Page 94 of Redemption

I somehow made it through the rest of the day, my rage and hurt keeping me going.

Her words played over in my mind. I should have known she wouldn’t forgive me for the accident, that I was getting in over my head and too attached. I was dreaming of a life with her when I never really knew for sure how she felt about me, about us. How could I expect her to shack up with me after everything?

The ache in my chest didn’t dull, even as I pressed my fist into the flesh, willing it to lessen. “My first heartbreak at the age of thirty,” I snorted without humor.

I didn’t see her again for the rest of the day, which was just as well. I didn’t think I could look at her without begging her to love me.

It was ridiculous how gone I was for that woman. Themoment she stood up for me at Larry’s Leathers, apologizing for how others treat me, then kissing my knuckles, I fell in love. Hell, I didn’t fall, I plummeted. And landed with a sharp, jolting agony that I couldn’t shy away from. What a fool I’d turned out to be.

I finished up for the day and headed back to the cabin for a long, miserable night alone. I paused when I saw all the Cartwright sisters gathered on the porch, glancing between themselves with worried expressions.

I detoured. “Everything okay, ladies?” I asked, stopping at the steps to the porch.

“We’re worried about Kat. We haven’t seen her since last night,” Maddy said.

My stomach clenched at the mention of her name. I scrubbed the back of my neck. “She was in the south pasture a few hours ago.”

“You haven’t seen her since?”

I shook my head.

Daisy narrowed her eyes. “I thought you were working with her?”

I met her hard stare. “I was. But now I’m not. What’s going on?”

“We may have…ambushed her last night,” August said.

“Right…What about?”

“I found out about the debt on the ranch and that she’d been keeping it from us,” Daisy replied, accusation in her tone.

The last thing I wanted was to start another fight, especially with Daisy who, frankly, scared me as much as Kat did. But I didn’t like the way this sounded. “Do you own the ranch?” I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

“No, do you?” she snapped back.

“No, none of us do!” I yelled, not afraidto support my woman, even against her own sisters. “Kat owns the ranch which means it’s Kat’s business.”

“But we all live here, she should have said something,” Tilly piped up, peeking out from behind August.

“Which is why she wanted to protect you from worrying about it. The last thing you need to be concerned about is losing your home. She’s been working hard to get things in order and make sure none of you are impacted after everything that’s happened lately. She was looking out for all of you,” I growled, staring at each one in turn. “How did you find out?”

Daisy sniffed. “Well, I eavesdropped when those two bozos turned up demanding money and did some digging. I have my sources.”

“Didn’t expect you to be her biggest supporter,” Maddy said, arching a brow at me, a small smile on her face.

“Sounds like someone has to be if you four are sneaking around behind her back and doubting her.”

“I hope you’re supporting her from a purely platonic standpoint?” Daisy shot back.

“It’s none of your business what we are.”Damn these nosy women.“But it’s not something you need to be concerned about anymore,” I added, looking off into the distance.

“Oh no,” August moaned, her brows dipping in. “What happened?”

I picked at a bit of wood sticking out from the porch. “Hell if I know, although I expect it’s fallout from whatever happened last night.”

“Daisy!” Maddy growled and flicked Daisy on the nose.

“Ow! What was that for?”

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