Page 64 of Redemption

That night as I lay in bed, trying to sleep, my phone pinged. I squinted as the bright screen pricked my eyes and saw a message.

Kat:Thanks for looking out for Tilly.

I read the message over a dozen times before I put my phone down and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Katarina

I couldn’t fault him.

He’d done exactly what I asked so why was I so pissed at him? It was because he kept doing things that were annoying, like showing up for me, looking after my sister, putting us first, and doing things with planks of wood in almost no clothing, painted in sweat.

I should be focusing on how to save the ranch but instead, my hormones were acting like I was fifteen again and going boy crazy.

“Yoohoo!” Daisy sang, waving her hand in front of my face. I blinked, warm soap suds running down my arm where I’d drifted off while doing the dishes. “Wheredid you go?”

“Oh, sorry,” I said, handing her a plate.

“Somewhere nice I bet, based on the flush of your skin,” she teased.

I snorted. “No, my hands are in hot water, that’s why I’m flushed.”

“If you say so.”

She dried off the plate and ducked down, pulling a cabinet door open and it practically fell off its hinges. “This place is falling apart. If it’s not this, it’s the bathroom door, or the wonky table or the drawer that sticks on the sideboard,” Daisy grumbled.

“Nothing stopping you from fixing any of it,” Leo said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Do you just live here now?” Daisy asked, arching a brow at him as he dropped a plate in the sink and crammed the last of his toast into his mouth.

“Yesff,” he replied around his mouthful. He chewed and swallowed before adding, “You know, there is someone who could come and fix all of this.”

My stomach tightened at his insinuation.Not Jack, not Jack, not Jack.

“Do you mean Jack?” Daisy practically snarled.

“Yep.”

Daisy grunted but didn’t disagree like I expected her to.

“We’re done here, you kids go and play,” I teased, flicking water at them both, wanting them out of my kitchen so they wouldn’t notice how weird I acted when anyone mentioned Jack.

“Come on Daze, let’s go watch—”

“If you say The Devil Wears Prada…”

“The Devil Wears Prada!” Leo shouted, slinging an arm around her neck.

“So weird that that’s your favorite movie.”

“You’re weird,” Leo shot back and eventually they left the kitchen. I finished the dishes, thinking about how Jack was with Tilly last night. He’d treated her with care and concern and spent time listening to her and cheering her up. He kept doing nice things and it was making it harder to stay mad at him.

I made my way to Daddy’s study, determined to go through the rest of the paperwork and get a solid grasp on the finances. I’d procrastinated long enough.

So far, things weren’t looking great. We were in trouble, big time, with a couple of different creditors. And another ranch owner who had done a few deals to help us out.

I went through the papers until my eyes were stinging and I’d uncovered all the financial hardship. There were final notice letters and overdue payment letters, and the bank account wasn’t exactly flush with cash to pay any of them. I needed to come up with money and fast. But how? I was drawing a blank and didn’t understand why my brain couldn’t deal with this.

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