made sure you’re both taken care of and that’s what I needed to do. Try not to be too mad that I split it between you.

I know you expected to run the place when I was gone, but it’s good to have a partner in this life. Ranching can be exhausting, lonely work. This way you’ll both have each other to shoulder the load. Whether you find that love you lost or not, I hope you’ll at least become friends again, the way you always were before.

I really struggled with the decision to put him in charge of things instead of making you equals from the start, and I’m sure that had you ready to chew nails. But I know you, stubborn daughter. Without someone on top to make the decisions it would have been constant fighting between you. Since he’s been running the place pretty much by himself since I got sick, I figured the boss should be him.

But people learn and grow. Figured it would be fair to give you a chance to get an equal say later, once you had time to be part of running things for a while. Experience is everything in this business, so I’m giving you a goal and I’m making it mandatory, so I can rest knowing I kept my word.

Finish your education, and by then I’m sure you’ll have a better idea of all the work that goes on behind the scenes. Sam’s not the type to keep you in the dark. Learn from him. Listen to him. Then when you’ve got your degree, you can sort out between you who’ll be the boss. Or just leave things the way they are. That’s up to you.

If you do decide to sit on your stubbornness and let the ranch go to him in seven years, then I’ve made sure you’ve got more than enough money to buy half back from him. The way that boy looks at you like you hung the moon and stars I have no doubt he’ll let you, so either way you’ll end up in the same place.

I’m leaving you all the options I can; only you can decide what you do with them. I love you Charlie. You made me proud every day of your life.

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